Freely ye have received, freely give. Some of our Lord's directions were suitable only for the occasion, and only after much forcing can they be made illustrative of permanent principles; but our text gives succinctly the absolute law on which Christian work must be done and always done. We are monuments of mercy; we must be dispensers of mercy. We are saved by grace; we must be ready to save and help others, "hoping for nothing again," "without money and without price." St. Paul is the most striking after-instance of this law. He was, if we may so say, jealous, in quite an exaggerated way, of the freeness of his gospel service. It was with difficulty he could be persuaded to receive a gift; he never did receive a payment. And our Lord most resolute! - refused to associate his acts of grace and power with money matters. Foreshadowings of this feeling may be found in Elisha, who utterly refused to take any acknowledgment of his cure from grateful Naaman. It is not necessary to controvert the doctrine that "the labourer is worthy of his hire," or that "they who preach the gospel should live of the gospel," or that they "who are ministered unto in spiritual things should minister in carnal things." The point is that if a man becomes conscious of any gift or power unto edification which has come to him by sovereign grace, that man will find his true joy in using his gift freely, "not seeking a reward."

I. OUR GIFTS ARE NOT OURS. This is the point which needs to be brought home to us. Men have no possession in their abilities. They have no right to trade with them for their own benefit. Our gifts are trusts. We trade with them for our Master, and the products of the trading should be such spiritual things as honour him. "What hast thou that thou hast not received?"

II. OUR GIFTS COST US NOTHING. Reference is to spiritual gifts. God distributeth to every man severally as he will. One talent, two, or ten, according as he pleases. No man can purchase, or earn, or win, a spiritual gift. This Simon Magus learned by a most severe rebuke.

III. OUR GIFTS MUST BE USED FOR NOTHING. Our characteristic spiritual power, to help, heal, inspire, or comfort others must never be sold. - R.T.

I. A confirmation of our SINCERITY.

II. An illustration of the COMPLETENESS Of Christianity.

1. Its concern with the whole nature of man.

2. Its care for the individual.

III. A REVELATION Of the Spirit of the Lord.

IV. An undoubted MODE OF SERVING the Christ Himself.

(U. R. Thomas.)

Leprosy is a disease with which we are happily so little acquainted in Western lauds that the miraculous power exerted by our Lord and His apostles in connection with it does not strike us with the wonder and admiration it must have occasioned in early times, It is, in the passage before us, distinguished from sickness — "Heal the sick" and" Cleanse the lepers," being distinct commands. For leprosy was the special disease of Palestine; was looked upon as a type of sin, was in most cases incurable, and was one that necessitated separation, as indeed it does at the present day, though what is now termed leprosy, Elephantiasis Groecorum, is distinct from the Lepra Mosaics to which the Israelites from the period of their bondage in Egypt to the time of our Lord, were subject. But the former disease, like the latter, is of Eastern origin, and is thought to have been brought into Europe by the Crusaders, while others affirm that it was introduced in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the Moors and Arabs, who not only conquered the larger part of Spain, but penetrated much further into Europe than is generally known, reaching, it is believed, even as far as Switzerland. Its frequency in various parts of Europe through the Middle Ages is shown by the word "Lazar," for hospital, which referred to Lazarus, because he was "full of sores," and these hospitals were intended primarily for lepers. Most great towns in England had their " St. Giles's Gate," outside which these wretched beings were housed to avoid infection, St. Giles being the patron saint of lepers. This was generally a particularly low and wretched part of the town — St. Giles's Church in London and the Gilligate at Durham are instances. The laws to prevent the spread of leprosy were very stringent, sometimes even cruel. At Edinburgh, for instance, there was at one time a statute that if any person harboured a leper in their house, he was, among other penalties, to be branded in the cheek. There is only one country in Northern Europe in which this dire disease is still frequent, Norway. From want of vigorous measures to stamp it out leprosy is common in that country, and there is a large leper hospital at Christiania, the capital. In England isolated instances are met with — for instance, at Marazide, in Cornwall, there lived some years ago a person most grievously afflicted with Elephantiasis Groecorum, a form of the disease in which the extremities swell to a great size, and sometimes fall off. In the Holy Land, at the present day, as well as in Greece and Spain, this form of leprosy is far from uncommon. Ewald gives a thrilling account of a village near Jerusalem which is exclusively inhabited by lepers — about one hundred in number at the time he visited it. "This unfortunate and pitiable race," he says, "are compelled to live separate from all. The malady appears generally when they are about twelve or fourteen years old, and increases every year, till they lose literally one limb after the other. As they grow older their sight fails, their throat and lungs become infected, till death ends their protracted sufferings. They live upon the alms which they receive from pilgrims and others." In South Africa the disease is very frequent, more especially among them and Hottentots. Very little care was taken to tend or isolate these unfortunate sufferers while the Dutch were in possession of Cape Colony, since they mostly belonged to the despised black race, but when the English came into power in 1810 a settlement was appointed for the lepers at a place called by the Dutch Hemel en Aaede (Heaven on Earth), which seems a most inappropriate name, but that the devoted labours of the Moravian missionary Lehmann sweetened the lot of these unhappy ones. In 1845 the settlement was removed to Robber Island, nearly opposite Cape Town, where the lepers, it was thought, would be more completely isolated, and would enjoy the benefit of sea-air. There the devoted Lehmann continued his ministrations, having under his spiritual charge a motley assemblage of English, Germans, Frenchmen, Malays, Swedes, Africans, only alike in their misfortune.

