ith snow. Here Jesus stayed all night, and the next
morning came down into the grassy dale between the peaks where the
people were gathering. The disciples went to meet Him, and He told
them that He had chosen twelve of them to be with Him in His work, and
to preach the Good Tidings to the people.

He called to His side Peter and Andrew, and James and John--the two
pairs of brothers who were His first friends; then Philip, of
Bethsaida. Bartholomen, from Cana, and Matthew, the tax-gatherer of
Capernaum, who afterward wrote the first gospel. He also chose Thomas,
of Galilee; James and Jude, two brothers from Capernaum; Simon, of
Galilee, and Judas Iscariot, who came from the country near Jerusalem.
Five of these, it is said, were His cousins. More than half of them
were fisherman, and none of them were learned men, unless Bartholomew
might be called one. How wonderful it must have been to see these
twelve earnest young men gathered around Jesus, ready to go where He
should send them, or follow Him to death. No kings or emperors on
earth ever had so great honor given them as that which Jesus gave to
these men, for they became the Lord's spiritual brothers, and princes
in His spiritual kingdom.

Then Jesus came down among the people. Some had brought sick friends
up the rocky gorge for Jesus to touch; or they had brought poor souls
possessed by devils for Him to set free, and He healed them all.

Then He sat down and taught the people. The sayings of that wonderful
day are kept in the gospels, and are called the "Sermon on the Mount."
There was no choir, no organ, no church made with hands, but the words
are now read in every Christian church in the world. The preacher sat
on a green hillock, His dark cloak thrown back showing His white tunic,
and the spring sunshine lay on His holy, beautiful face and flowing
hair. All this the people saw, but they saw much more than this. They
saw something divine in His face. His form, and the light around Him,
and what they heard seemed to them to be the words of a Divine Man. He
looked lovingly on the little group of disciples near Him, and blessed
them in beautiful words that we call the Beatitudes, or the Ten
Blessings. He said to them and to us that the "blessed" (happy) are
the good, humble, pure souls who have little of this world's wealth and
friendship, but much faith and love.

[Illustration: Sermon on the Mount]

If you will read the fifth, sixth and seven