it to St. Stephen; and he will say to thee, as he said to the converted thief, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," Luke xxiii. 43. This is the fourth idea of the king Messiah, and this is the fourth source of the duties of his subjects. How glorious is the festival of his nativity! What grand, noble, and sublime sentiments does it require of us! The subjects of the king Messiah, the children of the everlasting Father, should consider the economy of time in its true point of view, they should compare "things which are seen, which are temporal, with things which are not seen, which are eternal," 2 Cor. iv. 18. They should fix their attention upon the eternity, fill their imaginations with the glory of the world to people! Assemble all this congregation, when thou shalt come with thy host in holy pomp! Let not the flying of the clouds, which will serve thee for a triumphal chariot; let not the pomp of the holy angels in thy train, when thou shalt come to "judge the world in righteousness;" let not these objects affright and terrify our souls: let them charm and transport us; and, instead of dreading thine approach, let us hasten it by our prayers and sighs! Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, Amen." To God be honour and glory, for ever and ever, Amen. SERMON XVII. come, and learn, by just notions of immortality, THE VARIETY OF OPINIONS ABOUT to estimate the present life; the " declining shadow; the withering grass; the fading flower; the dream that flieth away; the vapour that vanisheth," and is irrecoverably lost, Ps. cii. 11; Isa. xl. 7; Job xx. 8; and James iv. 14. These, my brethren, are the characters of your king Messiah, these are the characters of the divine child, whose birth you are to cele-. brate next Wednesday, and in these ways only can you celebrate it as it deserves. We conjure you by that adorable goodness, which we are going to testify to you again, we conjure you by that throne of grace, which God is about to ascend again; we conjure you by those ineffable mercies which our imaginations cannot fully comprehend, which our minds cannot sufficiently admire, nor all the emotions of our hearts sufficiently esteem; we conjure you to look at, and, if you will pardon the expression, to lose yourselves in these grand objects; we conjure you not to turn our solemn festivals, and our devotional days, into seasons of gaming and dissipation. Let us submit ourselves to the king Messiah; let us engage ourselves to his government; let his dominion be the ground of all our joy. CHRIST. MATTHEW Xvi. 13-17. When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Phi lippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, Bul whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Ir any prejudice be capable of disconcerting a man's peace, it is that which arises from observing the various opinions of mankind. We do not mean those which regard uninteresting objects. As we may mistake them without danger, so we may suppose, either that men have not sufficiently considered them, or that the Creator may, without injuring the perfec tions of his nature, refuse those assistances which are necessary for the obtaining of a "O most mighty! thou art fairer than the perfect knowledge of them. But how do the children of men. Grace is poured into thy opinions of mankind vary about those subjects, lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever!" which our whole happiness is concerned to Ps. xlv. 3. 2. "The Lord shall send the rod know? One affirms, that the works of nature of thy strength out of Zion, saying, Rule thou are the productions of chance: another attri in the midst of thine enemies! Thy people butes them to a First Cause, who created matshall be willing in the day, when thou shalt ter, regulated its form, and directed its motion. assemble thy host in holy pomp!"* Yea, reign One says, that there is but one God, that it is over thine enemies, great King! bow their re- absurd to suppose a plurality of Supreme Be bellious wills; prevent their fatal counsels; de-ings, and that to prove there is one, is thereby feat all their bloody designs! Reign also over thy friends, reign over us! Make us a willing to prove that there is but one: another says, that the Divine Nature being infinite, can com municate itself to many, to an infinity, and * We retain the reading of the French Bible here; be- form many infinities, all really perfect in their cause our author paraphrases the passage after that ver- kind. Moreover, among men who seem to sion. Ton peuple sera un peuple plein de franc vou loir agree in the essential points of religion, among au jour que tu assembler as ton armee en saincte pompe. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the Christians who bear the same denomination, beauties of holiness. The passage seems to be a propheti- assemble in the same places of worship, and cal allusion to one of those solemn festivals, in which con- subscribe the same creeds, ideas of the same querors, and their armies, on their return from battle, articles very different, sometimes diametrically offered a part of their spoil, which they had taken from their enemies, to God, from whom the victory came. opposite, are discovered. As there are numeThese free-will offerings were carried in grand procession. They were holy, because agreeable to the economy rous opinions on matters of speculation, so there under which the Jews lived; and they were beautifully tents himself with half a system, containing are endless notions about practice. One conholy, because they were not exacted, but proceeded from the voluntary gratitude of the army. In large conquests, only some general duties which belong to the troops and the offerings were out of number, like the worldly decency: another insists on uniting vir drops of such a shower of dew, as the morning brought tue with every circumstance, every transaction, forth in the youth, or spring of the year. See 2 Chron. 13-15, and xv. 10-15. We have ventured this hint on every instant, and, if I may be allowed to speak so, every indivisible point of life. One thinks a passage which seems not very clear in our version. Augustus; but to that which was situated at the foot of Mount Lebanon, and which had been repaired and embellished in honour of Tiberius, by Philip the Tetrarch, the son of Herod. t lawful to associate the pleasures of the | Herod the Great, in honour of the emperor world with the practice of piety; and he preends that good people differ from the wicked only in some enormities, in which the latter eem to forget they are men, and to transform hemselves into wild beasts: another condemns imself to perpetual penances and mortificaions, and if at any time he allow himself rereations, they are never such as savour of the pirit of the times, because they are the livery of the world. IM I said, my brethren, that if any prejudices make deep impressions on the mind of a rational man, they are those which are produced "by a variety of opinions. They sometimes drive men into a state of uncertainty and skepticism, the worst disposition of mind, the most opposite to that persuasion, without which there is no pleasure, and the most contrary to the grand design of religion, which is to establish our consciences, and to enable us to reply to every inquirer on these great subjects, "I know, and am persuaded," Rom. xiv. 14. Against this temptation Jesus Christ guarded his disciples. Never was a question more important, never were the minds of men more divided about any question, than that which related to the person of our Saviour. Some considered him as a politician, who under a veil of humility, hid the most ambitious designs; others took him for an enthusiast. Some thought him an emissary of the devil: others an envoy from God. Even among them who agreed in the latter, "some said that he was Elias, some John the Baptist, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." The faith of the apostles was in danger of being shaken by these divers opinions. Jesus Christ comes to their assistance, and having required their opinions on a question which divided all Judea, having received from Peter the answer of the whole apostolical college, he praises their faith, and, by praising it, gave it a firmer establishment. My brethren, may the words of Jesus Christ make everlasting impressions on you! May those of you who, because you have acted rationally, by embracing the belief, and by obeying the precepts of the gospel, are sometimes taxed with superstition, sometimes with infatuation, and sometimes with melancholy, learn from the reflections that we shall make on the text, to rise above the opinions of men, to be firm and immoveable amidst temptations of this kind, always faithfully to adhere to truth and virtue, and to be the disciples only of them. Grant, O Lord! that they who like St. Peter have said to Jesus Christ, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God," may experience such pleasure as the answer of the Divine Saviour gave to the apostle's soul, when he said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Amen. The questions and the answers which are related in the text will be our only divisions of this discourse. Jesus Christ was travelling from Bethany to Cesarea, not to that Cesarea which was situated on the Mediterranean sea, at first called the tower of Strato, and afterwards Cesarea, by Jesus Christ, in his way to this city, put this question to his disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am?" or, as it may be rendered, Whom do men say that I am? Do they say that I am the Son of man? We will enter into a particular examination of the reasons which determined the Jews of our Saviour's time, and the inspired writers with them, to distinguish the Messiah by the title Son of man. Were we to determine any thing on this subject, we should give the preference to the opinion of those who think the phrase Son of Man, means man by excellence. The Jews say son of man, to signify a man. Witness, among many other passages, this well-known saying of Balaam, "God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent," Numb. xxiii. 