Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Christ sent out the twelve on their first trial of laboring without His personal presence, and afterward the seventy, to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils by the power He had given them. Teaching and healing belonged together and were not to be separated, for restoration of the body confirmed the message and testified to His power to heal the soul. To give freely means to minister without charge and without making the work a means of gain, serving the salvation of others in the self-sacrificing spirit of the Master. What is freely received from God must be freely imparted, for giving keeps the channel open for further blessing while receiving without giving leads to loss. This charge belongs to believers today as well as to the first disciples, who are to continue in Christ's place the healing work He began when He was no longer in person in the world.
Original Commission and Setting
Christ gave these words to the twelve on their first missionary tour, when He sent them out two and two for their first trial of laboring without His personal presence. He had called them and given them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and disease. The same charge was also given to the seventy, defining their clearly appointed work of preaching that the kingdom was near and healing as they went.
They were sent first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and not into the way of the Gentiles or into any Samaritan city. This restraint kept them from being drawn into controversy by caviling religionists, and Jewish prejudice against Gentiles would otherwise have greatly hindered the work. It gave the Jewish nation the first opportunity to receive Christ as Saviour and to hear salvation from Him as Shepherd seeking lost sheep, before the doors to the Jews would be closed and the work would go to Samaritans and Gentiles and then to all the world.
As they went they were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. With that preaching they were to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils, giving freely because they had freely received. What they imparted without charge they had received without charge, for those sent by Christ never go to warfare at their own charges but go under His sending and provision.
They had freely received three years of close training with Him in His words of comfort and hope to the weary and desponding and in His miracles for the suffering, with power to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. They were to do in His name the same works of mercy they had seen Him do, healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and casting out demons. Their acts were to accompany their message and comfort the sorrowful, carrying the message rather than arguing whether Jesus was the Messiah.
The command was given in a world where faith in God's word had largely departed and human suffering and demonic possession were widespread. The same charge was renewed at the close of Christ's earthly ministry in the promise that signs shall follow believers, linking the first missionary commission to His later commission in which the Lord would work with them as they preached.
Preaching Joined With Healing
Christ sent the twelve and later the seventy to preach that the kingdom of heaven was near and at the same time to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead and cast out evil spirits, giving them power for that work as they went. Teaching and healing are both parts of God's work and are not to be separated, for healing belonged with preaching, not apart from it. Those who carry the message represent Christ the great Medical Missionary and witness to present truth in connection with the Holy Spirit's work of convicting of sin and leading to repentance.
Physical healing is bound up with the gospel commission and belongs to the disciples' spiritual work, to be given freely because freely received. Medical missionary work ministering to both body and soul is pioneer work for the gospel, by which the message reaches hearts. Healing the sick and delivering from evil as part of testifying for Christ remains the urgent mission of laborers in His cause.
Healing confirmed the preached message and made it the power of God unto salvation. Restoration of the body testified to Christ's power to heal the soul, and physical healing was linked with deliverance from sin. What had been freely received in close training with Christ in His words of comfort and hope to the weary and in His miracles for the suffering, with power to heal all manner of sickness and disease, was to be freely given without charge by continuing after His return to the Father the work He had begun. Gospel workers never go to warfare at their own charges but go under Christ's sending and provision. Carrying the gospel of love and healing into the world with compassionate, unselfish help relieves suffering, helps people grasp truth, awakens them to prepare for life's duties, demonstrates the gospel in practice, wins souls to Christ and brings them to the cross.
Caring first for people's physical health prepared their minds to receive the truths preached and gave the message access to hearts, preparing the way for truth to reach the mind. Obeying this commission means visiting the sick, relieving the necessities of the afflicted, and laying hands on the sick that they may recover, as Christ's final injunction to His representatives, and He will commend those who do so when He comes.
Healing work was to accompany the teaching of truth and demonstrate the Spirit's power, while the message of Christ as Saviour and forgiveness of sins remained the first work. Bringing medical missionary work into His ministry reveals Christ's methods, and God still works in the same way to reach hearts as He worked when Christ was upon the earth. This commission is God's preparation for the day of His power, which men are slow to understand and need opened eyes to discern and obey.
Meaning of Freely Give
“Freely give” means to give without charge what was received without charge, and not to turn ministry into a means of gain. Those sent to save perishing people are to serve the salvation of others rather than pursue wages, following the self-sacrificing life of their Master who accepted hardship and even death in His work. The command joined preaching that the kingdom of heaven was near with healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead and casting out devils, and those acts were to accompany the message rather than arguments over identity.
What God gives is received freely and is to be given freely, for His grace cannot be bought or earned by merit. Everything people have is His gift, and His word when believed is a free gift of grace to the truly converted, calling for continual recognition of its undeserved character.
