Dec. 7, 2022: Jesus Gives His Disciples Power
Read Matthew 10:1-15.
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:
freely ye have received, freely give” (v. 8).
Every good gift is from above; and oh, how liberally God has spread His gifts upon all…rain and sun on the good and the evil; the gift of salvation to the repentant; the gift of the Holy Spirit upon those who ask Him.
But this sentence indicating the gift that Christ gave His disciples is quite amazing. I mean, the sick are everywhere, the lepers are not to be touched, the devils are fierce and entrenched…and the dead…well, they are dead. These are the ultimate result of Satan’s conquest of humanity and his intent to dethrone God. But never forget that “though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.”
Jesus came (1 John 3:8) to destroy the works of the devil (Spanish: to undo what the devil has done), and so he sends his disciples, weak in themselves but empowered by heaven, to destroy the devil’s works by healing, cleansing, raising, casting out. And they are to do so because they have received so much from God that now they freely give gifts to the unworthy. (Leonard Sankey)
“What shall I give Thee, Master? Thou hast giv’n all for me;
Not just a part or half of my heart: I will give all to Thee.”
--- Homer W. Grimes
