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 incorruptib