Receiving creates a duty to serve without selfishness or exclusion, passing on gift, grace and blessing for the good and salvation of others rather than using them selfishly. Selfishness must be cut out of human life because retaining it degrades the whole person, and self-sacrifice is the spirit in which redemption, begun and ended with a gift, is to be carried forward. In one fully in sympathy with Christ there can be nothing selfish or exclusive, for His Spirit within becomes like a spring welling up in the desert to refresh all and make the perishing eager to drink the water of life springing up to everlasting life. Blessings are not to be reserved for a favored few but shared with kindly, unselfish interest in everyone met, since blessings selfishly enjoyed instead of passed on may be taken away, while heavenly love and kindness shared with all within influence grow as they bless others and glorify God.
This is a law of heaven that those who receive must impart, giving others the invitation to come. Those who have received the light and comfort of God’s Word are to pass their knowledge and blessings to others by using their abilities in saving souls, and sharing this comfort enables them to continue receiving it. Spiritual life joins receiving nourishment from God’s word with earnest work that shares light and blessing, and giving keeps the channel open for further receiving. Giving out light, grace, truth and gifts received from heaven makes room for fresh blessings, while receiving without giving leads to loss of the blessing and the capacity to receive.
The power given was for service in preaching the word, healing the sick and comforting the sorrowful after the example seen in Christ’s ministry, not for personal exaltation or advantage. Those sent by Christ never go to warfare at their own charges but go under His sending and provision. On that first missionary journey they were to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of heaven and confirm the message by works of healing and deliverance done without charge, imparting without payment what they had received without payment.
Healing therefore is to be given without charge, with medical missionary work done freely for those unable to pay as Christ’s helping hand in gospel ministry that makes a deep impression on hearers. Christ took no money from the sick and did not take the poor of their little all, though people looked to Him as the great healer. A professed healer who will undertake no case unless first given many pounds, and who seeks to have all look to him as the great healer, works opposite to Christ with different results, and that demand for payment marks him as a fraud and false prophet. Christian physicians are to serve without adopting the world’s selfish customs, charging a fair price and not demanding more merely because they could obtain it.
Commission Continues Today
The charge to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils and to give freely what was freely received was spoken to the first disciples on their first missionary journey as part of preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and it was renewed at the close of Christ's earthly ministry in the promise that signs shall follow believers. It belongs to believers today as well as to the first disciples, extending to all who believe to the end of time. The time for working as the apostles worked is not past, and men and women can now work as Christ gave example. To all will come opportunity to minister both to sin-sick souls and to those needing physical healing, for physical healing is a science of heavenly birth bound up with the gospel commission.
That first work is the pattern for medical missionary work done in connection with the giving of the third angel's message, a sanctifying and unifying work that accomplishes wonderful results. It is likewise the pattern for God's people in carrying out the work of health reform and gospel ministry, preaching that the kingdom is near while healing and relieving suffering through deeds of mercy as well as message. It is the appointed way for those who claim to believe present truth to preach good tidings to the meek, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty and comfort, and build up the waste places. Prayer and dependence on Christ the great Healer are essential in this work, and God's miracle-working power gives efficiency to the message and restores the sick to health. The deeds of mercy and love commanded carry the message of truth and the blessings of the kingdom, with Christ's Spirit preparing the way so that workers carrying such a message and such blessings receive a welcome in homes.
Since Christ is no longer in this world in person going through cities and towns and villages healing the sick, His followers are to carry forward in His place the medical missionary work He began and do their very best in it. That commission makes the treatment of the sick by physician and nurse a continuation of Christ's work, giving precious opportunities to remove prejudice rooted in ignorance and to give evidence of faith through wonderful healings joined with religious influence. It is carried forward through institutions for the care of the sick where suffering men and women are placed under the care of God-fearing physicians and nurses, treated without drugs, taught healthful living, and taught to commit their cases to the great Physician who cooperates with earnest efforts to regain health. In this way sanitarium work becomes one of the most successful means of reaching all classes of people, as the right hand of the gospel opening ways to reach suffering humanity with glad tidings of healing through Christ unto healing of soul as well as healing of body.
The work appointed to the disciples is now required of little companies of gospel medical missionary evangelists, who are to go forth at once without spending years in preparation. They are to go carrying the message, laboring as evangelists by scattering literature and speaking the truth to those they meet, praying for the ill, serving their needs with nature's remedies and not with drugs, and teaching them how to recover health and avoid disease. The urgency is that doors now open will soon be forever closed, and the enemy will take open fields if there is delay. Those sent were to do according to His directions what they had seen Him do, preaching His word, healing the sick, and comforting the sorrowful. The mission of God's servants today has the same vital importance as the apostles' mission, and accepting or rejecting Christ's message brings the results He indicated when He commissioned them.
