And very soon after he had gathered together a large company of disciples, he made choice of twelve, out of this number, who were to be his apostles. He wished these men to be with him all the time. They were to hear his teaching, and see his miracles, and so be prepared to take his place, and carry on his work when he should return to heaven. It was necessary for these men to be chosen. When Washington was appointed to conduct our armies during the Revolution, he chose a number of generals to help him. And it is natural for us to think of Washington and his generals. But just as natural it is to think of--Jesus and his apostles. And this is the subject we have now to consider--_The Apostles Chosen_. And in considering this subject there are four things of which to speak. _The first, is the condition and character of the men whom Jesus chose as his apostles. The second, is the work these men were called to do. The third, is the help that was given them in doing this work; and The fourth, is the lesson taught us by this subject._ Or, to make the points of the subject as short as possible, we may state them thus: _The men. The work. The help. The lesson. We begin then with speaking of_--THE MEN--_or the condition and character of those whom Jesus chose to be his apostles or helpers_. Now we might have thought that Jesus would have chosen his apostles, or helpers, from among the angels of heaven. They are so wise, and good, and strong, that we wonder why he did not choose them. But he did not. He chose _men_ to be his apostles. And what kind of men did he choose? If we had been asked this question beforehand, we should have supposed that he would certainly have chosen the wisest and the most learned men, the richest and greatest men that could be found in the world. But it was not so. Instead of this he chose poor men, unlearned men, men that were not famous at all; and who had not been heard of before. Fishermen, and tax-gatherers, and men occupying very humble positions in life, were those whom Jesus chose to be his apostles.