Jesus Affirmed To Be Alive

Jesus Affirmed To Be Alive

DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, APRIL 1, 1888,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation
of such things as I supposed: but had certain questions against him of
their own superstition and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul
affirmed to be alive." Acts 25:18,19.

FESTUS is giving to King Agrippa a brief account of the matter between
Paul and the Jews. It may not be a very accurate account. For Festus
did not profess to understand the business. He was a Roman governor
newly come to Judea. He had no acquaintance whatever with Jewish
Scriptures nor with Jewish laws. He is, therefore, merely giving to
King Agrippa a rough and ready outline of the affair as it struck him.
He had never thought it worth his special attention but he was a little
puzzled how he should represent the matter to Caesar, to whom Paul had
appealed.

Festus is represented by our translators as calling the Jewish religion
a "superstition." I hardly think he would have used so harsh a term
before Agrippa who professed to be of the Jewish faith. But yet, as he
probably knew that Agrippa's religion did not lie very deep and was the
mere appendage of a man of fashion, Festus was not very particular
about the word which he used. And he lighted upon one which may mean
"superstition" as the Authorized Version has it, or "religion" as the
Revised Version has it.

"Well, well," he seems to say to Agrippa, "I do not know much about it.
I supposed, when the Jews brought this man before me, that he would be
charged with a breach of the Roman Law and I was prepared, of course,
to deal with the prisoner. But when I listened to their accusation and
found that there was nothing in it but some disputes about their
religion, I hardly knew what to say. Their controversy is important to
them, I dare say. But it can be of no consequence either to you or to
me, for it turned very much upon a person of the name of Jesus, which
was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive."

I want you to notice that, rough and ready as this description is, and
neither full nor deep, yet on the surface we see that in the
controversy we have the same condition of things as we usually see in
such conflicts. On the one side Paul's opponents fought with the
weapons of "certain questions," and on the other hand he defended
himself with a bold affirmation. This is the old story of speculation
against dogmatism. It is always the way–the adversaries of the Cross
of Christ assert nothing but they question everything. They will not
lay down a basis nor define their opinions. If they would do this, we
might soon demolish their fabrics of falsehood. But all that they
propound is "certain questions."

On the other hand, those who are witnesses for the Lord Jesus have
little care about questions, speculations and the boasted outcome of
cultured thought. They affirm certain definite facts–they affirm these
to be a Revelation from God and there they stand. Brethren, it is, at
least, a hopeful token when we are on the side of the affirmation. As
to that side which is abundant only in questions, what can be the
practical value of its contentions? Can ten thousand questions ease a
guilty conscience? Can a myriad of speculations yield comfort for the
dying hour? Are we helped forward in true holiness or even converted to
the way of life by questions?

Let us take hold upon the Truths of God which are surely revealed, the
things which we have tasted and handled and verified. And, holding
these intelligently and heartily, let us resolve to hold them to the
end. Let us accept that which has come to us by Revelation of the Holy
Spirit and let us stand firmly there, as Paul did when he affirmed that
Jesus was alive. Let us plainly declare definite Truths of God of which
we are not ashamed–Truths which are often disputed but can never be
disproved.

Another thing is very noticeable in this somewhat flippant account of
the whole affair by Festus–namely that he noticed that the Jews raised
certain questions about opinions, superstitious or religious. But Paul
made a statement concerning a Person. Paul was seen with half an eye to
be the more conscientious and the more religious of the two. But still
his religion resolved itself into attachment to a Person–"one Jesus,
which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive." Brethren, the hinge

of the controversy must ever turn upon our Lord, His Divine nature, the
authority of His teaching and especially the meaning of His death and
resurrection.

Did He die as a sacrifice for sin according to Old Testament prophecy?
Did He justify many by bearing their iniquities? Did He, or did He not?
The side which Paul takes is that which magnifies Jesus. He finds his
chief treasure in the Person of the Savior. May the Spirit of God lead
us more and more to contend for Jesus who is not only the Author and
Finisher of our faith but the sum and substance of it! Son of God and
yet Son of Man. Eternal, yet born into this world. Our Sacrifice and
yet our Prophet, Priest and King. Bearer of our sorrow and fountain of
our joy. Sacrifice for our transgression and yet source of our
righteousness. Jesus Christ is our All in All!