Methods and Spirit of Service
The first tour is the model for taking the gospel from home to home, presenting truth in love and simplicity and in sympathy, with songs of praise and humble, heartfelt prayers through which the divine Worker sends conviction to hearts and opens homes including homes of unbelievers. This house-to-house labor is to be joined with kindness to the poor, the sick and the bereaved to obtain influence so divine truth will find access to hearts, and is the highest missionary work. Even small talents have a place in this plan, and the talents of humble workers are needed and will do the very work designed for them, with no opportunity for such service among neighbors and friends to pass unimproved and with different lines of missionary work taken up in sowing beside all waters.
The same instructions direct present labor in the great centers, where strong men are to be appointed to work in the cities with many young men and women associated with them to labor humbly in harmony with that sending. Such work was necessary in the time of Christ and is even more necessary now, calling for great ingenuity in presenting the words of eternal life so souls are reached and converted. It requires workers themselves to be thoroughly converted so they present the Word of truth in a spirit of tenderness that wins hearts, preaching the gospel and healing the sick.
Healing ministry means going among people to proclaim the kingdom and bless and comfort sufferers, carried on by small companies and by gospel medical missionary evangelists who visit the sick, pray with them, meet their needs, and teach them how to regain health and avoid disease. When needed they use remedies found in nature rather than medicines or drugs, while depending on God. This work in true simplicity gives Christ the right of way, and sanitariums and schools blending in harmony give students both education and training in treating the sick.
Sanitarium work under this instruction receives all classes and labors for the poor and suffering ones, as one of the most successful means of reaching all classes and as the right hand of the gospel opening ways to reach suffering humanity with glad tidings of healing through Christ. In institutions for the care of the sick, men and women suffering from disease are to be placed under the care of God-fearing physicians and nurses and treated without drugs. They are to be taught to commit their cases to the great Physician, who cooperates with earnest efforts to regain health to bring healing of soul as well as healing of body, with physicians and nurses laboring as co-workers with Christ to heal the sick and comfort the afflicted.
Freely giving means entering into the joys and cares, sorrows, difficulties and troubles of others, high and low, rich and poor, with sympathy, compassion, unselfish earnestness and pitying tenderness, passing on grace, light and saving truth to all regardless of status, freedom, caste or nationality. It calls for kindly interest in everyone met and sympathizing words and helpful deeds for the poor tried souls all around, bringing comfort and blessing, tending the suffering and vulnerable, and helping the lost find life and peace. It includes sympathy and assistance for widows and receiving orphans as a trust from God even when ragged, uncouth and seemingly in every way unattractive, because they are God's property, and comfort for the bereaved. It binds by love and devotion to Christ and by the same ties to fellow men, so that love is life and life is service, reflecting patience rather than a harsh or denunciatory spirit that turns people away, seeking restoration of both body and soul and remaining among people rather than withdrawing from the world.
Guided by the Holy Spirit and relying on God's promises, workers are to carry the gospel to neglected places and build up the work there as part of preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Wherever placed, in crowded cities, villages or country byways, is to be treated as a mission field laid on them by the commission to loose the bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, break every yoke, deal bread to the hungry, bring the poor that are cast out to the house, cover the naked and not hide from their own flesh, laboring with unselfishness and earnestness to lighten woe and win men and women to present truth. Hearts are to be reached by whatever means are in their power in a way that removes prejudice instead of creating it, with the life of Christ as constant study and His labor as example, receiving in order to impart as impartial, unselfish witnesses and going to teach, preach, instruct and educate all within reach who do not know His grace, goodness and mercy, with promised light breaking forth, health springing forth, answered prayer, continual guidance, satisfaction in drought and unfailing refreshment. Families who know the truth are to take it to cities and villages where thousands do not know the shortness of time, settling in needy places and sustaining themselves by their own labor while holding up the standard there with earnest, efficient, continuous labor rather than transient effort, going to neighbors, highways and hedges and sowing beside all waters.
Messengers are to preach the kingdom and freely serve with gifts freely received, not settling temporal affairs but leading to reconciliation with God, since the gospel of grace is the remedy for sin and social evils and only submission to Christ removes selfishness that breeds injustice between rich and poor by giving a new love, bringing blessing and uplift beyond human power when carried out in the Spirit for people's good. Their service is self-sacrificing care for the sick with simple natural remedies, teaching their use and praying for sufferers to help them recognize responsibility to serve God who redeemed them, sharing freely given grace as faithful stewards so genuine need receives help rather than building large institutions or spending resources indiscriminately.
What is received must be passed on without stopping when one object is gained or one institution is freed from debt and gains standing, but is to keep on to meet other places and needs. Healing and teaching books carrying precious, simple, elevating truth are to be used continually rather than laid aside, presented to whomsoever can be reached in the streets, in whatever places can be reached, in every institution and to every individual, and taken up to sell so sanitarium and school work can be extended, because they carry virtue that brings truth to souls who give time to the work.
