now my leaf need not wither, and my hopes may remain
unshaken through all my troubled years.

APRIL The Fourth

_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--God, 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 hell 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 God. 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