God forbid that we should glory, save in His Cross, for we preach
Christ crucified. God forbid that we should ever despair of His
triumph, for we affirm that He is alive, able to save unto the
uttermost those that come unto God by Him. Oh, for a deeper love to our
Lord, Himself, loving doctrine, precept and ordinance for His dear
sake–rejoicing most of all that He lives–since because He lives we
shall live, also. May even the blindest observer of our lives be forced
to see that Jesus holds the most prominent place in them and that the
battle of our existence is for Jesus, our living Lord!

We will give more consideration this morning to the words of Festus
than he gave to them himself. May the Spirit of God give us a blessing
while we review this superficial utterance of an utterly worldly man!
Seen in its true light, it may be instructive to us.

First, let us observe that true Gospel preaching is full of Jesus. Paul
spoke so much of Him that an irreligious heathen magistrate perceived
that he spoke of "one Jesus." Secondly, note that Gospel preaching
makes much of the resurrection. For this is implied in what Festus says
of Paul's affirmation. And, thirdly, Gospel preaching affirms that
Jesus who died is alive. The great contention was concerning "one
Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive."

I. To begin with–TRUE GOSPEL PREACHING IS FULL OF JESUS. Jesus is the
most notable figure in Christian testimony. The Apostle Paul, whom we
may regard as a model in preaching, exercised a ministry which was
always full of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Following the historical connection of the verse before us, we note
that he preached "Jesus to multitudes unknown." Fes-tus evidently knew
not Jesus, for he speaks of Him as "one Jesus." He mentions the name as
belonging to some obscure individual of whom he knew nothing and cared
less. The great ones of the earth know nothing of the King of kings.
Beloved, to this day this is the wonder of wonders, that the incarnate
God is not known. The world which He made knows Him not. He came at
first to His own nation, who had been studying the prophecies
concerning Him. Even to the jots and tittles had they studied those
prophecies and yet, when He came, who was the clear fulfillment of them
all, they knew Him not. For had they known Him, they would not have
crucified the Lord of Glory.

When He was born into the world, there was no room for Him in the inn,
where there is room for everybody. No palace gave welcome to the more
than royal child. He was of the house and lineage of David but they did
not perceive in Him the answer to their question, "Where is He that is
born King of the Jews?" His birth is the starting point of the age. And
yet it was almost unanimously ignored by those who wielded the
recording pen of history. His was the most extraordinary life that ever
passed before mortal eyes. And yet how little notice was taken of it!
Beyond Palestine it seems not even to have awakened curiosity. He died
and then to the people most concerned in Him He became "one Jesus,
which was dead."

The new Roman procurator and myriads like he, well informed upon other
matters, hardly knew His name, and only mentioned half of it when they
spoke of "one Jesus, which was dead." Brethren, this is why we must
keep on preaching Jesus Christ–because He is still so little known.
The masses of this city are as ignorant of Jesus as Festus was. You can
never have a congregation in any of our places of worship and feel sure
that they all know Jesus. If you gather in the outsiders from the
street you may be sure that the story of Jesus will be news to them. We
call this a Christian country. But it would be very difficult to prove
that it is so. If we took certain lines of observation as to the moral
and religious conduct of our fellow men, we should logically arrive at
the conclusion that we live in a heathen, rather than in a Christian,
city.

Still the world knows Him not. As a sun He shines on all eyes and yet
men do not see Him. As an atmosphere He surrounds all life and yet men
do not perceive Him. Let this sad fact constrain us to fill our
teaching with Christ. As Gideon's fleece dripped with dew, so let us
saturate our ministry with Christ. Be it ours truthfully to say, "We
preach Christ crucified." We do this always and evermore. Not by
accident but by continual design. Paul preached Jesus, who was despised
by many. The language of Festus is not only that of ignorance but in a
measure that of contempt. He speaks of "one Jesus, which was dead."
Jesus is evidently nothing to Festus and Festus does not imagine that
Jesus is very much to King Agrippa. Probably he was quite right–Jesus
was nobody among the rank and fashion and culture of the period.