Sharing Gifts Truth and Means
Freely received light from God's word is to be freely given by letting it shine to those in darkness, sharing not only the word itself but spirit and wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, and those who do so receive serpent wisdom with dove-like harmlessness and strength to be more than conquerors, speaking and writing with gentleness and care. What God freely gives — light of truth, understanding of Scripture, comfort from His word, and spiritual gifts — is to be freely imparted, with abilities used in saving souls, proclaiming the third angel's message, and serving as stewards of grace. This giving serves Christ and helps win souls, and it is not limited to ordained ministers, for humble teachable people can be equipped to speak and work for Him. Those who have received light should let it shine because ability to give comes from Christ and not from own strength, and those who have received saving power of truth cannot withhold practical truths that brought joy to their own hearts but must labor faithfully with influence and means. Truth received through the gospel creates grateful desire and obligation to pass it on as joyful privilege and service, and using entrusted influence and abilities to save souls strengthens understanding and establishes faith.
Religion is not a treasure to keep for oneself, for Christ dwelling in the heart by His Spirit makes His light shine out to others, and that light grows brighter as selfishness and sin are removed. What has been received freely from Him is not to be hoarded, because giving to others belongs to the principle of the gospel. Those who receive Christ and the grace that comes from His fullness are to share those blessings rather than keep or ration them. Believers receive His life-giving power, light, righteousness and fullness as abundant supply given willingly and not grudgingly, and duty is to pass on just as freely what has been received through living genuine faith that drinks deeply of His fullness instead of merely tasting. Christ's life of service flowed from continual trust in God and communion with Him, receiving life from God and imparting life to people, with self-giving expressed not only at the cross but in daily work of doing good, to be passed on through genuine faith, wise stewardship and service that binds people to Him and to one another.
Those who have freely received God's love and the blood-bought pardon of all sin through Christ, who gave His life for sinners under condemnation of the broken law, must freely give love, compassion and forgiveness to fellow sinners. Compassion and forgiveness shown to others should reflect what has been freely received from God through Christ, who offers pardon freely. Applied to helping sinners and people in distress, this means offering practical aid, pity, encouragement and comfort without treating their need as someone else's concern. Receiving salvation as a free gift calls for humble thankful service and practical help for people in need, which costly offerings or displays of generosity cannot replace.
Offerings to God should be in proportion to light and privileges enjoyed, because blessings freely received are to be freely given, and with increased blessings and privileges, above all the unparalleled sacrifice of the Son of God, gratitude is to find expression in more abundant gifts to extend salvation to others and sustain the widening work of the gospel, making the law of tithes and offerings of even more urgent necessity now than under the Hebrew economy. What has been freely received from grace and love should be freely given back in grateful service and generous gifts to support God's work rather than begrudged or reduced, acknowledging that every good gift comes from Him. Applied to gospel work this means using influence and means to help gather the harvest rather than withholding them, laboring with self-denial rather than offerings limited to what costs nothing. As people have received so they are to impart in doing all they can for advancement of the work, and this duty of doing their part rests even on those not of the faith. Plain economical living to save means belongs with self-denying labor to gather the harvest.
Knowledge and skill about preparing healthful foods, received from God, are not to be treated as private property or used only for personal advantage but are to be shared freely for the good and benefit of others. No one should claim exclusive ownership of that knowledge or use it only for personal purposes. It is given by God so people can share it freely, especially with the poor and those who want to live healthfully, including knowledge of simple ways to prepare healthful foods.
The greatest gift Heaven could bestow has been freely received and must be freely given, requiring those who have received innumerable favors to be generous with means, land and offerings for the needy. This calls for caring for people in need, including poor children and families who lack food, clothing and humane living conditions. Blessings received freely from God, both spiritual and temporal, are to be freely shared with rich and poor alike rather than giving greater respect because of wealth, for Christ as Sun of Righteousness and light of the world gives blessings and mercies to rich and poor alike. The work for the colored people is not to be longer neglected, but simple yet convenient meetinghouses are to be built where they can study the Word, with schools and increased facilities like the work at Huntsville, a sanitarium for colored people as freely as for white people, white teachers encouraged and colored youth trained as teachers, nurses and Bible workers, and places secured from which the work can be carried on, because as stewards believers are responsible for welfare of the needy and time to work is short, including help for the Southern field.
God blesses His children not only for their own benefit but also for the world's, so they are to pass on His gifts and offer the gospel to everyone and not restrict it to a select or favored few. They are to open hearts to heaven's gifts and pass them on, becoming channels of gracious Spirit through tender merciful love, opening hearts to heaven's gifts and bringing blessing to the suffering and vulnerable. Every converted person has work to do in sharing Christ's invitation and reflecting His light through self-denial and self-sacrifice, following His example of compassion for people like sheep without a shepherd, helping the lost find life and peace. As believers help someone in need they receive help and insight from angels, learn precious truths and pass them on, and heavenly gifts of love and kindness shared with everyone within influence and not reserved for a favored few reveal heaven-born love which grows as it blesses others and glorifies God.
