The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 503

pa.rent&. But it outlifflf the flesh; for mental existence, which ia independent of the body, belongs to the eoul. Re11,11on all well as Scripture seem to teach this. And, unlike the spirit,, ii II not immo.rtal. With the body, it can be destroyed. But the ci:pirit iB heaven-bora; is superior to the soul; is immortal, and BUperaedes the aoul a, the basis of all other life, and is nurtured only by what is akin to itaell. No" tree," therefore; could furniah food for the spirit. But for the soul-life lt might; and hence m.an WIIS'forbidden aooess to the tree, lest be should "eat, and liv.e for eTer," For the 10ul, • distinct from the bQdy and the spirit, the first tree of life ministered. n. Tm: PBBSElff. For still there is a tree of life-. Christ .ia auoh; for faith in hlm gtNs eternal life-the life in the spirit. Life is in Christ, who ia "the Life." Thua t.be 8'ml, whieh otherwise would have perished, has what in itself it cannot h•v-temal life, Apart from Christ there is no eternal life; but becauae in. him there is this life, ae is for us to-day '' the Tree of Life." . , .. UL TaB PJWKIIIED, That told of in the text. It may be literal, or at lea!it as mnoh 10 as was the primenl tree, and may minister to the life •of• the spiritual body. . But "our knowledge of that life is small;" all that we do know ill, that whatever will further our life, our joy, our fffery good, will be fortboomiug. Wrapped up .in this promi&e ii all that we can desire. The lost tree of life i1 more than restored; ": where sin did abound, grace does mueh more abouu.d." That ia all we can say, and; th&nk God, we can say this.-S. 0. ' Ver. &c-FaUh', foliage. _.. The leav• of the tree were for. the healing of the nations." In ancient timea the leaves of certain trees were used for medi.oina.l {>IU':" poees (see the old herbalists, ete.). And increasingly it is bei.Jig diaoovered how !]oo. hu placed laealing power, in the varied fo:rma .of plant-life. The. proportion of the ph.ytioi,a.n's pha1'11UM¥1p!llia·;ooo~pied,by leaves and snoh-likl! plant produeta ia no alight oo.e. The~ld fltor:, ~f Martili, and the. healing of the bitter w•s there by the t~ e,aat into them,~ itsantitype in.the cross of the Lord J!tlus Christ, andit.8 repetition ii). the healing prQperties. which the leave& and .Qtber parta of many tr668 p0!!888JI, Now, conoeroi1ig the u:ee of•life told of in our text, and its lell,v_,., and the nations that am healed by them, many qu.estiQns may be asked which it ia pot easy to answ81'. But, neverthel8118, it ia neither improper nor unprofitable to follow oat the suggestions. which the words of our text supply. 'l'aking, then, the tree of life as telling of Christ, whether seen in bis gospel, or in his Church, or ,in the lives of individual belieTers, the leaves of the tree mean nmch. 'l'ake them as representing,,.- 1. ScJ.TTERED DKB:mes. or C&RIST's 0»:URCll; Mis&ionaries, Christian emigr,.r:its. 10ldiers, merchants, sailors. All these are· like the leaves wbloh are soa.ttered hither and thither as they are tore off by the wind. Wbat do uot heathen lamis owe to t1uqh II08ttered ones as these leaveit tell of? Any of us may, by the wind of God's provi- dence, be o&rried far away into heathen lands. If so, God grant that we may be as one of these leaves of the tree of life. ll THE RIDlBLEST AND HOST ORDINARY JO!IHBEB8 01' Cinus-r's CHURCH. As the leaves are individually but insignificant parts of the tree, they seem to represent .those members of Christ who are like them. And yet what force and efficacy are attributed to them I In every leaf the whole tree-BO botanists say-is discernible; its image' e&I\ be clearly trBOed. And this is why eaah leaf can do. ilO much. God often oboosea things that are foolish and least and d~iiled. ( of. 1 <4-. i.. etc.) for the. acoomplisb.~ ment :,f bis ends. . . . . UL TBB HoLY ScRJPTuRES. We spea\. of the leaves of a book. Whether that common phrase refer to the leaves of .a tree or no, it ia certain that the leaves of the Bible may be ealted lll&v~s of the tree of life. For where those leaves have gone, what have they not done? The iudebtedness of the wotld to the Bible has long been a faTourite theme of Christian advocates. They have been for the healing of the nations, and are ao still. And they who circulate religious tracts and leaflets, all they term them, do so in the belief that the truth of Christ which is in them will have, as 1t often has bad, healing power. . IV. Cmm1TIAN OONDUOT. The leaves are the portion of the ttee which ls.vislble, prominent, and seen by &ll. They may, thei:erore, stand aa tl!-e symbol of all that outward life of \he Christian which appears before men. All the characteristics of the 660 THE REVELATION OJ': ST, JOHN, THE nrvmE. [01i. ri.u. l--3~