Behold the unlearned of the day, if you speak to them of the great
Sacrifice and the wondrous atonement made by blood, they scarcely
hearken to you, for such high things are not for them–they are so
hardly pressed with daily labor and slender pay that they cannot think
of sin and sacrifice and salvation. But they ask, "What has the poor
working man to do with religion?" Alas, that this folly should be so
prevalent! Then you turn to the learned and hope that here, at any
rate, due attention will be given to the great marvel of reconciling
love. Alas, it is not so. To these more educated ones the doctrine of
the Cross is foolishness. They ask for something new. Something more
philosophical. Substitution and sacrifice?–they will have none of
them.

The story of the league ofjustice with Divine Grace–the reconcilement
of holiness with mercy–is beneath their notice. They are too cultured
to believe the common faith, too wise to accept that which God has
revealed unto babes. Beloved Brethren, it should never cause us doubt
when we see many despising our Lord, for this is nothing new, and
nothing unexpected. Did He tell us that if we preached in His name all
men would receive us? No, He warned us that the contrary result would
follow.

Did not His Apostles assure us that the offense of the Cross had not
ceased? Is not Christ crucified a stumbling block and foolishness to
carnal men? If all men had received our message with a ready gratitude,
we might have questioned the Truth of Scripture. But inasmuch as they
fight against it, we may see in this an argument for its truth since we
were told of old that "the natural man receives not the things of the
Spirit of God–for they are foolishness unto him."

Gospel preaching is also full of Jesus Christ in this respect–we do
not conceal His death. Festus notes that the conflict was concerning
"one Jesus, which was dead." The Jews said He was dead and Paul also
confessed that He was dead–there was no disagreement between them over
that matter. Hear, then, the debate. "What? Did your Leader die?"
"Yes–He was crucified." "Did you not say He was Divine?" "Yes." "Yet
is He dead?" "It is even so." "Yet you spoke of His leading you on to
victory?" "So we did." "Yet He is dead?" "Yes, He died at Calvary."
"How, then, can your boasting stand?" "We believe that by His death He
has gained the victory and accomplished His great purpose."

"But how did He die?" He died the death of a felon upon a gibbet. His
enemies nailed Him to a Cross and put Him to a death which was reserved
for slaves. We confess this. Yes, we glory in it! We tell you, too,
that He not only died that which was a penal death externally but He
actually and truly died such a death. "He was made a curse for us: for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree." Isaiah said of
Him, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all," and again, "He
was numbered with the transgressors and He bare the sin of many." His
death was the equivalent to that penal death which was our just desert.

Hear how He cries–"Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? Behold,
and see if there is any sorrow like unto My sorrow, which is done unto
Me, wherewith the Lord has afflicted Me in the day of His fierce
anger." We glory that our Lord Jesus was put to death as bearing the
sin of many. This we hold and teach. Not defending it, nor apologizing
for it. But affirming it with all boldness, with the desire that we may
be understood. If any object to this teaching, we do not therefore
conceal it. We expected that it would be objectionable. We desire more
and more to obtrude this Truth of Substitution whenever we preach and
to make it the head and front of our Gospel.

As the brazen serpent was lifted up upon the pole and was by no means
concealed, even so would we set forth plainly the sufferings and death
of our Lord Jesus, that sinners may look to Him and live. This is the
hope of men–the sacrifice of Jesus proclaimed with great plainness of
speech. Jesus is to be believed in as the sin-bearing Lamb of God.
Believed in as dying the death of the Cross, that we might live through
Him. That only is Gospel preaching which has this for its subject and
spirit. A Christless Gospel is a useless Gospel. Our sermons should be
so perfumed with Jesus that never should a congregation gather and
separate without perceiving a savor of Christ.