I. A VERY PROFITABLE RECOLLECTION. Have you received at all? How have we received? "Freely."

1. Look at your own personal salvation.

2. Look at the abundance of grace given you.

3. Look at the treasures set before you.

II. THE CONSTRAINING OBLIGATION — "Freely give."

1. Think what you have to give, give your own selves, your substance, your prayers.

2. How you are to give.

(C. Bridges, M. A.)

I. CONSIDER THE PRIVILEGES WHICH HAVE BEEN SO FREELY BESTOWED UPON US. The value of the gospel seen —

1. From our Lord's commission to His disciples.

2. The labours attendant on the execution of that commission.

II. THE DUTY RESULTING FROM THESE PRIVILEGES.

1. Freely give your money, influence, and ability.

2. Freely give your friends and relatives to engage in this great missionary work.

3. Freely give yourselves, your lives to this great work.

4. Freely give your prayers.

(J. B. Sumpter, M. A.)

I. Giving is an act of consecration.

II. It is an act of grace.

III. It is an act of communion.

IV. It is a privilege.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

1. Manifested in creation.

2. Redemption.

3. Assurance.

4. All these blessings come freely.

5. The favourable administrations of providence.

(R. Alliott.)

When a gentleman, who had been accustomed to give away some thousands, was supposed to be at the point of death, his presumptive heir inquired where his fortune was to be found. To whom he answered, "that it was in the pockets of the indigent."

In The Indian Female Evangelist for September of this year, we meet with rather a pleasing illustration of this verse, in the report given by a native Bible-woman, who accompanied the missionary, Mr. Harding and his wife, on an evangelizing tour of 180 miles in the Bombay Presidency, in a bullock-cart. At one place they came to, she says, "We had so many openings in the town here to-day. There were several of us who went, and at times we divided into two companies. We must have gone to six places. One interesting-looking lad followed us around, waiting patiently for his time to come, when we could follow him to his home. We gladly did so, and had a large company in front of his mother's house and yard. He tried to slip a few coppers into our hands but we refused, for as we have received freely, we are glad to give freely." But the boy's offer was gratifying, as showing how the work was appreciated. Freely .... St. Helanon healed very many sick persons, but would not receive any gifts from them, not so much as a morsel of bread; for he was wont to say, "Gratis ye have received, gratis give." He replied to a certain nobleman whom he had delivered from a legion of devils, and who urgently pressed him to receive a gift, at least that he might distribute it among the poor, "Be not grieved, my son. at what I do, for I do it for thy sake as well as my own. If I should receive this I should offend God, and the legion would return to thee."

Alphaeus, Andrew, Bartholomew, Beelzebub, James, Jesus, John, Judas, Lebbaeus, Matthew, Peter, Philip, Simon, Thaddaeus, Thomas, Zabdi, ZebedeeCapernaum, Gomorrah, SodomCast, Casting, Clean, Cleanse, Cleansing, Cure, Dead, Demons, Devils, Drive, Evil, Freely, Gratuitously, Heal, Healing, Ill, Infirm, Lepers, Leprosy, Ones, Pay, Paying, Payment, Raise, Raising, Receive, Received, Sick, Spirits1. Jesus sends out his apostles, enabling them with power to do miracles;
5. giving them their charge, teaches them;
16. comforts them against persecutions;
40. and promises a blessing to those who receive them.

