Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1909-09-20
THE LIFE THAT IS
AND THAT TO COME

Sunday morning Rev. Henry Martyr
Campbell, pastor of the First Presby-
terrain church, preached from the last
part of the seventh verse of the
second chapter of Revelation: ITO
him that oVercometh will l give to eat
of the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the paradise of God" The
following extracts from the sermon
give an outline OF the thoughts pre-
scented:
The words of our text are a part
OF the message sent to one of the
seven churches of Asia. These seven
messages were written by the same
person and each contains the ex-
hOrtation He that hath an ear let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches They were all written
to the end that the members of these
churches might have their affections
transferred from the life that is to the
life that is to be. We all need TO
learn the Importance of growing less
and less into the life that now is
and more and more into the life that
is coming. There is but one truest
motive for service, love for the Lord
Jesus Christ and for those for whom
He died. a secondary motive most
assuredly, is to live and reign with
Him and receive out reward. If
there is q life beyond, and there is;
if, that life is endless, and it is; and
if that life depends in very large
measure on what we make it by the
lives we are now living. then we
ought to be very careful about our
present lives.
Let us take this wonderfully rich
promise of our text and consider
who uttered it, the promise itself,
and some of the conditions by which
we may come into possession of the
joy that is promised.
In a sense, John. exiled on the
isle of Patmos for the sake of the
Lord Jesus Christ, uttered the text,
Man has a part in the presentation of
Gods truth In another sense, the
Holy Spirit uttered this promise. l
am speaking the truth most certainly
when / say the Lord Jesus Christ
himself is the author of every word
of the passage before us this morning.
So then the lessons in it are practical
for us. If Christ lived and died, and
has gone hence, surely He cares for
us. He is not only a God afar off,
He is nigh. If Christ is the author
Of this promise. He is one who can
fulfill il. All power is given unto
Him in in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, He can fulfill the promise
here given.
THE promise itself. will l give to
eat of the tree of life What is the
significance? l read in Genesis. the
first book of the Bible. of this tree
of life. l read of it here in REVEAL
ton, the last book Of the Bible II
suggests something worthy of thought.
that this book is the product of one
mind l believe it signifies, that the
same JOY shall belong to those whose
names are in the book of life as
would have belonged to Adam and
Eve had they never sinned. l be-
lieve / may go farther and say that
the joy that shall be ours will be
infinitely richer and grander than
Adam and Eve would ever have
known had they not fallen in the
first transgression. Notice the tense
of the verb will give Not only is
it a joy now. but it will last Rejoice
diNdNSs TtJoitc lildl lileTt Is now
no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus; rejoice that now are
We the sons of God. While il is true
that we are to be the recipients of
that joy that is to be. surely, surely
that joy is to be more perfect when we
enter into that the rest that remaineth.
We should regulate our lives in the
light of the life that it is to be; we
should live more and more in the
light of the blessed hope of the
promise of the good things that await
the sons of God. How hope helps us
in the consideration of the things
that are in the future Our lives are
made beautiful by the hope that is in
us. The scholar studies in hope; the
athlete trains himself in hope; it is
hope that stimulates all our activities.
Paul was much prosecuted. Why was
he happy? Because he looked be-
yond: he hoped. So the future tense
of this verb here extends to us the
reason for hope of more beyond.
There is another word here to con-
slider give Have you ever noticed
how God seems to want to impress
on us the fact that salvation is .