Christ sent out the twelve on their first trial of laboring without His personal presence, and afterward the seventy, to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils by the power He had given them. Teaching and healing belonged together and were not to be separated, for restoration of the body confirmed the message and testified to His power to heal the soul. To give freely means to minister without charge and without making the work a means of gain, serving the salvation of others in the self-sacrificing spirit of the Master. What is freely received from God must be freely imparted, for giving keeps the channel open for further blessing while receiving without giving leads to loss. This charge belongs to believers today as well as to the first disciples, who are to continue in Christ's place the healing work He began when He was no longer in person in the world.
Original Commission and Setting
Christ gave these words to the twelve on their first missionary tour, when He sent them out two and two for their first trial of laboring without His personal presence. He had called them and given them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and disease. The same charge was also given to the seventy, defining their clearly appointed work of preaching that the kingdom was near and healing as they went.
They were sent first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and not into the way of the Gentiles or into any Samaritan city. This restraint kept them from being drawn into controversy by caviling religionists, and Jewish prejudice against Gentiles would otherwise have greatly hindered the work. It gave the Jewish nation the first opportunity to receive Christ as Saviour and to hear salvation from Him as Shepherd seeking lost sheep, before the doors to the Jews would be closed and the work would go to Samaritans and Gentiles and then to all the world.
As they went they were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. With that preaching they were to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils, giving freely because they had freely received. What they imparted without charge they had received without charge, for those sent by Christ never go to warfare at their own charges but go under His sending and provision.
They had freely received three years of close training with Him in His words of comfort and hope to the weary and desponding and in His miracles for the suffering, with power to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. They were to do in His name the same works of mercy they had seen Him do, healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and casting out demons. Their acts were to accompany their message and comfort the sorrowful, carrying the message rather than arguing whether Jesus was the Messiah.
The command was given in a world where faith in God's word had largely departed and human suffering and demonic possession were widespread. The same charge was renewed at the close of Christ's earthly ministry in the promise that signs shall follow believers, linking the first missionary commission to His later commission in which the Lord would work with them as they preached.
Preaching Joined With Healing
Christ sent the twelve and later the seventy to preach that the kingdom of heaven was near and at the same time to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead and cast out evil spirits, giving them power for that work as they went. Teaching and healing are both parts of God's work and are not to be separated, for healing belonged with preaching, not apart from it. Those who carry the message represent Christ the great Medical Missionary and witness to present truth in connection with the Holy Spirit's work of convicting of sin and leading to repentance.
Physical healing is bound up with the gospel commission and belongs to the disciples' spiritual work, to be given freely because freely received. Medical missionary work ministering to both body and soul is pioneer work for the gospel, by which the message reaches hearts. Healing the sick and delivering from evil as part of testifying for Christ remains the urgent mission of laborers in His cause.
Healing confirmed the preached message and made it the power of God unto salvation. Restoration of the body testified to Christ's power to heal the soul, and physical healing was linked with deliverance from sin. What had been freely received in close training with Christ in His words of comfort and hope to the weary and in His miracles for the suffering, with power to heal all manner of sickness and disease, was to be freely given without charge by continuing after His return to the Father the work He had begun. Gospel workers never go to warfare at their own charges but go under Christ's sending and provision. Carrying the gospel of love and healing into the world with compassionate, unselfish help relieves suffering, helps people grasp truth, awakens them to prepare for life's duties, demonstrates the gospel in practice, wins souls to Christ and brings them to the cross.
Caring first for people's physical health prepared their minds to receive the truths preached and gave the message access to hearts, preparing the way for truth to reach the mind. Obeying this commission means visiting the sick, relieving the necessities of the afflicted, and laying hands on the sick that they may recover, as Christ's final injunction to His representatives, and He will commend those who do so when He comes.
Healing work was to accompany the teaching of truth and demonstrate the Spirit's power, while the message of Christ as Saviour and forgiveness of sins remained the first work. Bringing medical missionary work into His ministry reveals Christ's methods, and God still works in the same way to reach hearts as He worked when Christ was upon the earth. This commission is God's preparation for the day of His power, which men are slow to understand and need opened eyes to discern and obey.
Meaning of Freely Give
“Freely give” means to give without charge what was received without charge, and not to turn ministry into a means of gain. Those sent to save perishing people are to serve the salvation of others rather than pursue wages, following the self-sacrificing life of their Master who accepted hardship and even death in His work. The command joined preaching that the kingdom of heaven was near with healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead and casting out devils, and those acts were to accompany the message rather than arguments over identity.
What God gives is received freely and is to be given freely, for His grace cannot be bought or earned by merit. Everything people have is His gift, and His word when believed is a free gift of grace to the truly converted, calling for continual recognition of its undeserved character.