19. The Messiah is called the Man, or the Son of Man, that is, the Man of whom the prophecies had spoken, the Man whose coming was the object of the desires and prayers of the whole church. It is more important to inquire the design of Jesus Christ, in putting this question to his disciples, "Whom do men say that I am?" It is one of those questions, the meaning of which can be determined only by the character of him who proposes it; for it may be put from many different motives. Sometimes pride puts this question. There are some people who think of nothing but themselves, and who imagine all the world think about them too: they suppose they are the subject of every conversation; and fancy every wheel which moves in society has some relation to them; if they be not the principal spring of it. People of this sort are very desirous of knowing what is said about them, and, as they have no conception that any but glorious things are said of them, they are extremely solicitous to know them, and often put this question, "Whom do men say that I am?” Would you know what they say of you? Nothing at all. They do not know you exist, and except a few of your relations, nobody in the world knows you are in it. The question is sometimes put by curiosity, and this motive deserves condemnation, if it be accompanied with a desire of reformation. The judgment of the public is respectable, and, to a certain degree, it ought to be a rule of action to us. It is necessary sometimes to go abroad, to quit our relations, and acquaintances, who are prejudiced in our favour, and to inform ourselves of the opinions of those who are more impartial on our conduct. I wish some people would often put this question, "Whom do men say that I am?" The answers they would receive would teach them to entertain less flattering, and more just notions of themselves. "Whom do men say that I am?" They say, you are haughty, and proud of your prosperity; that you use your influence only to oppress the weak; that your success is a public calamity; and that you are a tyrant whom every one abhors. "Whom do men say that I am?" They say, you have a serpent's tongue, that "the poison of adders is under your lips;" Ps. cxl. 3, that you inflame a whole city, a whole province, by the scandalous tales you forge, and which, having forged, you industriously propagate; they say, you are infernally diligent in sowing discord between wife and husband, friend and friend, subject and prince, pastor and flock. "Whom do men say that I am?" They say you are a sordid, covetous wretch; that mammon is the God you adore; that, provided your coffers fill, it is a matter of indifference to you, whether it be by extortion, or by just acquisition, whether it be by a lawful inheritance, or by an accursed patrimony. Revenge may put the question, "Whom do men say that I am?" We cannot but know that some reports, which are spread about us, are disadvantageous to our reputation. We are afraid, justice should not be done to us, we, therefore, wish to know our revilers, in order to mark them out for our vengeance. The inquiry in this disposition is certainly blameable. Let us live uprightly, and let us give ourselves no trouble about what people say of us. If there be some cases in which it is useful to know the popular opinion, there are others in which it is best to be ignorant of it. If religion forbids us to avenge ourselves, prudence requires us not to expose ourselves to the temptation of doing it. A heathen has given us an illustrious example of this prudent conduct, which I am recommending to you: I speak of Pompey the Great. He had defeated Perpenna, and the traitor offered to deliver to him the papers of Sertorius, among which were letters from several of the most powerful men in Rome, who had promised to receive Sertorius into Italy, and to put all to death who should attempt to resist him. Pompey took all the papers, burnt all the letters, by that mean prevented all the bloody consequences which would have followed such fatal discoveries, and, along with them, sacrificed that passion, which many, who are called Christians, find the most difficult to sacrifice, I mean revenge. But this question, "Whom do men say that I am?" may be put by benevolence. The good of society requires each member to entertain just notions of some persons. A magis trate, who acts disinterestedly for the good of the state, and for the support of religion, would be often distressed in his government, if he were represented as a man devoted to his own interest, cruel in his measures, and governed by his own imperious tempers. A pastor, who knows and preaches the truth, who has the power of alarming hardened sin ners, and of exciting the fear of hell in them, in order to prevent their falling into it, or, shall I rather say, in order to draw them out of it: such a pastor will discharge the duties of his office with incomparably more success, if the people do him justice, than if they accuse him of fomenting errors, and of loving to surround his pulpit with "devouring fire and everlasting burnings;" Isa. xxxiii. 