Matt. X. 8. Freely ye have received, freely give,
COMPASSION for the wants and miseries of men is a very distinguished feature of the Christian cha- racter. It is a lovely grace, even when it has respect only to the temporal necessities of mankind : but it is of a far higher stamp, when it is called forth by a view of their spiritual wants, and seeks to administer to their eternal welfare. Such was the feehng which our blessed Lord and Saviour chiefly manifested on the occasion before us, and sought to diffuse amongst those who were to be his more immediate followers and servants : " When he saw the multitudes," we are told, " he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then said he unto his Disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest ^" Then having, on the following day, called his twelve Apostles, he bade them go out and preach, saying, " The kingdom of heaven is at hand ;" and, in confirmation of their word, to work the most bene- volent miracles ; that so the people might have, in the healing of their bodily disorders, an emblem and a pledge of what He was come to effect upon their souls". Then, reminding them how sovereignly he had acted in selecting them to this high office, he added, " Freely ye have received ; freely give."
This direction of his to the Apostles will afford me a fit occasion to set before you,
I. The blessings which God has freely communicated to us — Those which had been conferred upon the Apostles were great —
[The Apostles had been called, from their several occu- pations, to wait upon their Lord ; and had been drawn with a
a Matt. ix. 36—38. *> ver. 7, 8.