special notice of the
emperor's son. This made the father angry. He said to the bishop, "Do
you take no notice of my son? Have you not heard that I have made him
a partner with myself in the government of the empire?"

The good old bishop made no reply to this, but going to Arcadius, he
laid his hand on his head, saying, as he did so--"The Lord bless
thee, my son!" and was again turning to retire.

Even this did not satisfy the emperor, who asked, in a tone of
surprise and displeasure, "Is _this_ all the respect you pay to a
prince whom I have made equal in dignity with myself?"

With great warmth the bishop answered--"Does your majesty resent so
highly my apparent neglect of your son, because I do not treat him
with equal honor to yourself? What, then, must the _Eternal God_--the
King of heaven--think of you, who refuse to render to his only
begotten Son, the honor and the worship that he claims for him?"

This had such an effect upon the emperor that he changed his views on
this subject, and ever afterwards took part with those who
acknowledged the divinity of Christ, and honored the Son, even as
they honored the Father.

And so we see that the second lesson taught by the Transfiguration
was the _lesson of instruction_. We must learn to think of Christ as
the Father in heaven thinks of him.

_And then there is_--A LESSON OF DUTY--_that comes to us from this
Transfiguration scene_.

We are taught this lesson by the last two words that were spoken, by
the voice which the apostles heard from the cloud that overshadowed
them. These are the words:--"_Hear Him."_ "This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased: _Hear Him_." This is God's command to every
one of us. To hear Jesus, means to listen attentively to what he has
to say, and to do it. And what does Jesus say to us? He says many
things. But the most important thing he has to say to the young, is
what we find in St. Matt, vi: 33: "_Seek ye_ FIRST _the kingdom of
God_." This means that we must give our hearts to Jesus, and serve
him while we are young. We must do this _first_,--before we do
anything else. We cannot hear or obey Jesus in anything, till we hear
and obey him in this. And there are three good reasons why we should
do this.

We should "hear him" because there is _safety_ in it. We are exposed
to dangers every day, and nothing will so help to keep us safe in the
midst of these dangers as hearing Jesus, and doing what he tells us
to do. Here is