Matthew 10:8

     4160   driving out
     5289   debt
     5765   attitudes, to people
     7968   spiritual gifts, nature of
     8436   giving, of possessions

Matthew 10:5-10

     4333   gold
     7708   apostles, function

Matthew 10:5-14

     7757   preaching, effects

Matthew 10:5-15

     5357   journey
     7953   mission, of church

Matthew 10:5-16

     7740   missionaries, call

Matthew 10:7-8

     2012   Christ, authority
     7725   evangelists, identity

January 24. "Freely Ye have Received, Freely Give" (Matt. x. 8).
"Freely ye have received, freely give" (Matt. x. 8). When God does anything marked and special for our souls, or bodies, He intends it as a sacred trust for us to communicate to others. "Freely ye have received, freely give." It has pleased the Master in these closing days of the dispensation to reveal Himself in peculiar blessing to the hearts of His chosen disciples in all parts of the Christian Church; but this is intended to be communicated to a still wider circle, and every one of us who has …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

A Life Lost and Found [Footnote: Preached after the Funeral of Mr. F. W. Crossley. ]
'He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.' --MATT. x. 39. My heart impels me to break this morning my usual rule of avoiding personal references in the pulpit. Death has been busy in our own congregation this last week, and yesterday we laid in the grave all that was mortal of a man to whom Manchester owes more than it knows. Mr. Crossley has been for thirty years my close and dear friend. He was long a member of this church and congregation. I need not speak of his utter unselfishness, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Obscure Apostles
'These twelve Jesus sent forth.'--MATT. x. 5. And half of 'these twelve' are never heard of as doing any work for Christ. Peter and James and John we know; the other James and Judas have possibly left us short letters; Matthew gives us a Gospel; and of all the rest no trace is left. Some of them are never so much as named again, except in the list at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles; and none of them except the three who 'seemed to be pillars' appear to have been of much importance in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Widened Mission, Its Perils and Defences
'Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18. And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20. For it …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Like Teacher, Like Scholar
'The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 26. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.' --MATT. x. 24, 25. These words were often on Christ's lips. Like other teachers, He too had His favourite sayings, the light of which He was wont to flash into many dark places. Such a saying, for instance, was, 'To him that hath shall be given.' Such a saying is this of my text; and probably several other of our Lord's utterances, which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The King's Charge to his Ambassadors
'Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. 33. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven. 34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36. And man's foes shall be they of his own household. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Greatest in the Kingdom, and their Reward
'He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42. And 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.' --MATT. x. 41, 42. There is nothing in these words to show whether they refer to the present or to the future. We shall probably …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Charge to his Heralds
'These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, do not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10. Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

February the Second How to Approach a Crisis
"It shall be given you in that same hour." --MATTHEW x. 16-28. And so I am not to worry about the coming crisis! "God never is before His time, and never is behind!" When the hour is come, I shall find that the great Host hath made "all things ready." When the crisis comes He will tell me how to rest. It is a great matter to know just how to rest--how to be quiet when "all without tumultuous seems." We irritate and excite our souls about the coming emergency, and we approach it with worn and …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

May the Sixteenth the Details of Providence
"The very hairs of your head are all numbered." --MATTHEW x. 24-31. Providence goes into details. Sometimes, in our human intercourse, we cannot see the trees for the wood. We cannot see the individual sheep for the flock. We cannot see the personal soul for the masses. We are blinded by the bigness of things; we cannot see the individual blades of grass because of the field. Now God's vision is not general, it is particular. There are no "masses" to the Infinite. "He calleth His own sheep by …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Christ Bringing a Sword.
(Christmas Sermon.) "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and goodwill towards men!" TEXT: MATT. x. 34. "Think not that I came to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." HOW wonderfully out of harmony these words sound with the angelic greeting that we have just heard; threatening to rob us of all the joy and blessedness of this holy season! For is the sword pre-eminently the glory of God? and if it rages anew, is that a special delight to men? When the message has come …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. x. 16, "Behold, I Send You Forth as Sheep in the Midst of Wolves," Etc. Delivered on a Festival
1. When the Holy Gospel was read, Brethren, ye heard how our Lord Jesus Christ strengthened His Martyrs by His teaching, saying, "Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves." [2215] Now consider, my Brethren, what he does. If but one wolf come among many sheep, be they ever so many thousands, they will all be put to confusion by one wolf in the midst of them: and though all may not be torn, yet all are frightened. What manner of design is this then, what manner of counsel, what manner …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. x. 28, "Be not Afraid of them that Kill the Body. " Delivered on a Festival of Martyrs.
1. The Divine oracles which have just been read teach us in fearing not to fear, and in not fearing to fear. Ye observed when the Holy Gospel was being read, that our Lord God before He died for us, would have us to be firm; and this by admonishing us "not" to fear, and withal to fear. For he said, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." See where He advised us not to fear. See now where He advised us to fear. "But," saith he, "fear Him who hath power to destroy both …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Confessing Christ an Indispensable Duty.
"--If we deny him, he also will deny us." This is predicated of Christ; and looks forward to the day when all mankind will stand before him as their judge. Denying Christ is here declared to be a mortal sin. Those found guilty of it will hear that sentence--"Depart ye cursed!" But this is to be understood only of a persevering denial of him. Those who turn by a timely repentance, will find mercy. This is true of every sin. But repentance may be too late. It must antecede death, or it will be of …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