Even people who are not saved by it should yet be made to know that we
preach Christ crucified. In such a case, we have done our work
successfully, even if souls are not saved. For we are unto God a sweet
savor of Christ as well in them that perish as in them that are saved,
if we have exalted the Lord Jesus and borne witness to His power to
save.

Beloved, I would have you further note that true Gospel preaching will
be full of Jesus as He is revealed in the Old Testament. Our Apostle,
when he spoke before King Agrippa, went on to declare that he had said
"none other things than those which the Prophets and Moses did say
should come: that Christ should suffer and that He should be the first
that should rise from the dead and should show light unto the people
and to the Gentiles." Evidently it was this astounding statement about
Jesus having risen from the dead and being yet alive that was uppermost
in the mind of Festus, so that when Paul re-asserted it, he cried with
a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself; much learning does make
you mad."

The learning he referred to was his study of the ancient books of the
Jews, the writings of Moses and the Prophets. Paul's teaching paid as
much deference to the ancient Scriptures as did that of the Jewish
rabbis who were opposed to him–no, in very truth–Paul paid a far more
real homage to the Bible than they did. As for us, the Old Testament is
prized by us as much as the New. We do not preach Jesus as a fresh
arrival, the inventor of a new religion, the founder of a novel way of
salvation. No. We preach the Messiah of the Old Testament, whose Gospel
is set forth in the types and in the teachings of Moses and the
Prophets–"Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today, and forever."

Do not imagine that the religion of Abraham was one thing and ours
another–ours is but the continuation of that Gospel which was revealed
to all the faithful from the days of righteous Abel until now. All who
have spoken in the name of God have borne witness to the same Truth. If
you would see a suffering Savior I need not refer you to the Gospels
but in the twenty-second Psalm behold the full-length portrait of
Messiah in His agony. Hear him cry, "My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?" Mark how they part His garments among them and cast lots
upon His vesture after they have pierced His hands and His feet!

No Evangelist, even though he were an eyewitness, could have drawn the
picture more accurately. Read also the fifty-third of Isaiah. Where can
you find a better description of the Messiah's sufferings than when you
see Him cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of His people? Beloved, the New Testament is the key to
the Old, but the lock is not superseded by the key–no, it is made more
useful. We have not received a new religion–we worship the God of
Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob–for He is the God and Father of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our Gospel has threads of many colors in it–both the Old and New
Testaments are set forth in it to the glory of the one Christ who is
the sole Revelation of God. Every Gospel sermon should set forth Jesus
scripturally. For it is not the Christ of fancy but the Christ of fact
that saves the souls of men. Let me add that where the Gospel is
faithfully preached the reproach of Christ will not be shunned by the
preacher. Read in the fifth verse of the twenty-fourth of Acts how Paul
won this reproach. His adversaries said–"We have found this man a
pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout
the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."

This was the reputation of Paul. Well did Mr. Whitefield say, "There is
no going to Heaven as a minister except in a fool's cap and a fool's
coat." There is no hope of preaching Christ faithfully without being
called by disrespectful titles, regarded as a fool and reckoned among
the vulgar and ignorant. Some kind of ugly name will always be appended
to the preacher of the true Gospel. Brethren, expect it and accept it!
Bid farewell to a quiet life, if you resolve to be true to Jesus.
Nothing excites such animosity as the preaching of Jesus. The carnal
mind rages at the Cross of Christ. That which would be to men the
greatest comfort and the greatest joy if they were in their right minds
is their direst hate because sin has perverted their judgments.

Do not, I beseech you, imagine that it is possible, fairly and
squarely, to preach Jesus Christ and His Gospel without raising
opposition. I know a minister of whom one said, "He is a truly good man
and nobody ever says a word against him." Upon enquiry I heard a
judicious person say, "He preaches no error but he avoids the obnoxious
side of the Truth of God. What he preaches is true enough, no doubt,
but it is not easy to say what it is. Nine out of ten of his hearers
could not say what his precise opinion may be, but he has a fine flow
of words. Those who do know what he is preaching about usually say
that, "take it for granted, there is nothing in it."

