and nil manner of disease among the ! and tliose tliat had the palsy ; and he
people.
'J4 And his fame went tbrou.Erhout all Syria : and they brought unto him all Bick people that were taken with divers ctiseases and torments, and those whicli were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic,
healed them.
25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, ii\u\fro7n Decapoiis, and from Jeru- salem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
We have in these verses the beginning of our Lord's ministry among men. He enters on His labors among a dark and ignorant people. He chooses men to be His comj^anions and disciples. He confirms His ministry by miracles, which rouse the attention of " all Syria/' and draw multitudes to hear Him.
Let us notice the way in ivliich our Lord commenced His migJity worh. " He began to preach."
There is no office so honorable as that of the preacher. There is no work so important to the souls of men. It is an office which the Son of God was not ashamed to take up. It is an office to which He appointed His twelve apostles. It is an office to which St. Paul in his old age specially directs Timothy's attention. He charges him with almost his last breath to " preach the word." It is the means which God has always been pleased to use above any other, for the conversion and edification of souls. The brightest days of the Church have been those when preaching has been honored. The darkest days of the Church have been those when it has been lightly esteemed. Let us honor the sacraments and public prayers of the Church, and reverently use them. But let us beware that we do not place them above preaching.
Let us notice the first doctrine which the Lord Jesus proclaimed to the loorld. He began to say " rej)ent."
The necessity of repentance is one of the great founda-
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tions, wliicli lie at the very bottom of Christianity. It needs to be pressed on all mankind without exception. — High or low, rich or poor, all have sinned and are guilty before God ; and all must repent and be converted, if they would be saved. And true repentance is no light matter. It is a thorough change of heart about sin, a change showing itself in godly sorrow and humiliation, — in heartfelt confession before the throne of grace, — in a complete breaking off from sinful habits, and an abiding hatred of all sin. Such repentance is the inseparable companion of saving faith in Christ. Let us prize the doctrine highly. It is of the highest importance. No Christian teaching can be called sound, which does not constantly bring forward " repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord. Jesus Christ."' (Acts xx. 21.)
Let us notice the class of men whom the Lord Jesus chose to he His disciples. They were of the poorest and humblest rank in life. Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John, were all ^^ fishermen.''
The rehgion of our Lord Jesus Christ was not intended for the rich and learned alone. It was intended for all the world, — and the majority of all the world will always be the poor. Poverty and ignorance of books excluded thousands from the notice of the boastful philosophers of the heathen world. They exclude no one from the highest place in the service of Christ. Is a man humble ? Does he feel his sins ? Is he willing to hear Christ's voice and follow Him ? If this be so, he may be the poorest of the poor, but he shall be found as high as any in the kingdom of heaven. Intellect and money are worth nothing without grace.