Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: April 25th

All power in given unto me in heaven and in earth. - Matthew 28:18.

LET us view this prerogative of the Saviour, with regard to his friends; and there are two things it demands of us. The first is, that we should rejoice in it on his behalf. Love always exults in the prosperity of its object. The mother is never weary in hearing of the praises of her child; the father, in reading the gazette, fastens his eye upon the part which extols the bravery of his son and recommends him to promotion. If we had a dear connection raised from deep distress to high preferment in the state, why, we should be likely to hail him, and to feel, as it were, his success as our own. But there is no love like that which a redeemed sinner bears to his Redeemer; and there ought to be none like it: for who has done what he has done, or suffered for us what he has suffered, or bestowed on us what he has bestowed, or promised what he has promised? Nothing, therefore, belonging to him, can be indifferent to us; concerning whom we cannot help exclaiming,-

“Let him be crown’d with majesty

Who bow’d his head to death;

And be his honours sounded loud

By all things that have breath.”

And we may rejoice in the thought, that, as we have sympathized with him in the garden, we shall exult with him now he is upon the throne; that he who once had not a place where to lay his head is now in the possession of all things; that he whose face was marred more than any man’s now shines like the sun in his brightness; that those dear hands, that were once nailed to the cross, now wield the sceptre of universal empire; and that he, our dear Saviour, who once on earth was despised and rejected of men, now in heaven attracts every eye, fills every heart, employs every tongue, both of saints and angels. If when his praises are told forth we could hold our peace, the very stones would cry out.

Secondly, We should be comforted by it on our own behalf. What may not Christians expect from the state and station, the resources and the power, of one to whom they are so dear, that he calls them his brethren, his sisters, and his mother? Surely, as he is possessed of unsearchable riches, he will never suffer them to want; surely, “because he lives they shall live also.” After suffering and dying for us, it is impossible for us to question his love; and therefore if we perish now it will not be because he is unwilling to save us, but because he is unable; for we may be sure that he will save us if he can. And can this be doubtful? Can it? Where is he now? What is he now? What has he now? All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth.

Oh, let Christians say, in consequence of this, In what state will not this comfort me? In what danger will not this defend me? What want is there but he can supply? What corruption but he can subdue? I am not staggered now at my being called to fight with “principalities and powers.” “In all these things I shall be more than conqueror, through him that hath loved me.” I am not terrified by mortality: he has the keys of hell and of death. I am not staggered at the thought that after my death “worms shall destroy this body; I know that in my flesh I shall see God.” And I am looking for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, from heaven, “who shall change my vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:10.

OBSERVE, First, That this command is founded on the authority of God; for who can read his word without reading the injunction-to “do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” “If a man love not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen.” “And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.”

Secondly, This command intimates to us the need we have of each other. There is no such thing as independence in our world; it is only ignorance and pride that lead people to affect anything like it. It is in the social body as it is in the natural body; there are many members, but there is only one body. “Ye,” says the Apostle, “are members, one of another.” The higher men rise the more dependent do they become; the rich owe more to the poor than the poor owe to them. The foundation of the social edifice is the lowest part, but then it sustains the whole. Let us learn how dependent we are, and how much others have done for us.

Thirdly, Obedience to this command is necessary to the enjoyment of the pleasures of beneficence. He who leaves his neighbour in hunger and wretchedness, while he has the means and opportunities of doing good, is just like a man who dies for thirst with a cup of nectar in his hand. In the same proportion as we are really benevolent will be our happiness; therefore our Lord said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” What luxury ever equalled that of Job, when he said, “The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.” Here is pure pleasure; durable pleasure; pleasure that will bear examination, bear review; pleasure that, like the rose, will yield perfume even after it is dead.

Fourthly, To induce in us a practical regard to this admonition, let us keep in mind that benevolence will not lose its reward. How often in his word does God press this as a motive upon us. It cannot, therefore, be wrong for us thus to regard it. “Cast thy bread upon the waters,” says the wise man, “and thou shalt find it after many days.” “The liberal soul deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand.” These are the declarations, the assurances of God, who is faithful and able to perform what he has promised; for all events are under his control, and all creatures at his disposal.

Fifthly, Let us refer to the example of Christ; and this motive is reserved for the last because it is the best. “Whatsoever we do in word or deed,” we are to “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Our arguments, therefore, and our practice, must be Christian and evangelical. “Let this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus.” We had no claims upon him; we were unworthy of the least of all his mercies, ill-deserving, hell-deserving creatures, and must have perished for ever. And what did his interposition on our behalf cost him? “For our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich.” “He gave his life a ransom for us.” “Therefore if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”