14. Benevolence may incline such persons to inquire what is said of them, in order to rectify mistakes, which may be very injurious to those who believe them. In this disposition Jesus Christ proposed the question in the text to his disciples. Benevolence directed all the steps. of our Saviour, it dictated all his language, it animated all his emotions; and, when we are in doubt about the motive of any part of his conduct, we shall seldom run any hazard, if we attribute it to his benevolence. In our text he established the faith of his disciples by trying it. He did not want to be told the public opinions about himself, he knew them better than they of whom he inquired: but he required his disciples to relate people's opinions, that he might give them an antidote against the poison that was enveloped in them. The disciples answered: "Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." They omitted those odious opinions, which were injurious to Jesus Christ, and refused to defile their mouths with the execrable blasphemies, which the malignity of the Jews uttered against him. But with what shadow of appearance could it be thought that Jesus Christ was John the Baptist? You may find, in part, an answer to this question in the fourteenth chapter of this gospel, ver. 1-10. It is there said, that Herod Antipas, called the Tetrarch, that is, the king of the fourth part of his father's territories, beheaded John the Baptist at the request of Herodias. Every body knows the cause of the hatred of that fury against the holy man. John the Baptist held an opinion, which_now-a-days passes for an error injurious to the peace of society, that is, that the high rank of those who are guilty of some scandalous vices, ought not to shelter them from the censures of the ministers of the living God; and that they who commit, and not they who reprove such crimes, are responsible for all the disorders which such censures may produce in society. A bad courtier, but a good servant of him, who had sent him to "prepare the way of the Lord, and to make his paths straight," Luke iii. 4, he told the incestuous Herod, without equivocating, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother Philip's wife," Matt. xiv. 4; Herodias could not plead her cause with equity, and therefore she pleaded it with cruelty. Her daughter Salome had pleased Herod at a feast, which was made in the castle of Macheron, on the birth-day of the king. He showed the same indulgence to her, that Flaminius the Roman showed to a court lady, who had requested that consul to gratify her curiosity with the sight of beheading a man. An indulgence, certainly less shocking in a heathen, than in a prince educated in the knowledge of the true God. It was a common opinion among the Jews that the resurrection of the martyrs was anticipated. Many thought all the prophets were to be raised from the dead at the coming of the Messiah, and some had spread a report, which reached Herod, that John the Baptist enjoyed that privilege. The same reasons, which persuaded some Jews to believe that he, whom they called Jesus, was John the Baptist risen from the dead, persuaded others to believe, that he was some one of the prophets," who, like John, had been put to a violent death, for having spoken With a similar courage against the reigning of Israel come? Are the prophecies accomices of the times in which they lived. This plished? Is the Son of God among us, and has as particularly the case of Jeremiah. When he brought with him peace, grace, and glory? is prophet was only fourteen years of age, What kind of beings were the Jews, who left nd, as he said of himself, when he could not these great questions undetermined, and lived eak, because he was a child, Jer. i. 6, he deli- without elucidating them? Are you surprised ered himself with a freedom of speech that at these things, my brethren? your indolence hardly allowable in those who are grown on questions of the same kind is equally astonray in a long discharge of the ministerial of- ishing to considerate men. The Jews had buce. He censured, without distinction of rank siness, they must have neglected it; they loved r character, the vices of all the Jews, and pleasures and amusements, they must have aving executed this painful function from the suspended them; they were stricken with whateign of Josiah to the reign of Zedekiah, he ever concerned the present life, and they must as, if we believe a tradition of the Jews, have sought after the life to come, they must hich Tertullian, St. Jerome, and many fa- have shaken off that idleness in which they hers of the church have preserved, stoned to spent their lives, and have taken up the cross eath at Tahapanes in Egypt, by his country- and followed Jesus Christ. These were the hen: there he fell a victim to their rage causes of that indolence which surprises you, gainst his predictions. The fact is not cer- and these were the causes of that ignorance in; however, it is admitted by many Chris- which concealed Jesus Christ from them, till ans, who have pretended that St. Paul had he made himself known to them by the just, e prophet Jeremiah particularly in view, though bloody calamities, which he inflicted hen he proposed, as examples to Christians, on their nation. And these are also the caume who "were stoned," Heb. xi. 37, whom ses of that ignorance, in which the greater eplaces among the "cloud of witnesses." part of you are involved, in regard to many However uncertain this history of the pro- questions as important as those which were het's lapidation may be, some