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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
Devotional: April 17th

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April 17—Morning—Luke 24:34

"The Lord is risen indeed."—Luke 24:34.

Let thy meditations, my soul, this morning, be sweetly exercised upon thy risen and exalted Saviour. For if thy Lord be indeed risen, then will it undeniably follow, that as he died for our sins, so he arose for our justification, and is thereby become the first fruits 0f them that sleep. Beg of God the Holy Ghost to lead thee into the devout contemplation and enjoyment of this soul-reviving subject. Trace the testimonies of this wonderful event, until, frown being overpowered in the vast assemblage of witnesses, thou art prompted to cry out in the same language," the Lord is risen indeed. "And surely never was there any one fact so fully, so dearly, and so circumstantially confirmed. It hath the united testimony of heaven and earth: of angels and men, of the living and the dead, of friends and foes; and God himself confirming it in the midst of his people, by sending down the Holy Ghost agreeably to the promise of Jesus at the day of Pentecost. Review these things in order. First, heaven gave in its evidence in those supernatural signs which issued in the morning of Jesus’s resurrection; for we are told that "an angel descended from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the door of Jesus’s sepulchre, and sat upon it." And, secondly, earth gave her testimony also to the same, by the convulsions sustained at his approach—"there was a great earthquake. "And then again, as angels came to inform the pious women who waited to embalm the sacred body of Christ, that Jesus was risen; so the testimony of multitudes among men gave equal attestation to this glorious truth. For besides the many separate and distinct appearances Jesus made to numbers, he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, by way of confirming the undoubted fact. The living, who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead, surely could not be mistaken. And the dead which arose from their graves, as if to celebrate the glories of his resurrection, in which they took part, came forth when the sepulchre yawned at the triumph of Jesus, and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. And not only the friends of Jesus, but the foes of Jesus, became undesignedly the witnesses of this great truth: for, by attributing his resurrection to the disciples stealing away his body, they positively proved that the body of Christ remained not in the sepulchre. And that the poor timid disciples whose meetings were all in secret for fear of the Jews, should project such a scheme as to take away the body, which the Roman soldiers were purposely placed to secure, is not to be equaled in folly in the very idea, unless by that other part of the childish story, that the body was stolen while the guard slept, that so the testimony, it should seem, to this tale, is the testimony of men sleeping. Here then, my soul, in devout contemplation, take thy stand at the door of the sepulchre of thy Jesus, and ponder over such a multitude of witnesses, who all cry out with one voice, as the angels did to the astonished women," He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." And O thou dear Redeemer, do thou, while my soul is pondering these things, do thou draw nigh, as thou didst to the disciples on the morning of thy resurrection, and sweetly commune with me of all these blessed truths concerning thyself; lead me, by faith, through all the precious subject, from the sepulchre to thine house of prayer, to the ordinance and thy table, from thy cross to thy crown; and cause my whole heart to burn within me, while thou art talking to me by the way, and while thou art opening to me the scriptures. Then shall I truly rejoice that my Lord is indeed risen from the dead, and my soul is risen with him, from dead works, to serve thee, the living and true God.

April 17—Evening—John 20:19

"The same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."—John 20:19.

There is a peculiar blessedness in this first visit of the Lord Jesus to the whole college of disciples (at least as many as were present of them) after he arose from the dead: and the manner of relating it is peculiarly striking also. It was the same day at evening; and it was the first day also; as if the Lord Jesus would again and again honour the day, as well in the evening as the morning of his resurrection, and make that day for ever memorable to his church, and among his people. My soul! thou hast celebrated thy Lord’s triumphs over death, in the morning, both at home and abroad, in his church, at his ordinances, at his table, and among his disciples; but learn hence also, that at evening time Jesus will make it light by the sweet renewed visits of his grace; and when the doors are shut, and in thy retirement the world is shut out, and thou art communing within, Jesus will come and say, "Peace be unto thee." And doth Jesus do this? Hast thou this precious legacy of peace, which he left to his people, administered to thee by his own blessed hand? Is he thy peace, and hath he made thy peace through the blood of his cross? Having purchased it by his death, doth he confirm it to thee by his resurrection. and in the earnest of his Spirit, seal it on thy soul to the day of eternal redemption? Oh! then look up to him, my soul, again this evening, as thy peace, thy surety, thy sponsor; and say with the prophet, "This man shall be our peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land;" Micah 5:5. Yes, thou dear Redeemer! thou art indeed the peace, the very means and end of all joy and peace in believing, and wilt be the everlasting security of thy people in peace with God through all eternity! Methinks I hear thee say, in the nightly visits of thy love and grace, as to the disciples of old: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you: let not your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid!"

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