_THE RESURRECTION MORNING_

MATTHEW xxviii. 1-15.

Let me reverently mark the happenings of this most wonderful morn. "_It began to dawn._" Yes, that was the first significance of the resurrection.

It was a new day for the world. Everything was to be seen in a new light.

Everything was to wear a new face--G.o.d, and heaven, and life, and duty, and death! "All things are become new."

"_And there was a great earthquake._" Yes, and this was significant of the tremendous upheaval implied in the resurrection. The kingdom of the devil was upheaved from its foundations. All the boasted pomp of his showy empire was turned upside down. "I beheld Satan falling!"

"_And the angel rolled away the stone._" And that, too, is significant of the resurrection. The awful barrier was rolled away, and the grave became a thoroughfare! "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."

And there was "_fear and great joy_." And mingled awe and gladness, a reverential delight.

APRIL The Fifth

_THE EMPTY TOMB_

LUKE xxiv. 1-12.

That empty tomb means the conquest of death. The Captive proved mightier than the captor. He emerged from the prison as the Lord of the prison, and death reeled at His going. In the risen Saviour death is dethroned; he takes his place at the footstool to do the bidding of his sovereign Lord and King. And that empty tomb means the conquest of sin. Sin had done its worst, and had failed. All the forces of h.e.l.l had been rallied against the Lord, and above them all He rose triumphant and glorified. A little while ago I discovered a spring. I tried to choke it. I heaped sand and gravel upon it; I piled stones above it! And through them all it emerged, noiselessly and irresistibly, a radiant resurrection!

And so the empty tomb becomes the symbol of a thoroughfare between life in time and life in the unshadowed Presence of our G.o.d. Death is now like a short tunnel which is near my home; I can look through it and see the other side! In the risen Lord death becomes transparent. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

APRIL The Sixth

_FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST_

"_Last of all He was seen of me also._"

--1 CORINTHIANS xv. 1-11.

And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also found the dynamic of the immortal hope.

"Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another man's sight, and are my own eyes unillumined? In these realms the witness of "hear-says" counts for nothing; he only speaks with arresting power who has "seen for himself." "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?" That is the question which is asked, not only by the Master, but by all who hear us tell the story of the risen Lord. "Has He been seen of thee also?"

My Saviour, I humbly pray Thee to give me first-hand knowledge of Thee.

Let me be a witness who can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Before all the doubts and hesitancies of man enable me to answer, "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?"

APRIL The Seventh

_IF CHRIST WERE DEAD!_

1 CORINTHIANS xv. 12-26.

"_If Christ be not risen!_" That is the most appalling "if" which can be flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade!

"_Your faith is vain._" It has no more strength and permanency than Jonah's gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at Joseph's tomb.

"_Ye are yet in your sins._" The hope of forgiveness and reconciliation is stricken, and there is nothing left but "a certain fearful looking-for of judgment." Nemesis has only been hiding behind a screen of decorated falsehoods, and she will pursue us to the bitter end.

"_We are of all men the most miserable._" Joy would fall and die like a fatally wounded lark. The song would cease from our souls. The holy place would become a tomb.

"But now _is_ Christ risen from the dead!" Yes, let me finish on that word. That gives me morning, and melody, and holy merriment that knows no end.

April The Eighth

_MY INHERITANCE IN THE RISEN LORD_

1 PETER i. 1-9.

In my risen Lord I am born into "a living hope," a hope not only vital, but vitalizing, sending its mystic, vivifying influences through every highway and by-way of my soul.

In my risen Lord mine is "_an inheritance incorruptible_." It is not exposed to the gnawing tooth of time. Moth and rust can not impair the treasure. It will not grow less as I grow old. Its glories are as invulnerable as my Lord.

In my risen Lord mine is "an inheritance ... _undefiled_." There is no alloy in the fine gold. The King will give me of His best. "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him." The holiest ideal proclaims my possibility, and foretells my ultimate attainment. Heaven's wine is not to be mixed with water. I am to awake "in His likeness."

And mine is "an inheritance ... that _fadeth not away_." It shall not be as the garlands offered by men--green to-day and to-morrow sere and yellow. "Its leaf also shall not wither." It shall always retain its freshness, and shall offer me a continually fresh delight. And these are all mine in Him!

"Thou, O Christ, art all I want."

APRIL The Ninth

_THE EVER-LIVING LORD_

REVELATION i. 9-18.

Let me take the simple words, and quietly gaze into the wonderful depths of their fathomless simplicity. An old villager used to tell me it would strengthen my eyes if I looked long into deep wells. And it will a.s.suredly strengthen the eyes of my soul to gaze into wells like these.