Matthew 10:39

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. HE THAT FINDETH HIS LIFE SHALL LOSE IT: AND HE THAT LOSETH HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE SHALL FIND IT - another of those pregnant sayings which our Lord so often reiterates (; ; ). The pith of such paradoxical maxims depends on the double sense attached to the word "life" - a lower and a higher, the natural and the spiritual, the temporal and eternal. An entire sacrifice of the lower, with all its relationships and interests-or, which is the same thing, a willingness to make it-is indispensable to the preservation of the higher life; and he who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the sake of the other shall eventually...

39._He who findeth his life _Lest the former doctrine, which is very difficult and troublesome to the flesh, should have little weight with us, Christ confirms it in two ways by this statement. He affirms that persons of excessive caution and foresight, when they look upon themselves as having very well defended their _life, _will be disappointed and will _lose _it; and, on the other hand, that those who disregard their _life _will sustain no loss, for they will recover it. We know that there is nothing which men will not do or leave undone for the sake of _life, _(so powerful is that attachment to it which is natural to us all;) and, therefore, it was necessary that Christ should employ such promises and threatenings in exciting his followers to despise death. _To find the life _means here to possess it, or to have it in safe keeping. Those who are excessively desirous of an earthly lif...

16-42 Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them what they should suffer, and from whom. Thus Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service; and he would have us deal so with ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost. Persecutors are worse than beasts, in that they prey upon those of their own kind. The strongest bonds of love and duty, have often been broken through from enmity against Christ. Sufferings from friends and relations are very grievous; nothing cuts more. It appears plainly, that al...

Verse 39. _HE THAT FINDETH HIS LIFE_, c.] i.e. He who, for the sake of his _temporal interest_, abandons his _spiritual concerns_, shall lose his soul and he who, in order to avoid _martyrdom_, abjures the pure religion of Christ, shall lose his _soul_, and perhaps his _life_ too. _He that findeth his life shall lose it_, was literally fulfilled in Archbishop _Cranmer_. He confessed Christ against the devil, and his eldest son, the pope. He was ordered to be burnt; to _save his life_ he recanted, and was, notwithstanding, _burnt_. Whatever a man sacrifices to God is never _lost_, for he finds it again in God. There is a fine piece on this subject in _Juvenal_, Sat. viii. l. 80, which deserves to be recorded here. ----------- ambiguae si quando citabere testis Incertaeque rei, Phalaris liect imperet ut sis...

HE THAT FINDETH HIS LIFE ... - The word “life” in this passage is used evidently in two senses. The meaning may be expressed thus: He that is anxious to save his “temporal” life, or his comfort and security here, shall lose “eternal” life, or shall fail of heaven. He that is willing to risk or lose his comfort and “life” here for my sake, shall find “life” everlasting, or shall be saved. The manner of speaking is similar to that where he said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” See notes at Matthew 8:22....

EXPOSITION For introductory notes to this chapter, see Matthew 9:35. MATTHEW 10:1 Parallel passages: Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1. The prayer (Matthew 9:38) is answered in the persons of those who were taught to pray. Christ establishes his new agency. AND WHEN HE HAD CALLED UNTO HIM. From the circle of the bystanders. HIS TWELVE DISCIPLES. Who had already been chosen to be specially with him (cf. Matthew 9:35, note; and...

HE THAT FINDETH HIS LIFE SHALL LOSE IT,.... That man that seeks to preserve his life, and the temporal enjoyments of it, by a sinful compliance with his friends and the world, and by a denial of Christ, or non-confession of him; if he is not, by the providence of God, deprived of the good things of life, and dies a shameful death, both which are sometimes the case of such persons; yet he is sure to lose the happy and eternal life of his soul and body, in the world to come: so that the present finding of life, or the possession of it, on such sinful terms, will in the issue prove an infinite and irreparable loss unto him. On the other hand, Christ observes, HE THAT LOSETH HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE, SHALL FIND IT. That man that is willing to forego the present advantages of life, to suffer reproach and persecution, and lay down his life cheerfully for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, for the...

Matthew 10:1. _And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease._ They were first Christ's disciples, and then he sent them forth as his apostles, clothed with power and authority very similar to his own. Matthew 10:2. _Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeu;, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him._ The twelve apostles linked the spiritual Israel with the twelve tribes of th

7. THE MESSENGERS OF THE KINGDOM. CHAPTER 10 _ 1. The Twelve Disciples. (Matthew 10:1 .) 2. Their Commission. (Matthew 10:5 .) 3. Persecutions Promised. (Matthew 10:16 .) 4. Words of Encouragement.(Matthew 10:24 .) 5. Not Peace but the Sword. (Matthew 10:34 .) 6. True Discipleship and Rewards. (Matthew 10:37 .)_ We learn now how our Lord, who is truly the Lord of the Harvest, sends forth the laborers. He does it as the King,

THE CHARGE TO THE TWELVE. The section forms the second of five passages into which Mt. col lected the sayings of Jesus. The Markan account (Matthew 6:7) is followed by Luke 9:1, but Luke 10:2 (the Seventy) is from Q; Matthew 10:5 combines the two sources. The mission is limited to Jews, hardly, in view of Matthew 10:6; Matthew 10:23, to the Jews of Galilee. Luke 10 omits the limitation; he wrote mainly for Gentiles. Indeed, when Mt. wrote, the limitation was obsolete. Yet it shows