Of course nobody opposes an indistinct, colorless, please-everybody
Gospel–it is not worth anything. But speak clearly and distinctly the
doctrine of the great Sacrifice and you will bring upon your head a
shower of opposition–you will be "a pestilent fellow" and "a
ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." Gospel preaching does not
cry, "Peace, peace," where there is no peace. But it is the sword which
the Lord Jesus came to send upon the earth.

Once more–Jesus Christ must be preached in the Gospel as the sum and
substance of it all. For we note concerning Paul, in this connection,
that whoever might be his hearer, his theme was the same–he preached
Jesus. If he speaks to Felix, he does not only preach to him of
"righteousness, temperance and judgment to come," as some remind
us–but in the twenty-fourth verse of the twenty-fourth chapter we are
told that, "after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla,
which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith
in Christ."

The faith in Christ was the first thing that Paul preached and then he
"reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come." The
foundation of Christian morality is Christ Himself. And though we do
preach moral duties most earnestly and press them home upon the
conscience, yet first of all we preach the faith of Jesus Christ. When
Paul spoke to Festus in the twenty-sixth chapter at the twenty-third
verse, he told him that, "Christ should suffer and that He should be
the first that should rise from the dead." It was this that made Festus
cry out, because he was amazed at this strange Truth of God concerning
Jesus.

So was it with Agrippa. Agrippa is forced to feel that Paul is
preaching Christ, for he cries, "You almost persuaded me to be a
Christian." Paul did not merely persuade him to justice and
righteousness but he pressed him to yield himself to Christ. Indeed the
whole of Paul's address goes to prove the power and glory of the Jesus
by whom Paul had been called to be an Apostle.

Now, Beloved, as I resolve, God helping me, in my preaching to preach
to you nothing else save Jesus Christ, so I beseech you, in your
schools, in your families, in your public ministries of any and every
kind, begin and end with Jesus, who was dead and is alive. Declare His
blessed name and proclaim the glory of His Cross! God forbid that you
should place anything in front of your testimony save Jesus crucified!
Your Gospel is a golden frame, let Jesus be the portrait which is hung
up in it.

II. Secondly–GOSPEL PREACHING AFFIRMS THE RESURRECTION. Please notice
that Paul did not argue the

resurrection but affirmed it. He did not prove it philosophically but
he affirmed that Jesus rose from the dead because such-and-such persons
saw Him alive after He had risen. He did not merely say that it was
probable, that it was possible, that it was reasonable–but that it was
so–for witnesses proved it. Two saw Him, eleven saw Him, four hundred
saw Him. He dealt with the resurrection as common-sense persons deal
with any other fact of history.

He quoted his authorities and affirmed that it was so. His witnesses
were honest and true men who dared to go to prison and even to die on
account of their statements. They had nothing whatever to gain and
everything to lose by their testimonies. They stated that Jesus, whom
they knew to have been dead, had risen again and had given clear proofs
that He was alive. This cornerstone of our faith is sure and upon the
certainty of it we build our faith.

Paul asserted that the Savior had the pre-eminence in resurrection and,
"that He should be the first that should rise from the dead." Several
persons rose from the dead before our Savior but not in the sense which
Paul intended. Those mentioned in the Old Testament were quickened for
a time but they died after all and saw corruption. They lived anew but
they lived not evermore, as Jesus does. A miracle was worked but it
gave them only a temporary prolongation of life. They went back to the
grave again in due time. Whether it was the child of the woman in the
Old Testament, or the brother of Mary and Martha in the New, they were
not so raised from the dead as to have attained to immortality.

But our Savior finally rose from the dead and rose from the dead by His
own power. He was the first fruits of the resurrection harvest. He was
the first sheaf of that wheat which will one day be gathered in
bulk–He was the first fruits to be presented unto the Lord to sanctify
the whole. Jesus is the pattern, the proof, the pledge, the earnest,
the guarantee of the resurrection of all the rest. This Paul asserted
and declared as a Revelation of God. From this he inferred the general
resurrection. He says in another place that if there is no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen and the whole faith of the Gospel
falls to the ground.

