the Third Week after Easter
Click here to learn more!
Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
April 18—Morning—Romans 1:4
"And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."—Romans 1:4.
Do not, my soul, hastily pass away from this most precious subject of thy Lord’s resurrection. It is an inexhaustible theme, and will be among thy felicities in eternity. Yesterday, thou didst but barely consider the fact. Let this day occupy thy thoughts on another sweet portion of it, in beholding how Jesus effected it by his own power and Godhead. He had said before that he had power to lay down his life, and power to take it again. And he had told the Jews to destroy the temple, by which he meant the temple of his body, and be would raise it again in three days. He had proclaimed himself to be the resurrection and the life: and here he proved it, when he was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by his resurrection frown the dead. Now, then, pause over this glorious view of Him who was thus proved to be one with the Father, and who, at the same time, was one ill thy nature, bone of thy bone, and flesh of thy flesh. Beautiful and comprehensive is the expression—"declared to be the Son of God!" for who but God could accomplish such an event? And by the Spirit of holiness he was equally declared to be not liable to corruption; for, as God’s Holy One, it was impossible that his flesh should see corruption. Psalms 16:10. And the Holy Ghost again, by Peter the apostle, explains it when he saith," Christ was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. "1 Peter 3 : ’18. The flesh here means his human nature; and the quickening by the Spirit (being what is called the antithesis, that is,. the opposite to flesh) means his own Spirit, his own power and Godhead; similar to what is said in’ the Hebrews concerning the offering of Jesus, that through the Eternal Spirit he offered himself, Hebrews 9:14—meaning, that his Godhead gave dignity and value to the offering of his body for the sins of his people. Ponder this blessed truth, my soul; for it is most blessed, and of much greater importance than, at the first view of the words, it may strike you. Behold in it, that it was the Godhead of Jesus by which thy Jesus triumphed over death and the grave. The Father’s hand was in it most certain, as it was in all the other acts of redemption; for the Holy Ghost taught the church, by Paul, that God. had raised up the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:14. And manifested by this, saith the Holy Ghost, that he was the God of peace, in bringing again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:20. And the Holy Ghost had his almighty hand in the same; for it is the Spirit that quickeneth; and hence Christ is said to have been justified in the Spirit. 1 Timothy 3:16. But while we are taught by these scriptures, and others to the same purport, to behold both the Father and the Holy Ghost acting in the resurrection of Jesus—by this, and others of the same kind, we are taught to view the Godhead in Christ as the cause of his resurrection. For if Jesus had been raised by the power of the Father and the Holy Ghost only, how would he have been declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection? For, in this case, nothing more would have been manifested in his resurrection than in the resurrection of others; for it is by the power of God that the dead are to be raised. Hence, my soul, behold the vast importance of this great point in the resurrection of thy Lord: and never lose sight of this blessed truth, that thy Jesus, who is thy resurrection and thy life, arose himself by this self-quickening principle. Behold, in this point of view, what a glorious truth is the resurrection of Jesus. And what a lovely promise did the Lord, by the prophet, give to all the people of God concerning this, ages before this glorious event took place—"Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead. "Isaiah 26:19.
April 18—Evening—Acts 25:19
"Of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive."—Acts 25:19.
And well might Paul affirm it; for Jesus, after his resurrection, had spoken to Paul from heaven! Well might John, the beloved apostle, give the church his repeated evidence to it; for Jesus not only made his appearance to John, in common with the other apostles, but in the island of Patmos appeared to him alone, and proclaimed himself under those glorious distinctions of character: "Fear not; I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore!" Revelation 1:17-18. And well might Peter testify to the same, as he did in the family of Cornelius, when he had such indisputable proofs for himself and the rest of his brethren, the apostles, who were "the chosen witnesses of his resurrection: we did eat and drink with him (saith Peter) after he arose from. the dead;" Acts 10:41. But, my soul! mark, in the contempt with which this blessed truth is spoken of, by the Roman governor, how little esteemed, and less regarded by the world, is that doctrine, which is thy life. And are there not thousands in the present hour, like Festus, who, even if they do profess a belief of Jesus’s resurrection, are like him, unconscious of its vital effects on their hearts; and as to any of the saving influences resulting from it in the descent of the Spirit upon them, have "never so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost!" My soul! how wilt thou prove the resurrection of Jesus in thine own experience, that, like Paul, thou mayest with equal confidence speak of this One Jesus, this only One, this blessed One, who was truly and indeed dead, but whom thou affirmest to be alive? Pause over the question, and then look into the real testimonies of it in thine heart. Remember what thy Jesus said as a promise which should take place soon after his resurrection and return to his Father, when redemption-work was finished: "I will send the Holy Ghost the Comforter. He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you; "John 14:26. Hence therefore, if the Holy Ghost is come, then is Jesus risen and ascended; and then hath the Father also most fully confirmed his perfect approbation of the righteousness and death of Jesus, as the Surety of his people, in raising him from the dead, setting him on his own right hand, and sending down the Holy Ghost, agreeably to Christ’s promise. And dost thou know all these things, in thine own experience? Is Jesus thy resurrection and life? Hath he recovered thee by the quickening, influences of his Holy Spirit, from death to life, and from the power of sin and Satan to the living God? Is he now the daily life-giving, life-imparting, life-strengthening source of all thy faith, and life, and hope, and joy? Is it Jesus that becomes to thee as the dew unto Israel, reviving, like the dew of herbs, thy dry and unpromising wintry state, where there is no vegetation, and causing thee to put forth the tender bud afresh, when, without his influence, every thing in thee was parched and withered? Oh! then do thou proclaim it far and near, and let every one witness for thee, in every circle in which thou art called to move, that that one glorious Jesus, which was once dead, thou affirmest to be alive, and liveth for evermore. Precious Lord Jesus! how blessed are those sweet words of thine to my soul: "And because I live, ye shall live also!"