Jews believed it, agitated then. Will a few acts of faith in God, nd it was sufficient to persuade them that and of love to him, assure us of our salvation, esus Christ was Jeremiah. or must these acts be continued, repeated, and As Elias was translated to heaven without established? Does faith consist in barely be ying, the opinions, of which we have been lieving the merit of the Saviour, or does it inpeaking, were not sufficient to persuade other clude an entire obedience to his laws? Is the dews that Jesus Christ was Elias; but a mista- fortune, that I enjoy with so much pleasure, en passage of Malachi was the ground of this display with so much parade, or hide with so otion. It is the passage which concludes the much niggardliness, really mine, or does it beritings of that prophet; "Behold, I will send long to my country, to my customers, to the ou Elijah the prophet, before the coming of poor, or to any others, whom my ancestors The great and dreadful day of the Lord," Mal. have deceived, from whom they have obtained, 1.5. This prophecy was perfectly plain to and from whom I withhold it? Does my course the disciples of Jesus Christ, for in him, and of life lead to heaven or to hell? Shall I be John the Baptist they saw its accomplish-numbered with "the spirits of just men made bent. But the Jews understood it literally. They understand it so still, and, next to the Toming of the Messiah, that of Elias is the and object of their hopes. It is Elias, accordng to them, who will turn the heart of the athers to the children, and the heart of the fhildren to their fathers," ver. 6. It is Elias who will prepare the ways of the Messiah, will be his forerunner, and will anoint him with holy oil. It is Elias, who will answer all questions, and solve all difficulties. It is Elias, who will obtain by his prayers the resurrection of the just. It is Elias, who will do for the dispersed Jews what Moses did for the Israelites enslaved in Egypt; he will march at their head, and conduct them to Canaan. All these expressions are taken from the Rabbins, whose names I omit, as well as the titles of the books from which I have quoted the passages now mentioned. Such were the various opinions of the Jews about Jesus Christ; and each continued in his own prejudice without giving himself any farther trouble about it. But how could they remain in a state of tranquillity, while questions of such importance remained in dispute? All their religion, all their hopes, and all their happiness, depended on the solution of this problem: who is the man about whom the opinions of mankind are so divided? The questions, strictly speaking, were these: is the Redeemer perfect," Heb. xii. 23, after I have finished my short life, or shall I be plunged with devils into eternal flames? My God! how is it possible for men quietly to eat, drink, sleep, and, as they call it, amuse themselves, while these important questions remain unanswered! But, as I said of the Jews, we must neglect our bu siness; suspend our pleasures; cease to be dazzled with the present, and employ ourselves about the future world: perhaps also we must make a sacrifice of some darling passion, abjure some old opinion; or restore some acquisition, which is dearer to us than the truths of religion, and the salvation of our souls. Wo be to us! Let us no more reproach the Jews; the causes of their indolence are the causes of ours. Ah! let us take care, lest, like them, we continue in ignorance, till the vengeance of God command death, and devils, and hell, to awake us with them "to everlasting shame,” Dan. xii. 2. 66 Jesus Christ, having heard from the mouths of his apostles what people thought of him, desired also to hear from their own mouths (we have assigned the reasons before) what they themselves thought of him. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am?" Peter instantly replied for himself, and for the whole apostolical college, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." St. Peter was a man of great vivacity, and people of this cast are subject to great mistakes; as ready to speak as to think; they of ten fall into mistakes, through the same principle that inclines them to embrace the truth, and to maintain it. St. Peter's history often exemplifies this remark. Does he hear Jesus Christ speak of his approaching death? "Lord (says he,) spare thyself, this shall not be to thee," Matt. xvi. 22. Does he see a few rays of celestial glory on the holy mount! He is stricken with their splendour, and exclaims, "Lord, it is good for us to be here," chap. xvii. 4. Does he perceive Jesus Christ in the hands of his enemies? He draws a sword to deliver him, and cuts off the ear of Malchus. But, if this vivacity expose a man to great inconveniences, it is also accompanied with some fine advantages. When a man of this disposition attends to virtue, he makes infinitely greater proficiency in it than those slow men do, who pause, and weigh, and argue out all step by step: the zeal of the former is more ardent, their flames are more vehement, and after they are become wise by their mistakes, they are patterns of piety. St. Peter on this occasion, proves beforehand all we have advanced. He feels