To you and to me this is full of comfort–the dead must rise. Our
beloved ones have been taken from us but they shall come again from the
land of the enemy. We have a glorious hope concerning our own bodies.
"I know that my Redeemer lives: and though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." We shall rise, for Jesus
has risen. This is the constant assertion of Scripture. There would be
no proof of the resurrection of the dead if Jesus had not risen. But as
He has risen from the dead, our resurrection is secured. Now has death
lost its sting–the grave may receive us but it cannot retain us, since
Jesus has burst its bars.

Moreover, Paul–and he, I say, is a model among Gospel
preachers–teaches us to preach in our Gospel all the sweet inferences
which flow from the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Here they are:
He rose from the dead and therefore His sacrifice has been accepted.
God has brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd
of the sheep, by the blood of the Everlasting Covenant. The work He has
done has pleased the Father and therefore He has brought Him back from
among the dead. His acceptance is ours–we are "accepted in the
Beloved."

Next, Jesus Himself is clear. He had, as our sponsor, become our
hostage. Sin was laid on Him and He was laid in the grave. But now the
sinner's surety is as clear as the sinner himself–for the Lord Jesus
is released from the prison of the tomb. He was delivered for our
offenses but He rose again for our justification. Now, also, we live
unto God. Our Lord Jesus died unto sin once. But in that He lives, He
lives unto God–so is it with us. This is our joy–His work is
accepted, His bearing of our curse is finished, life in us is made
manifest.

And now, Beloved, we see in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead that He is Divine. He is "declared to be the Son of God, with
power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
the dead." So says Paul in the first chapter of his Epistle to the
Romans. Jesus raised Himself from the dead by His own will. "I have
power to lay down My life," said He, "and I have power to take it
again." Who could possess and exercise such a power but a Divine Being?

I must repeat what I have said already, that from the resurrection of
our Lord we draw the comfortable inference of the resurrection unto
eternal life of all who are in Christ. We said farewell, a little while
ago, to him whom we loved so well but we shall see the honored one
again. We laid our sister in the grave with many tears. Oh, how we miss
her! But we shall meet her again when the trumpet shall sound. We
preserve a long list of departed ones, of which we scarcely dare to
think, for tears drown our eyes. Yet will we refrain from weeping, for
as the dew of herbs causes them to spring up again, so the rising again
of our Lord restores to us the beloved ones who have fallen asleep. The
broken circle of our fellowship shall be renewed, for Jesus, its
center, has risen again.

III. But now, alas for me! I have scant time for the point which I
wanted most fully to discuss–GOSPEL PREACHING AFFIRMS THAT JESUS IS
ALIVE. We do not preach to you a dead Christ but one who is able to
save to the uttermost, seeing He ever lives.

Jesus died, Jesus rose again, Jesus is now alive. Paul knew that Jesus
lived, for He had spoken to him out of Heaven. Paul had both seen and
heard the Lord Jesus and thus he had been turned from a persecutor into
an Apostle. We do not need to see Jesus, nor to hear His voice, for we
are well satisfied with the witness of a man so true as Paul, in whom a
change so remarkable was worked by what he saw. His entire being was
transformed by what he saw and heard–assuredly he was no deceiver and
he was not the sort of person to have been deceived.

Jesus Christ is then alive, for Paul saw Him. No, not only once did he
see Him but on several other occasions. He saw the Lord when he was in
the temple in a trance and heard Him say, "Depart, for I will send you
far hence unto the Gentiles" (Acts 22:17-21). Even when he lay in
prison in Jerusalem the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer,
Paul: for as you have testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must you bear
witness also at Rome." Jesus had thus spoken to Paul, once, twice and
many times. And so He was to him most assuredly alive. Ah, dear
Friends, if the Lord Jesus has had gracious dealings with any of us and
we have had Him revealed within us, we also shall affirm that He is
alive.