Receiving creates a duty to serve without selfishness or exclusion, passing on gift, grace and blessing for the good and salvation of others rather than using them selfishly. Selfishness must be cut out of human life because retaining it degrades the whole person, and self-sacrifice is the spirit in which redemption, begun and ended with a gift, is to be carried forward. In one fully in sympathy with Christ there can be nothing selfish or exclusive, for His Spirit within becomes like a spring welling up in the desert to refresh all and make the perishing eager to drink the water of life springing up to everlasting life. Blessings are not to be reserved for a favored few but shared with kindly, unselfish interest in everyone met, since blessings selfishly enjoyed instead of passed on may be taken away, while heavenly love and kindness shared with all within influence grow as they bless others and glorify God.
This is a law of heaven that those who receive must impart, giving others the invitation to come. Those who have received the light and comfort of God’s Word are to pass their knowledge and blessings to others by using their abilities in saving souls, and sharing this comfort enables them to continue receiving it. Spiritual life joins receiving nourishment from God’s word with earnest work that shares light and blessing, and giving keeps the channel open for further receiving. Giving out light, grace, truth and gifts received from heaven makes room for fresh blessings, while receiving without giving leads to loss of the blessing and the capacity to receive.
The power given was for service in preaching the word, healing the sick and comforting the sorrowful after the example seen in Christ’s ministry, not for personal exaltation or advantage. Those sent by Christ never go to warfare at their own charges but go under His sending and provision. On that first missionary journey they were to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of heaven and confirm the message by works of healing and deliverance done without charge, imparting without payment what they had received without payment.
Healing therefore is to be given without charge, with medical missionary work done freely for those unable to pay as Christ’s helping hand in gospel ministry that makes a deep impression on hearers. Christ took no money from the sick and did not take the poor of their little all, though people looked to Him as the great healer. A professed healer who will undertake no case unless first given many pounds, and who seeks to have all look to him as the great healer, works opposite to Christ with different results, and that demand for payment marks him as a fraud and false prophet. Christian physicians are to serve without adopting the world’s selfish customs, charging a fair price and not demanding more merely because they could obtain it.
Commission Continues Today
The charge to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils and to give freely what was freely received was spoken to the first disciples on their first missionary journey as part of preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and it was renewed at the close of Christ's earthly ministry in the promise that signs shall follow believers. It belongs to believers today as well as to the first disciples, extending to all who believe to the end of time. The time for working as the apostles worked is not past, and men and women can now work as Christ gave example. To all will come opportunity to minister both to sin-sick souls and to those needing physical healing, for physical healing is a science of heavenly birth bound up with the gospel commission.
That first work is the pattern for medical missionary work done in connection with the giving of the third angel's message, a sanctifying and unifying work that accomplishes wonderful results. It is likewise the pattern for God's people in carrying out the work of health reform and gospel ministry, preaching that the kingdom is near while healing and relieving suffering through deeds of mercy as well as message. It is the appointed way for those who claim to believe present truth to preach good tidings to the meek, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty and comfort, and build up the waste places. Prayer and dependence on Christ the great Healer are essential in this work, and God's miracle-working power gives efficiency to the message and restores the sick to health. The deeds of mercy and love commanded carry the message of truth and the blessings of the kingdom, with Christ's Spirit preparing the way so that workers carrying such a message and such blessings receive a welcome in homes.
Since Christ is no longer in this world in person going through cities and towns and villages healing the sick, His followers are to carry forward in His place the medical missionary work He began and do their very best in it. That commission makes the treatment of the sick by physician and nurse a continuation of Christ's work, giving precious opportunities to remove prejudice rooted in ignorance and to give evidence of faith through wonderful healings joined with religious influence. It is carried forward through institutions for the care of the sick where suffering men and women are placed under the care of God-fearing physicians and nurses, treated without drugs, taught healthful living, and taught to commit their cases to the great Physician who cooperates with earnest efforts to regain health. In this way sanitarium work becomes one of the most successful means of reaching all classes of people, as the right hand of the gospel opening ways to reach suffering humanity with glad tidings of healing through Christ unto healing of soul as well as healing of body.
The work appointed to the disciples is now required of little companies of gospel medical missionary evangelists, who are to go forth at once without spending years in preparation. They are to go carrying the message, laboring as evangelists by scattering literature and speaking the truth to those they meet, praying for the ill, serving their needs with nature's remedies and not with drugs, and teaching them how to recover health and avoid disease. The urgency is that doors now open will soon be forever closed, and the enemy will take open fields if there is delay. Those sent were to do according to His directions what they had seen Him do, preaching His word, healing the sick, and comforting the sorrowful. The mission of God's servants today has the same vital importance as the apostles' mission, and accepting or rejecting Christ's message brings the results He indicated when He commissioned them.