himself animated with a holy jealousy, in regard to them who partake with him the honour of apostleship, and it would mortify him, could he think, that any one of the apostolical college has more zeal for his master, to whom he has devoted his heart, and his life, all his faculty of loving, and all the powers of his soul; he looks, he sparkles, and he replies, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." "Thou art the Christ," or, thou art the Messiah, the King promised to the church. He calls this king "the Son of God." The Jews gave the Messiah this title, which was an object of their hopes. Under this idea the prophecies had promised him, "the Lord hath said unto me, thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee," Ps. ii. 7. God himself conferred this title on Jesus Christ from heaven, "This my beloved Son," Matt. iii. 17. Under this idea the angel promised him to his holy mother," thou shalt bring forth a Son, he shall be great, and shall be called, the Son of the Highest," Luke i. 31, 32. They are two very different questions, I grant, whether the Jewish church acknowledged that the Messiah should be “the Son of God;" and whether they knew all the import of this august title. It cannot, however, be reasonably doubted, I think, whether they discovered his dignity, although they might not know the doctrine of Christ's divinity so clearly, nor receive it with so much demonstration, as Christians have received it. I should digress too far from my subject, were I to quote all the passages from the writings of the Jews which learned men have collected on this article. Let it suffice to remark, that if it could be proved, that the Jewish church affixed only confused ideas to the title "Son of God," which is given to the Messiah, it is beyond a doubt, I think, that the apostles affixed clear ideas to the terms, and that in their style, God and Son of God are synonymous: witness, among many other pas sages, St. Thomas's adoration of Jesus Christ expressed in these words, "My Lord and my God." Let us not engage any farther in this con troversy now; let us improve the precious mo ments which remain to the principal design that we proposed in the choice of the subject that is, to guard you against the temptations which arise from that variety of opinions which are received, both in the world and in the church, on the most important points of religion. The comparison we are going to make of St. Peter's confession of faith, with the judg ment of Jesus Christ on it, will conduct us to this end. Jesus Christ assured St. Peter, that the con fession of faith, which he then made, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," was not a production of frail and corrupted nature, or, as he expresses it, That "flesh and blood" have not revealed these things unto him. Flesh and blood mean here, as in many passages we have quoted at other times, frail and corrupted nature. Jesus Christ assured St. Peter, that this confession was a produc tion of grace, which had operated in him, and which would conduct him to the supreme good. This is the meaning of these words, My Father, who is in heaven, hath revealed these things unto thee." What were the characters of the faith of St. Feter which oc casioned the judgment that Jesus Christ made of it? and how may we know whether our faith be of the same divine original? Follow us in these reflections: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, flesh and blood hath not produced the faith that thou hast professed, but my Fa ther who is in heaven, hath revealed it to thee." In order to convince thee of the truth of my assertions, consider first the circumstan ces which Providence has improved to pro duce thy faith: secondly, the efforts which preceded it: thirdly, the evidence that accom panies it: fourthly, the sacrifices which seal and crown it: and, lastly the nature of the very frailties which subsist with it.-Let us explain these five characters, and let us make an application of them. Let us know St. Peter, or, rather, let us learn to know ourselves. With this, the most important point, we will conclude this discourse. 1. Let us attend to the circumstances which Providence had improved to the producing of St. Peter's faith. There are in the lives of Christians, certain signal circumstances, which we cannot help perceiving a particular hand of Providence working for their salvation. Mistakes on this article may produce, and foment, superstitious sentiments. We have, in general, a secret bias to fanaticism. We often meet with people who imagine themselves the central points of all the designs of God; they think, he watches only over them, and that, in all the events in the universe, he has only their felicity in view. Far from us be such extravagant notions. It is, however, strictly true, that there are in the lives of Christians some signal circumstances, we cannot help seeing a particular Providence working for their salvation. Of whom can this be affirmed more evidently than of the apos tles? They by an inestimable privilege, were not only witnesses of the life of Jesus Christ, hearers of his doctrine, and spectators of his miracles: but they were admitted to an inti which |