The Trial of Peter's Love to Christ.
"So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?' He saith unto him, 'Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.' He saith unto him, 'Feed my lambs.' He saith to him again a second time, 'Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me?' He saith unto him. 'Yea Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.' He saith unto him, 'Feed my sheep.' He saith unto him the third time, 'Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me?' Peter was grieved, because he said to him the third …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Enduring to the End
But, my brethren, how glorious is the sight of the man who does endure to the end as a minister of Christ. I have photographed upon my heart just now, the portrait of one very, very dear to me, and I think I may venture to produce a rough sketch of him, as no mean example of how honorable it is to endure to the end. This man began while yet a youth to preach the Word. Sprung of ancestors who had loved the Lord and served his Church, he felt the glow of holy enthusiasm. Having proved his capabilities, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Providence
Now, when we look abroad into the world we see, as we think, such abundant proofs that there is a God, that we are apt to treat a man who denies the existence of a God with very little respect or patience. We believe him to be wilfully blind, for we see God's name so legible upon the very surface of creation, that we cannot have patience with him if he dares to deny the existence of a Creator. And in the matter of salvation: we have each of us seen in our own salvation such positive marks of the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

The Meteor Shower (Preached at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, Nov. 26, 1866. )
ST. MATTHEW x. 29, 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. It will be well for us to recollect, once for all, who spoke these words; even Jesus Christ, who declared that He was one with God the Father; Jesus Christ, whom His apostles declared to be the Creator of the universe. If we believe this, as Christian men, it will be well for us to take our Lord's account of a universe …
Charles Kingsley—The Water of Life and Other Sermons

God's Works of Providence
Rom. xi. 36.--"For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever, Amen."--Psal. ciii. 19.--"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all."--Matt. x. 29.--"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." There is nothing more commonly confessed in words, than that the providence of God reaches to all the creatures and their actions, but I believe there is no point of religion …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Final Unmasking.
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.--Matthew x. 26; Luke xii. 2. God is not a God that hides, but a God that reveals. His whole work in relation to the creatures he has made--and where else can lie his work?--is revelation--the giving them truth, the showing of himself to them, that they may know him, and come nearer and nearer to him, and so he have his children more and more of companions to him. That we are in the dark about anything is …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Disciple, -- Master, in These Days Some Learned Men and their Followers Regard Thy...
The Disciple,--Master, in these days some learned men and their followers regard Thy atonement and the redemption by blood as meaningless and futile, and say that Christ was only a great teacher and example for our spiritual life, and that salvation and eternal happiness depend on our own efforts and good deeds. The Master,--1. Never forget that spiritual and religious ideas are connected less with the head than with the heart, which is the temple of God, and when the heart is filled with the presence …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Completion of Our Saviour's Prophecies Confirmed Pagans in their Belief of the Gospel.
I. The completion of our Saviour's Prophecies confirmed Pagans in their belief of the gospel. II. Origen's observation on our Saviour's disciples being brought before kings and governors; III. On their being persecuted for their religion; IV. On their preaching the gospel to all nations. V. On the destruction of Jerusalem, and ruin of the Jewish oeconomy. VI. These arguments strengthened by what has happened since Origen's time. I. THE second of these extraordinary means, of great use to the learned …
Joseph Addison—The Evidences of the Christian Religion, with Additional Discourses

After Prayer Jesus Selects Twelve Apostles.
(Near Capernaum.) ^A Matt. X. 2-4; ^B Mark III. 13-19; ^C Luke VI. 12-16. ^c 12 And it came to pass in these days, that he went out into the mountain ^b 13 And he goeth up into the mountain, ^c to pray; and he continued all night in prayer to God. [It was a momentous occasion. He was about to choose those to whom he was to entrust the planting, organizing, and training of that church which was to be the purchase of his own blood. Jesus used such important crises, not as occasions for anxiety and …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Nor do they Attend to This, that if Another Should Say...
3. Nor do they attend to this, that if another should say, that the Lord indeed, speaking in parables and in similitudes concerning spiritual food and clothing, did warn that not on these accounts should His servants be solicitous; (as He saith, "When they shall drag you to judgment-seats, take no thought what ye shall speak. For it will be given you in that hour what ye shall speak: but it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you." [2479] For the discourse of spiritual …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

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