The Risen King
The Risen King: 40 Devotions for Easter
By: Charles H. Spurgeon; Jeff Medders (Editor)
I read this book during the 40 days of Lent this year and it was an encouraging yet convicting time! This is by no means a book purely for anticipating Easter because the message of Easter is for every day. Read this at any time of year and you will find truth and hope for your soul.
This book consists of 40 devotional readings 1-2.5 pages long (of a small book) each ending with a short reflection paragraph and a short prayer. All of the material is taken from sermons given by Charles H. Spurgeon. The book was compiled by Jeff Medders.
There is an appendix in the book that lists each sermon the material was derived for each devotion as well as where you can locate those sermons if you want to read/hear more on the subject.
The devotions were very short but most of them packed a punch! Deep thinking here and bringing to light new facets of familiar passages for me that I really enjoyed.
I’ll share some of the things that stuck out and some quotes to give you a taste of what you’ll be reading.
In the devotion about John the Baptist he talks about how John the Baptist can’t be understood apart from Christ because he was to bear witness to Jesus.
“May our lives be such that they cannot be understood apart from Jesus. May it be the case that if we were to take him away, our whole character would become an inexplicable mystery. I am afraid that some professing Christians could be easily interpreted apart from Christ…”
“Repentance without hope is hell. It is hell to grieve for sin with the pangs of bitter remorse and yet to know that pardon can never come and mercy can never be granted. Repentance, with the cross before its eyes, is heaven itself.”
This next one was said within the context of evangelism— Jesus making us fishers of men. He talks about fishing being an act of faith: “Where has God’s providence taken you so you can cast your net and win souls for Christ?” We don’t want our relationship with God to be “only right doctrine and right living that never leads to right evangelism.”
And I love this quote for that purpose, but also just in the sense that we can’t truly encounter Jesus and come away unchanged. He transforms. He ‘makes.’ And in faith, we entrust him with who we are and who he wants us to be, and by his grace he will finish what he started. Exciting to think about.
“When Christ calls us by his grace, we ought not only to remember what we are, but we also ought to think of what he can make us. Jesus starts by saying, ‘Follow me, and I will make you…’ We should repent of what we have been but rejoice in what we may be. It is not ‘Follow me because you may make something of yourselves’, but ‘Follow me because of what I will make of you.’”
Talking of feeding the five thousand:
“Let us bring all we have to Christ in faith, laying it at his feet, believing that his great power can make little means suffice for mighty ends… We can bring our meager talents and abilities to him— and watch him work!”
In regards to the story of the prodigal son:
“We see the prodigal father ran. Slow are the steps of repentance, but swift are the feet of forgiveness. God can run when we can scarcely limp…”
And then he talks about the filthy rags the son shows up in and how the father has a feast prepared for him. When the son said, ‘Father, I have sinned’ the father’s next words are: ‘Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him’
“And so the Father covers all our sins with Christ’s righteousness… When the repentant sinner comes to God, his or her past is not only covered by the righteousness of Christ, but they are prepared for the future blessedness which is reserved for the pardoned ones.”
“Consecrate to the Savior all that you have: every faculty, power, possession, and ability… Half a heart given to Christ? Never. Half a life given to Christ? Half your faculties, half your powers given to Christ? It is an unworthy gift. He gave you his all, and he claims all of you.”
“The words ‘It is finished’ consolidated heaven, shook hell, comforted earth, delighted the Father, glorified the Son, brought down the Spirit, and confirmed the everlasting covenant to all the chosen ones… Your sins have received their death blow; the robe of your righteousness has received its last thread. It is done— complete, perfect. It needs no addition; it can never suffer diminution… Therefore in this cross of Christ we glory; yes, and in it alone will we glory evermore.”
Recommendation
I highly recommend this little book. It’s a book you can easily go through multiple times and still find good reflections and convictions to meditate on. Read one a day or one a week if you want to reflect more deeply on it.
The chapters definitely prepare you for the meaning of the cross to us, sinners, and how we can most glorify our risen King. It has a very clear gospel message and very clear hope for weary souls.
Easter was yesterday, but we glory in the cross of Christ every day— so don’t let this book pass you by: meditate on our Lord, his power and his love.
**Received a copy from The Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review**
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