Methods and Spirit of Service
The first tour is the model for taking the gospel from home to home, presenting truth in love and simplicity and in sympathy, with songs of praise and humble, heartfelt prayers through which the divine Worker sends conviction to hearts and opens homes including homes of unbelievers. This house-to-house labor is to be joined with kindness to the poor, the sick and the bereaved to obtain influence so divine truth will find access to hearts, and is the highest missionary work. Even small talents have a place in this plan, and the talents of humble workers are needed and will do the very work designed for them, with no opportunity for such service among neighbors and friends to pass unimproved and with different lines of missionary work taken up in sowing beside all waters.
The same instructions direct present labor in the great centers, where strong men are to be appointed to work in the cities with many young men and women associated with them to labor humbly in harmony with that sending. Such work was necessary in the time of Christ and is even more necessary now, calling for great ingenuity in presenting the words of eternal life so souls are reached and converted. It requires workers themselves to be thoroughly converted so they present the Word of truth in a spirit of tenderness that wins hearts, preaching the gospel and healing the sick.
Healing ministry means going among people to proclaim the kingdom and bless and comfort sufferers, carried on by small companies and by gospel medical missionary evangelists who visit the sick, pray with them, meet their needs, and teach them how to regain health and avoid disease. When needed they use remedies found in nature rather than medicines or drugs, while depending on God. This work in true simplicity gives Christ the right of way, and sanitariums and schools blending in harmony give students both education and training in treating the sick.
Sanitarium work under this instruction receives all classes and labors for the poor and suffering ones, as one of the most successful means of reaching all classes and as the right hand of the gospel opening ways to reach suffering humanity with glad tidings of healing through Christ. In institutions for the care of the sick, men and women suffering from disease are to be placed under the care of God-fearing physicians and nurses and treated without drugs. They are to be taught to commit their cases to the great Physician, who cooperates with earnest efforts to regain health to bring healing of soul as well as healing of body, with physicians and nurses laboring as co-workers with Christ to heal the sick and comfort the afflicted.
Freely giving means entering into the joys and cares, sorrows, difficulties and troubles of others, high and low, rich and poor, with sympathy, compassion, unselfish earnestness and pitying tenderness, passing on grace, light and saving truth to all regardless of status, freedom, caste or nationality. It calls for kindly interest in everyone met and sympathizing words and helpful deeds for the poor tried souls all around, bringing comfort and blessing, tending the suffering and vulnerable, and helping the lost find life and peace. It includes sympathy and assistance for widows and receiving orphans as a trust from God even when ragged, uncouth and seemingly in every way unattractive, because they are God's property, and comfort for the bereaved. It binds by love and devotion to Christ and by the same ties to fellow men, so that love is life and life is service, reflecting patience rather than a harsh or denunciatory spirit that turns people away, seeking restoration of both body and soul and remaining among people rather than withdrawing from the world.
Guided by the Holy Spirit and relying on God's promises, workers are to carry the gospel to neglected places and build up the work there as part of preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Wherever placed, in crowded cities, villages or country byways, is to be treated as a mission field laid on them by the commission to loose the bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, break every yoke, deal bread to the hungry, bring the poor that are cast out to the house, cover the naked and not hide from their own flesh, laboring with unselfishness and earnestness to lighten woe and win men and women to present truth. Hearts are to be reached by whatever means are in their power in a way that removes prejudice instead of creating it, with the life of Christ as constant study and His labor as example, receiving in order to impart as impartial, unselfish witnesses and going to teach, preach, instruct and educate all within reach who do not know His grace, goodness and mercy, with promised light breaking forth, health springing forth, answered prayer, continual guidance, satisfaction in drought and unfailing refreshment. Families who know the truth are to take it to cities and villages where thousands do not know the shortness of time, settling in needy places and sustaining themselves by their own labor while holding up the standard there with earnest, efficient, continuous labor rather than transient effort, going to neighbors, highways and hedges and sowing beside all waters.
Messengers are to preach the kingdom and freely serve with gifts freely received, not settling temporal affairs but leading to reconciliation with God, since the gospel of grace is the remedy for sin and social evils and only submission to Christ removes selfishness that breeds injustice between rich and poor by giving a new love, bringing blessing and uplift beyond human power when carried out in the Spirit for people's good. Their service is self-sacrificing care for the sick with simple natural remedies, teaching their use and praying for sufferers to help them recognize responsibility to serve God who redeemed them, sharing freely given grace as faithful stewards so genuine need receives help rather than building large institutions or spending resources indiscriminately.
What is received must be passed on without stopping when one object is gained or one institution is freed from debt and gains standing, but is to keep on to meet other places and needs. Healing and teaching books carrying precious, simple, elevating truth are to be used continually rather than laid aside, presented to whomsoever can be reached in the streets, in whatever places can be reached, in every institution and to every individual, and taken up to sell so sanitarium and school work can be extended, because they carry virtue that brings truth to souls who give time to the work.
