Day 4 - Wednesday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect the Testaments | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for the Quiet Hour |

 Morning, April 2. Go To Evening Reading

"He answered him with never a word."—Matthew 27:14

He had never been slow of speech when he could bless the sons of men, but he would not say a single word for himself. "Ever man spake like this man," "never man was silent like him. Was this singular silence the index of his perfect self-sacrifice? Did it show that he would not utter a word to stay the slaughter of his sacred person, which he had dedicated as an offering for us? Had he so entirely surrendered himself that he would not interfere in his own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim? Was this silence a type of defencelessness against sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; therefore, he who bore its whole weight stood speechless before his judge.

Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world? Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence. The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its martyrs. The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows. Did not the silent Lamb of God give us a grand example of wisdom? Where every word was an occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford no fuel for the flame of sin. The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and mean, will ere long overthrow and confute themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom. Evidently, by his silence, our Lord furnished a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy. A long defence of himself would have been contrary to Isaiah's prediction. "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." By his quiet, he conclusively proved himself to be the true Lamb of God. As such, we salute him this morning. Be with us, Jesus, and in the silence of our heart, let us hear the voice of thy love.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, April 2

"We shall see his seed; he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."—Isaiah 53:10

Plead for the speedy fulfilment of this promise, all ye who love the Lord. It is easy work to pray when we are grounded and bottomed, as to our desires, upon God's own promise. How can he who gave the word refuse to keep it? Immutable veracity cannot demean itself by a lie, and eternal faithfulness cannot degrade itself by neglect. God must bless his Son; his covenant binds him to it. That which the Spirit prompts us to ask for Jesus is that which God decrees to give him. Whenever you pray for the kingdom of Christ, let your eyes behold the dawning of the blessed day which draweth near, when the Crucified shall receive his coronation where men rejected him. Courage, you that prayerfully work and toil for Christ with success of the very most minor kind shall not be so always; better times are before you. Your eyes cannot see the blissful future: borrow the telescope of faith; wipe the misty breath of your doubts from the glass; look through it and behold the coming glory. Reader, let us ask, do you make this your constant prayer? Remember that the same Christ who tells us to say, "Give us this day our daily bread," had first given us this petition: "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Let not your prayers be all concerning your own sins, your own wants, your own imperfections, your own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder, and get up to Christ himself, and then, as you draw nigh to the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, offer this prayer continually, ""ord, extend the kingdom of thy dear Son."" A fervently presented petition will elevate the Spirit of all your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by labouring to promote the Lord's glory.

 C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).

April 2: The Final Say

Deuteronomy 2:1–3:29; 2 Corinthians 1:12–16; Psalm 31:10–24

Having the final say in an argument is more satisfying than I'd like to admit. By default, I'd like to be right, even if I have to be pedantic. I wish I could say this was limited to petty concerns. But on more than one occasion, when discussing issues of eternal significance, I've used my trump card to win an argument.

Paul specifically addresses this type of pride and boasting throughout 2 Corinthians. However, we encounter a surprising statement in 2 Corinthians 1: " Our reason for boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, in holiness and purity of motive from God, not in merely human wisdom, but by the grace of God" (Cor 1:12).

At first glance, Paul appears to be boasting about his own actions. Isn't it evidence of the same pride he denounces (1 Cor 5:6)?

However, the key phrases "ho"iness and purity of motive from God" a"d "gr"ce of God "provide a foundation for Paul's casting. They tell us it's Paul's side on the line—it's good news. Paul claims that his ministry's integrity doesn't depend on his own wisdom.

Paul wasn't trying to be a star pastor. His words were motivated by a deep concern for the Corinthians. He didn't do anything to obstruct the message about Christ. Similarly, our actions shouldn't structure the gospel message. We should examine our motives when inclined to be "right." Our words and actions should reflect God's grace in our lives, evidenced by humility and a sense of purpose in our interactions with others.

How are your words and actions speaking about your own pride? How can you be testifying about God's grace in God's life?

Rebecca Van Noord

 John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

April 2

The glory that excels

The Lord … hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight. Acts 9:17.

When Paul received his sight, he received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His subsequent life and preaching were nothing but Jesus Christ—“I" determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. No attraction was ever allowed to hold the mind and soul of Paul, save the face of Jesus Christ.

We must learn to maintain an unimpaired state of character up to the last notch, as revealed in Jesus Christ's resurrection.

The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a man after God's heart.

NGod allows anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things are growing to fascinate you.

‘S'nce mine ey'S'ncee looked on Jesus,

I’ve lost sight of all besides,

So enchanted my spirit's on the Crucified.’

'

 Oswald Ch'm'ers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).

April 2

The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being

Gen. 2:7

And so this soul of mine is a compound of two worlds—dust and Deity! It touches the boundary line of two hemispheres. It is allied on one side to the divine; on the other, to the beast of the field. Its beginning is from beneath, but its culmination is from above; it is started from the dust of the ground, but it is finished in the breath of God.

My soul, art thou living up to thy twofold origin? Art thou remembering thy double parentage, and therefore thy double duty? Thou hast a duty to thy God, for His breath is in thee; thou hast a duty to the earth, for out of it wast thou taken.

George Matheson

 Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).