Beloved, receiving the witness of our Apostle and remembering many
other infallible proofs which we have not time to mention, we also
believe that Jesus, who was dead, is alive. What follows from this?
Why, first, He is alive to bestow the Holy Spirit. Many blessings come
from our Lord's death but the Holy Spirit was an early gift of His
resurrection life–especially was it the outcome of His ascended life.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is the ascension gift of our living Lord.
When we think of His resurrection life, we couple with it the
outpouring of the Spirit of God.

Oh, that this same Spirit would work among us more manifestly just now!
And why not? He is with us because Jesus lives. No Spirit of life could
proceed from a dead Christ. Jesus, if He were not alive, could not send
the Comforter to us. The life and light and liberty of the Spirit are
with us, because Jesus lives. Beloved, do you think the times are dark
and dreary? Be not afraid–while Jesus lives the Holy Spirit is always
obtainable–the Holy Spirit is always ready to work in and with us.
What more do we want? Error will fall and the Truth of God will be
established by the Holy Spirit. This is our battle-axe and weapon of
war. O living Christ, we praise and bless Your name. For out of You
shall come abundance of life and power through Your Spirit!

Jesus is alive. Dwell on that thought. He is alive, to claim Heaven for
His redeemed. He has gone up before us to occupy our inheritance for
us. When He first put His feet within the golden gate He took
possession of eternal glory for every soul that He represents. He is
our forerunner and representative. Brethren, Heaven is yours, Heaven is
mine, because Jesus is, "the Man in possession," on our behalf. That
pierced hand has taken hold of eternal bliss on the behalf of those for
whom He shed His blood.

Jesus is also in Heaven making preparation for our coming. What has to
be done to make Heaven ready I am sure I do not know, though I have
often tried to guess. But Jesus says, "I go to prepare a place for
you." Heaven, when we get there, will prove to be the exact place for
us. It has taken Jesus all these years to make it ready for us. He that
with a Word made earth fit for created man, did not with a Word make
Heaven fit for His regenerated but went to Heaven Himself as a living
Christ to see everything set in order for them. I think I hear Him say,
"This will not do for My Beloved. There is something yet needed. These
fruits are not quite mellow enough, these flowers are not full-blown
enough for My Beloved, whom I desire to entertain to the utmost of
their capacity." Jesus is living–living on purpose to keep Heaven for
us and make it in all respects ready for us.

Furthermore, lay hold of this thought–that Jesus is alive to intercede
for us. I am most rich, Beloved, when I have your prayers. If I might
have a part in the prayers of all the saints on earth I would not envy
a Kaiser his dominions. Yet what are all the prayers of saints compared
with the prayers of the King of saints? When He prays–He of the
pierced hands and feet– when He prays whom the Father loves so
well–who has such deservings of Jehovah for His obedience unto death,
even the

death of the Cross? What a prevalence must dwell in His intercession!
We trust not in a dumb, dead Christ, who could not speak for us but we
rest in an Advocate whose eloquent pleadings before the Throne of God
can never be denied.

Observe also that our Lord lives to rule all things on our behalf. His
enemies put Him to an ignominious death but the Father has delivered
all things into His hands. He whom they spat upon wears majesty in His
face. The despised and rejected of men has all power in Heaven and in
earth. Jesus lives to control all events and overrule them for the
highest purposes of Divine Grace. Trust in Him for His kingdom cannot
fail, neither can anything go amiss while He is to the front. Paul
affirmed that He was alive. And alive He is in the fullest sense, so
that nothing escapes His government. Hallelujah!

"Ah," you say, "you have now put Him far away from us by reason of His
adorable majesty." Then let me bring Him near to you. He is not only
alive Godward, that the Father may delight in Him but alive towards
you, that He may have the fellowship of kinship with you. He is touched
with a feeling of your infirmities. He sympathizes with all your
griefs, even as a loving husband shares the pangs and sorrows of his
spouse. He is most near to you, for He is one with you. We may not
think of our Lord as One whose shadow flitted over the historic page
and left a faint photographic trace. But He lives as truly in the
present as in the past.

