Freely You Received, Freely give out the Gospel
Freely You Received, Freely give out the Gospel
We continue from Matthew chapter 9, where Jesus saw the crowd and had “compassion” on them because they were like “sheep without the Great shepherd- Jesus”. Without Jesus you don’t have any life and the end is hell. This is the sum of it all but sorry for the bluntness. Jesus had asked the disciples to pray to the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into the field of harvest of souls. Now in chapter 10, Jesus turns and sends out the disciples.
We are the answers to the prayers of Jesus. We are His laborers for the harvest. Jesus says to us, you have “Freely you have received, freely give” Matthew 10:8. We have freely received the gospel –Jesus himself, we must freely give Jesus to others. “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10. The Gospel is free but someone has to deliver it- "we are His workmanship" for the gospel work.
Have you freely received Jesus? Can you freely give Jesus to others? Yes, you can because Jesus said you can and commands you and I to do so. Yes, Jesus commands us but He will never override our will. The disciples by definition are those you willingly follow their Master and do what He says. Our obedience to the “great commission” (“go and make disciples”, Matthew 28:19) is an expression of our gratitude to the One who died for us.
You really don’t have to give Jesus to others. The real question for you and I is to examine whether we are Jesus’ disciples. Why call Me Lord, Lord and refuse to do what I say? Lord, are you my Lord? Please help me to know You and to do your will. Amen.
Scripture for Today’s Reading and Study Matthew 10:1-15:
Matthew 10 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Twelve Apostles
10 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was[a]Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite,[b] and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
Sending Out the Twelve
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,[c] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
We continue from Matthew chapter 9, where Jesus saw the crowd and had “compassion” on them because they were like “sheep without the Great shepherd- Jesus”. Without Jesus you don’t have any life and the end is hell. This is the sum of it all but sorry for the bluntness. Jesus had asked the disciples to pray to the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into the field of harvest of souls. Now in chapter 10, Jesus turns and sends out the disciples.
We are the answers to the prayers of Jesus. We are His laborers for the harvest. Jesus says to us, you have “Freely you have received, freely give” Matthew 10:8. We have freely received the gospel –Jesus himself, we must freely give Jesus to others. “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10. The Gospel is free but someone has to deliver it- "we are His workmanship" for the gospel work.
Have you freely received Jesus? Can you freely give Jesus to others? Yes, you can because Jesus said you can and commands you and I to do so. Yes, Jesus commands us but He will never override our will. The disciples by definition are those you willingly follow their Master and do what He says. Our obedience to the “great commission” (“go and make disciples”, Matthew 28:19) is an expression of our gratitude to the One who died for us.
You really don’t have to give Jesus to others. The real question for you and I is to examine whether we are Jesus’ disciples. Why call Me Lord, Lord and refuse to do what I say? Lord, are you my Lord? Please help me to know You and to do your will. Amen.
Scripture for Today’s Reading and Study Matthew 10:1-15:
Matthew 10 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Twelve Apostles
10 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was[a]Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite,[b] and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
Sending Out the Twelve
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,[c] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
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