"Leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." In this too is not "the arm of the Lord revealed?" Thus clearly does infinite wisdom foresee whatsoever shall come to pass: thus confidently doth unchangeable, unerring truth declare the end from the beginning, and thus irresistably doth the mighty power of God bring it to pass. And thus by a series of "immutable things," that "God who cannot lie" is affording "a strong consolation" to those "who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.”

Jesus takes up the same theme which constituted the subject of John's preaching, namely the doctrine of repentance; that humbling doctrine, which regards a world lying in wickedness, ignorance and misery so deplorable, as to be fitly represented by the powerful and expressive imagery of "darkness" and "the region and shadow of death;" that compassionate doctrine which stretches out a friendly hand to the guilty and the wretched; that reviving doctrine which gently draws the trembling sinner to the God of mercy, and which forbids the vilest to despair. And by what argument is this salutary doctrine recommended and enforced, by both the forerunner, and by the greater who followed after him? "The King of heaven is at hand:" the reign of grace, the dominion of love; a new display of divine perfection, even God descending to dwell with men upon earth, that he might prepare men to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." What a fulness of

time was now come when "the Prophet of the Highest," like the sun, "rejoicing as a strong man to run a race," began to "go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace!" The great sovereign in this heavenly kingdom, in a manner peculiar to himself, announces his own public entry on the exercise of his authority; the Prince of Peace cries aloud, and proclaims "the acceptable year of the Lord!"

We said, in a manner peculiar to himself: for it looks as if he were meaning to court neglect, to excite compassion, or to provoke contempt, not to engage attention or to command respect. When we behold the carpenter's son forming an humble alliance with three or four simple, illiterate, unconnected fishermen, the inhabitants of a little town on the coast of the sea of Galilee, Who is so timid as to take the alarm? Who is so sanguine as to expect any thing from, such a confederacy? Who is such a visionary as to prognosticate from it the downfal of idolatry, and the revolution of empires? But this proved indeed the grand crisis in human affairs. It produced a universal and everlasting change in the state of the world. It was the establishment of a kingdom destined to control, and, at length to swallow up every other; nay, which was to outlast the sun, and survive the system of nature; which was to prove the foundation whereon to rear a new and more glorious fabric of creation, to serve as a theatre whereon to display wonders which shall leave the pride of kings at an infinite distance behind. "All these things shall be dissolved: nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.' On the day that Jesus called "Simon VOL. IV. Z

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and Andrew his brother, James and John his brother" from their boats and fishing-nets, imperial Rome shook to the foundation; the Jewish hierarchy expired; Satan's empire fell; and on their ruins began to arise "a kingdom which cannot be moved;" the predicted throne and kingdom of David's Lord, which the zeal of the Lord of hosts was "to order, and to establish with judgment and with justice, even for ever."

These simple men, with simple names, then obscure, unnoticed, unknown, were hastening to acquire a celebrity which speedily eclipsed the titles of royalty, and the glare of imperial purple. "Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ;" John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," are held in lasting and grateful remembrance by the nations of the earth, while the memory of their mighty contemporaries, a Tiberius, a Nero, and a Domitian, is rotting in the dust, or preserved from oblivion by a note of infamy, and a sentiment of detestation. In the former we revere the benefactors of the human race; from the latter we turn away with abhorrence, as from so many monsters. The despised Galileans became "fishers of men," converted myriads to the faith and hope of the gospel, and, to this day, by their writings, continue to minister to the edification and comfort of the christian world; and now that the papal throne is sinking after the imperial into utter annihilation, the throne of those humble followers of the Lamb is, like that of their divine master, built upon a rock, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail.

The power of persuasion accompanied the call of Jesus: "Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren; and he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him." Presently after, he saw another pair of brothers, pursuing the accustomed labours of their humble occupation; "and he called them. And they immediately left the ship, and their

father, and followed him." It will be said that they had very little to lose, and therefore merit not the praise of having made a very costly sacrifice. No man can make a greater sacrifice than that of his all, whether it be much or little. When a person deliberately resigns the means of earning his bread, he casts himself entirely on Providence. The woman of Sarepta who, at the word of the prophet, brought her last morsel of bread to satisfy his hunger, exhibited a most illustrious display of confidence in God; as did likewise that other poor widow, whom Jesus beheld casting her two mites into the treasury, and whose liberality he so highly extols: "he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had." It is not the quantity given, but the spirit in which it is bestowed, that stamps value on the gift. Peter indeed, on a certain occasion, seems to have highly rated the surrender which he made, and to have deemed himself fully entitled to a compensation: "Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore ?" Jesus admits the claim: he undervalues not the sacrifice which affection has offered up, and points out the glorious compensation which he was ready to make: "And Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Such is the unbounded generosity of him who saith in another place: "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a

cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his

reward."

But there must have been an inconceivable something in the manner and address of Jesus Christ, which could induce men in circumstances such as those of the disciples, to forego the very means of subsistence, and to follow him at all hazards. They feel the attraction of true goodness, but have not as yet any apprehension of the person, nature and mission of the master whom they were preferring to all worldly relations, possessions and prospects. But their choice was shortly justified, as they attended his footsteps through the cities of Galilee: and it is highly grateful to find a first favourable impression, completely confirmed, or far exceeded by knowledge and experience. They were to be made witnesses for Christ to all nations, every opportunity is therefore afforded them of the most intimate communication with him "all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them:" that they might declare to the world "that which was from the beginning, which they heard, which they saw with their eyes, which they looked upon, and which their hands did handle of the word of life." Through a channel, and on the testimony of witnesses, so little liable to suspicion, "the truth as it is in Jesus" has been transmitted to us.

The mode of conveying to the minds of men "the gospel of the kingdom," next arrests our attention. He went teaching in their synagogues. This consisted, if we may judge from his practice at Nazareth, in rehearsing aloud, before worshipping assemblies, the Scriptures of the Old Testament, either in their order, or passages selected for special occasions, and particularly applied. And this in every age and state of the church, ever since a revelation came down from heaven, was and is the ground-work of public instruction and devotion; even the word of the living