He is not Jesus of the mist but of this day's light. He is the same in
heart, the same in tenderness, the same in living feeling and union as
ever He was. Did you ever reflect that something of Christ remained on
earth and was not taken to Heaven? I mean those drops of blood which
fell from Him in Gethsemane and that other stream which gushed from His
pierced heart on Calvary. I see that his heart's essence is with us
still. It was after death that His heart poured forth for us its
treasure of water and blood. And now, long after death His whole heart
is as truly ours as it was when He bare our sins in His own body on the
tree.

O child of God, I would have you further remember that Jesus is still
alive to commune with you. You bend not over His corpse but you sit at
His feet. Carnal men would think me dreaming if I were to tell of our
spiritual relationship with our living Lord. Still does He speak to our
hearts. Pearls may not be cast before swine, nor the love secrets of
our souls declared in the streets. But we have been conscious at times
of influences other than those which are natural and common. Jesus has
made Himself known to us–He has stood behind us and His shadow has
fallen over us. He has manifested Himself to us as He does not to the
world.

Many a time has He cast a spell over us and bathed us in mystic
influence. We have been raised from the valley of weeping to the
mountains of joy by a Word from Himself laid home to the heart. You
know what I mean. Jesus does not forget us. He has not allowed a great
gulf to open between us and Himself. He is still the loving, living,
active Jesus to us and with us. How I wish that every child of God here
who is in trouble would go at once with that trouble to the living
Christ! Oh, that every sinner who is crushed beneath his load of sin
would bow at once before the living Christ, whose voice speaks pardon!

You cannot perceive Jesus but He is present where His Gospel is
preached. Eyes cannot see Him, nor hands touch Him but He is visible
and tangible to faith. Bow before Him. I know you have often thought,
"If, instead of seeing Mr. Spurgeon on the platform, I could see Jesus,
I would confess my sin to Him and ask His pardon." I pray you do so
even though you see Him not, for He sees you. Gladly would I cease to
be seen of you that your hearts might see my Lord, for He is here. Bow
before Him, confess to Him and trust Him.

"Oh," cries a loving one, "if Jesus were visibly here, I would take Him
home with me and entertain Him." Do so, I pray you, though you do not
see Him. Constrain Him to abide with you. Treat the Lord Jesus, not as
a phantom but as a real Christ. Paul affirmed that He was
alive–believe Paul's affirmation and speak to the living Jesus. I will
give you a text, "Whom having not seen, you love." You cannot love a
dead person as a dead person. You may love the memory of the dead. But
if you love them, you regard them as living. Love is for life. It
cannot dwell with death. We have not seen Jesus but we love Him and
this proves that to our hearts He lives.

Let us view Him in the light of life at this very hour. I beseech my
Lord Jesus to let me personally realize His august Presence. My Lord,
are You really here? Hear, then, my prayer–I beseech You, enable me to
serve You with my whole being and to count reproach for Your sake to be
greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Will you not, my
Beloved, each one of you, think of your Lord as with you at this
moment? Behold Him and speak to Him in the silence of your hearts. Will
you now renew your dedication vow and be the Lord's forever?

Oh that our Lord would now appear! Oh that His silver trumpets would
ring out while yet I speak to you! Oh that His feet would once more
touch this earth! The second coming of our living Lord is the ultimatum
of our faith. He is alive and as surely as He lives, He will open wide
the golden gate and come again to take His people up to be with Him
forever. Has He not

said, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself"? They that have
been faithful to Him in this evil generation, through the dark as well
as through the light and have followed at His heels through mire and
slough–these shall partake of His glory.

"These are they which follow the Lamb wherever He goes." Who is on the
side of the living Christ at this hour? Let him come out and boldly say
so. Hold not back lest you be found traitors. Confess your Lord, take
up your cross and by God's grace be the living servants of the living
Jesus. Amen.