Sharing Gifts Truth and Means
Freely received light from God's word is to be freely given by letting it shine to those in darkness, sharing not only the word itself but spirit and wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, and those who do so receive serpent wisdom with dove-like harmlessness and strength to be more than conquerors, speaking and writing with gentleness and care. What God freely gives — light of truth, understanding of Scripture, comfort from His word, and spiritual gifts — is to be freely imparted, with abilities used in saving souls, proclaiming the third angel's message, and serving as stewards of grace. This giving serves Christ and helps win souls, and it is not limited to ordained ministers, for humble teachable people can be equipped to speak and work for Him. Those who have received light should let it shine because ability to give comes from Christ and not from own strength, and those who have received saving power of truth cannot withhold practical truths that brought joy to their own hearts but must labor faithfully with influence and means. Truth received through the gospel creates grateful desire and obligation to pass it on as joyful privilege and service, and using entrusted influence and abilities to save souls strengthens understanding and establishes faith.
Religion is not a treasure to keep for oneself, for Christ dwelling in the heart by His Spirit makes His light shine out to others, and that light grows brighter as selfishness and sin are removed. What has been received freely from Him is not to be hoarded, because giving to others belongs to the principle of the gospel. Those who receive Christ and the grace that comes from His fullness are to share those blessings rather than keep or ration them. Believers receive His life-giving power, light, righteousness and fullness as abundant supply given willingly and not grudgingly, and duty is to pass on just as freely what has been received through living genuine faith that drinks deeply of His fullness instead of merely tasting. Christ's life of service flowed from continual trust in God and communion with Him, receiving life from God and imparting life to people, with self-giving expressed not only at the cross but in daily work of doing good, to be passed on through genuine faith, wise stewardship and service that binds people to Him and to one another.
Those who have freely received God's love and the blood-bought pardon of all sin through Christ, who gave His life for sinners under condemnation of the broken law, must freely give love, compassion and forgiveness to fellow sinners. Compassion and forgiveness shown to others should reflect what has been freely received from God through Christ, who offers pardon freely. Applied to helping sinners and people in distress, this means offering practical aid, pity, encouragement and comfort without treating their need as someone else's concern. Receiving salvation as a free gift calls for humble thankful service and practical help for people in need, which costly offerings or displays of generosity cannot replace.
Offerings to God should be in proportion to light and privileges enjoyed, because blessings freely received are to be freely given, and with increased blessings and privileges, above all the unparalleled sacrifice of the Son of God, gratitude is to find expression in more abundant gifts to extend salvation to others and sustain the widening work of the gospel, making the law of tithes and offerings of even more urgent necessity now than under the Hebrew economy. What has been freely received from grace and love should be freely given back in grateful service and generous gifts to support God's work rather than begrudged or reduced, acknowledging that every good gift comes from Him. Applied to gospel work this means using influence and means to help gather the harvest rather than withholding them, laboring with self-denial rather than offerings limited to what costs nothing. As people have received so they are to impart in doing all they can for advancement of the work, and this duty of doing their part rests even on those not of the faith. Plain economical living to save means belongs with self-denying labor to gather the harvest.
Knowledge and skill about preparing healthful foods, received from God, are not to be treated as private property or used only for personal advantage but are to be shared freely for the good and benefit of others. No one should claim exclusive ownership of that knowledge or use it only for personal purposes. It is given by God so people can share it freely, especially with the poor and those who want to live healthfully, including knowledge of simple ways to prepare healthful foods.
The greatest gift Heaven could bestow has been freely received and must be freely given, requiring those who have received innumerable favors to be generous with means, land and offerings for the needy. This calls for caring for people in need, including poor children and families who lack food, clothing and humane living conditions. Blessings received freely from God, both spiritual and temporal, are to be freely shared with rich and poor alike rather than giving greater respect because of wealth, for Christ as Sun of Righteousness and light of the world gives blessings and mercies to rich and poor alike. The work for the colored people is not to be longer neglected, but simple yet convenient meetinghouses are to be built where they can study the Word, with schools and increased facilities like the work at Huntsville, a sanitarium for colored people as freely as for white people, white teachers encouraged and colored youth trained as teachers, nurses and Bible workers, and places secured from which the work can be carried on, because as stewards believers are responsible for welfare of the needy and time to work is short, including help for the Southern field.
God blesses His children not only for their own benefit but also for the world's, so they are to pass on His gifts and offer the gospel to everyone and not restrict it to a select or favored few. They are to open hearts to heaven's gifts and pass them on, becoming channels of gracious Spirit through tender merciful love, opening hearts to heaven's gifts and bringing blessing to the suffering and vulnerable. Every converted person has work to do in sharing Christ's invitation and reflecting His light through self-denial and self-sacrifice, following His example of compassion for people like sheep without a shepherd, helping the lost find life and peace. As believers help someone in need they receive help and insight from angels, learn precious truths and pass them on, and heavenly gifts of love and kindness shared with everyone within influence and not reserved for a favored few reveal heaven-born love which grows as it blesses others and glorifies God.