Article September 19, 1925 Issue

"Freely ye have received, freely give"

W. STUART BOOTH

The Bible is a storehouse of treasures rich and rare. However, the gems of thought found therein are, all too often, appreciated because of their literary merit more than for their spiritual import. Furthermore, some of the Scriptural statements have been quoted and considered apart from their context, and have been applied so differently from what was the evident original intent that one must needs refer to the Bible and study these gems in their natural setting in order to gain a proper appreciation and understanding of their true value and intended application.

In Matthew's account of the sending forth of the twelve disciples by Christ Jesus, there occurs a statement in the Master's commission to his students which has been generally used in a connection so different from his obvious meaning that, when it is quoted, it is seldom properly appreciated. The words "freely ye have received, freely give," have indeed developed into a trite saying, which to some is also perhaps trying, because of its oft-repeated use in connection with the raising of funds for purposes of various sorts. Of course it is right and proper for gratitude to be expressed; and it has many times been found that the giving of thanks by those who have freely received of God's bountiful store of health, happiness, and harmony has proved decidedly beneficial. Indeed, in these very same instructions to his disciples Christ Jesus stated that "the workman is worthy of his meat."

Prior to the time when Jesus especially commissioned his disciples as to what they should preach and as to the verifying proofs of the teaching they were to offer, they had freely received spiritual instruction from their great Teacher. The Sermon on the Mount had been included in that spiritual instruction; but, although that wonderful sermon is marvelously comprehensive in its scope, it did not cover all that the disciples had so freely received from their Master. He had evidently given them some special and specific directions regarding the healing of the sick, because directly following and connected with his command to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils" Christ Jesus used the words "freely ye have received, freely give." One of the disciples, Peter, had seen a member of his own household healed when his wife's mother had been freed from fever. The disciples had witnessed the healing of a leper immediately following the close of the Sermon on the Mount. It had been proved to them that these healings were the result of the operation of spiritual law, and were not dependent upon the personal presence of Jesus, when the centurion's servant was restored to health; and they had heard Christ Jesus definitely state that sickness is primarily a mental condition and not a state of matter, when, in healing the palsied man, he had told him that his sins were forgiven. In addition to the casting out or annulling of the devil—evil—of dumbness and the restoring of sight to the blind, their Master had proved death to be but an error of material sense, which could be overcome by divine Truth and Love; for he had restored Jairus' daughter in the face of the incredulous scoffs of those who mourned her death. Truly, the disciples had received freely and abundantly of the spiritual teaching, explanation, and example which Christ Jesus now called upon them to dispense as freely to a needy and waiting world.

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