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LECTURE XV.

THE TREE OF LIFE.

"In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.' Revelation xxii. 2.

THE first mention of the tree of life in the word of God occurs in Gen. ii. 2: "Out of the ground the Lord made every tree to grow that was pleasant to the sight and good for food: the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." Its use, in the unfallen and sinless world, is also subsequently described, or rather implied, in these words: "Lest he put forth his hand and take of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever; therefore the Lord God sent him forth." We read also, that the cherubim and the flaming sword were appointed "to keep the way of the tree of life." Thus things continued, as far as we can ascertain, till the deluge. Man was kept within sight of Eden, and the flaming cherubim, and the tree of life, visible to all that looked, as if to teach him, that having lost the original righteousness which entitled him in his unfallen condition to gather the fruit of that glorious tree, he must now be provided with a righteousness at least as perfect as that which he had lost, before his access could be restored, and thus only could he recover the condition of joy, and freedom, and life which was forfeited.

The second paradise, we are sure is the counterpart of the first, only fairer and more beautiful by far; the second Adam, who is the Lord from heaven, and his ransomed and spotless bride, shall re-enter and dwell in that predicted and nearing paradise, in which blight, and death, and decay, shall be strangers for ever. The tree in the midst of it shall not be the monopoly of a few,

but the privilege and possession of all-the sacrament of our immortality-the symbol of our dependence-the evidence of our creatureship, and the testimony to a witnessing and surrounding universe, that God alone is the fountain of all being, the source of all happiness, and that on Him the universe depends. The word translated "the tree of life," is literally "a word of life" the word is úλov, and seems to be associated in Scripture with the cross of Christ, for it is the same word which is used in Acts v. 30, "whom ye slew and hanged on a tree;" and also in 1 Pet. ii. 24, "He bare our sins in his own body on a tree." May not this Apocalyptic symbol convey to us some grand exhibition of the great doctrine of the atonement, as the standing characteristic of the age to come-the prominent and central thing in the midst of it? May it not mean that the atonement shall be, and be seen to be, in heaven, what it has been felt to be by believers on earth, the source of all spiritual life? Thus the instrument of death becomes the source of life-the emblem of shame, that of honour and Paul may sing in glory, what he so heroically proclaims in grace-" God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

The fruit of this tree is declared to be produced every month. The trees of the earth at present bear fruit once a year; this tree shall bear its fruit once a month. This remarkable characteristic may perhaps denote the infinite and unceasing abundance of all that is good and happy, which shall be realized in the New Jerusalem by the people of God, and the utter absence of all the effects and influences of vicissitude, of season, and clime, and change, which are so destructive in this world. Certainly there will be enough of the elements of life and happiness for the 144,000, the Apocalyptic symbol of the redeemed-the bride of the Lamb. It is for this consecrated band that it bears its fruit; it is for them the cross was raised on earth; and it is for their sakes and use that it shall be transferred to glory, and shine there in richer lustre. This tree will not, indeed, give life, but it will perpetuate it; it will not create life, but it will maintain it.

The word "fruit" is derived from the Latin fruor, to enjoy, and means here the blessings and enjoyments of the gospel reaped in the future, when things now seen and temporal shall have passed away. "No condemnation," "no more curse," " "no night," "no tears," "nothing that defileth,"-the absence of all evil, the enjoyment of all good, the banishment of all sin, and the universally felt and recognised presence of God himself,are some of the fruits that grow upon this tree, and are accessible to the hands, and constitute the enjoyments, of the people of God.

The leaves also of this tree are said to be "for the healing of the nations" of the earth. The Greek word @cpanéta, which is here translated "healing," ought properly to be rendered "service" lasts means medical treatment, but depanéta means strictly "care"-Latin, cura-cure and care being closely related-service, attention. Hence, in Matt. xxiv. 45, we find that the word here used is translated "household:" "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household ?”—ènì tŷ5 Ospanétas. The promise, therefore, implies that the leaves of this tree will be in glorious contrast with the figleaves which Adam formed into a raiment for himself in order to hide his sin, but which, in his and all other cases, perished in the using. The leaves of this tree shall possess everlasting verdure, fragrance and beauty; and be evidence to all the millennial company that there is nothing in creation which sin has blasted which God has not retouched, restored, and beautified. The leaves of trees are useless to man now; the fruit alone is of ser`vice to him but in that better state nothing shall be supernumerary, nothing useless; there shall be nothing that does not serve; all shall be precious in itself, and practically minister to the joys of the people of God.

This tree is placed on the street, the mλaréta, or market-placeor, as it might be rendered, the forum, the palace of the people, the Louvre of the citizens. No interdict shall surround it, nor flaming sword bid away from it. The faces of the cherubim shall shine for us, and not against us; and love, not the wrath, of Deity shall be projected over the length and breadth of a re

claimed world; and the fruit of this tree shall be reached and enjoyed by all. Here, blessings which are accessible to all are not accepted by all; but there the gospel shall be catholic in the strict sense of that epithet. We learn from these promises the communicated virtue of all things in the paradise of God. Nothing there grows, or lives, or moves for itself; every thing is ministry, every being has his mission; the Lamb himself is the glorious temple, and the precious stones which form the walls of the city reflect the splendours they receive from the shechinah. The throne of God and of the Lamb ever more dissolves itself into a ministering river, and that river refreshes all that live beside its channel, and reflects all bright things.

If this tree of life be, as some regard it, the symbol of Jesus Christ himself, then it sets forth him as the origin and fountain of life to all living beings. "In him is life," says the evangelist. Every creature now receives life from him-alike the meanest reptile and the mightiest angel; but especially may we suppose that this tree represents the Lord of glory, as the great fountain of spiritual life to his believing people. The life of justification is not the least important blessing that we receive from him. Being justified by faith, we live; yet not we, but Christ liveth in us. "Whoso eateth my flesh hath everlasting life." In him, too, we derive a life of holiness. Because he is the Holy One, we are saints. He makes us holy upon earth, that is, like himself; and presents us spotless to himself, when we shall see him as he is. God's life in the heart now effloresces into holiness of character then, so that the outward man becomes the reflection and exponent of the inward soul! the fountain of our life of happiness. "I sat shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." us visions of happiness and joy, such as angels The air we breathe and the waters we drink shall be happiness. He is the fountain also of a life of dignity and royalty. We shall be kings and priests unto God. We shall wear, not the perishable crowns that are found in human palaces, but crowns of glory that fade not away. He also will be to us the source of progressive life. This is the essential characteristic of real

Christ also is down under his He will open to have never seen.

life. All living things grow; and surely that divine life shall not be an exception.

Endless ages will add to, not diminish or dilute, the happiness of the people of God. May we seek more sincerely and heartily a place in that glorious land, a worshipping-place in that august temple-the meanest seat, if there be such where all is magnificent-before the throne of God and the Lamb; and so sit securely and sweetly beneath the shadow, and eat of the pleasant fruit, of the tree of life.