DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 6, 1870,
BY C.H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I am come into My garden, My Sister, My Spouse: I have gathered My
myrrh with My spice. I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey. I have
drunk My wine with My milk: eat, O Friends; drink, yes, drink
abundantly, O Beloved." Song of Solomon 5:1.
I BELIEVE this text to be appropriate to the spiritual condition of our
Church. If I am not very sadly mistaken, the Lord of Hosts is with us
in a very remarkable manner. Our meetings for prayer have been
distinguished by an earnest and fervent spirit. Our meetings with
enquirers have been remarkably powerful. In a quiet manner, without any
outward outcries, souls have been smitten down with conviction of sin,
and have been comforted as they have received Christ by faith. By His
Grace we are not a deserted Church, we are not left with broken hedges,
with the wild boar of the wood committing devastations.
The Lord has sent a gracious rain which has quickened the seed. He has
watered the plants of His garden, and made our souls to rejoice in His
Presence. Now if the text is appropriate, as I believe it is, the duty
to which it especially calls us should have our earnest attention. The
workers for Christ must remember that even if they have to care for the
garden, their chief business must be to commune with the Lord and
Master of that garden, since He, Himself, this morning calls them to do
so. "Eat O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O Beloved."
In happy and auspicious times, when the Spirit of God is working, it is
very natural to say, "We must now work more abundantly than ever," and
God forbid that we should hinder such zeal–but more spiritual
privilege is not to be put in the second place. Let us commune as well
as work. For there shall we find strength for service, and our service
shall be done the better, and become the more acceptable, and ensure
the larger blessing. If while we serve like Martha we at the same time
commune like Mary, we shall not, then, become cumbered with much
serving. We shall serve and not be cumbered, and shall feel no
fretfulness against others whose only faculty may be that of sitting at
the Master's feet.
The text divides itself readily into three parts. First, we have the
Presence of the heavenly Bridegroom–"I am come into My garden, My
sister, My spouse." We have, secondly, the satisfaction which He finds
in His Church–"I have gathered My myrrh with My spice, I have eaten My
honeycomb with My honey, I have drunk My wine with my milk." And,
thirdly, we have the invitation which He gives to His loving
people–"Eat, O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O
Beloved."
I. The voice of the Master Himself calls us to consider HIS
PRESENCE–"I am come." He tells us He is come. What? Could He come
without our perceiving it? Is it not possible? May we be like those
whose eyes were held so that they knew Him not? Is it possible for us
to be like Magdalene, seeking Christ, while He is standing very near
us? Yes, and we may even be like the disciples, who, when they saw Him
walking on the water, were afraid.
They thought it was a spirit, and cried out–and Jesus said, "It is I,
be not afraid," before they knew who it was! Here is our ignorance, but
here is His tenderness. He may come and yet we may not recognize
Him–but here when He comes, He takes care to advertise us of the
blessed fact, and calls us to observe and to consider, and to delight
in it. He would, for our own comfort, prevent its being said of us, "He
came unto His own, and His own received Him not."
Let us observe, first, this coming was in answer to prayer. Our
translators, in dividing the Bible into chapters, seem to have utterly
disregarded the connection or the sense, so that they brought down
their guillotine between two verses which must not be divided. The
Church had said, "Awake, O north wind. And come, you south; blow upon
my garden." She had also said, "Let my Beloved come into His garden,
and eat His pleasant fruits." In answer to that prayer the Beloved
replies, "I am come into My garden." Prayer is always heard, and the
prayer of faithful souls finds an echo in Jesus' heart.
How quickly the spouse was heard! Scarcely had the words died away,
"Let my Beloved come," before she heard Him say, "I am come!" "Before
they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will
hear." He is very near unto His people, and therefore He very speedily
answers their request. And how fully does He answer them, too! You
will, perhaps, say, "But she had asked for the Holy Spirit–she had
said, 'Awake, O north wind. And come, you south.' And yet there is no
mention of the heavenly wind as blowing through the garden." The answer
is that the Beloved's coming means
all that.
His visit brings both north and south wind. All benign influences are
sure to follow where He leads the way! Spices always flow out from the
heart when Christ's sweet love flows in–and where He is, Christians
have all things in Him. There was a full answer to her prayer, and
there was more than an answer, for she had but said, "Let Him come and
eat," but, lo, He gathers myrrh and spice, and He drinks of wine and
milk. He does exceeding abundantly above what she had asked or even
thought–after the right royal manner of the Son of God–who does not
answer us according to the poverty of our expressions and the leanness
of our desires, but according to His riches in Glory, giving to us
Grace upon Grace out of His own inexhaustible fullness.
Brethren, this Church has had a full reward for all her prayers. We
have waited upon God often, all the day long there has been prayer in
this house, and during this last month there has scarcely been an hour
in which supplication has been suspended. And the answer has already
come. We are so apt to overlook the answer to prayer. Let it not be so.
Let us praise the Lord that prayer has not been a vain service. It has
brought down His Presence, the chief of all blessings, and that for
which we most interceded at His Throne. Let us exalt Him!
We can hear Him say now, "I am come into your meetings, I am blessing
you. I am saving souls, I am elevating some of you into nearness of
fellowship with Myself. I am chastening some of your spirits with
sadness to think you have lived in so groveling an estate. I am with
you, I have heard your prayers, I have come to abide with you as a
people."
Now, if this is the case, let us next observe what an unspeakable
blessing this is! If the voice had said, "I have sent My angel," that
would have been a precious benefit. But it is not so spoken. The word
is, "I am come." What? Does He, before whom angels adoringly bow their
heads–does He, before whom perfect spirits cast their crowns–does He
condescend to come into the Church? Yes, it is even so. There is a
personal Presence of Christ in the midst of His people. Where two or
three are met together in His name, there is He in the midst of them.
His corporeal Presence is in Heaven, but His spiritual Presence, which
is all we want–all it is expedient for Him as yet to grant–is
assuredly in our midst. He is with us truly and really when we meet
together in our solemn assemblies, and with us, too, when we separate
and go our ways in private to fight the battles of the Lord.
Brethren, for us to enjoy His Presence as a Church is a privilege whose
value is only to be measured by the melancholy results of His absence.
Where Jesus Christ is not in the garden, the plants wither, and like
untimely figs the fruits fall from the trees. Blossoms come not, or if
they appear, they do but disappoint when Jesus is not there to knit and
fructify them. But when He comes, even the driest boughs in the garden
become like Aaron's rod that budded! Yes, our older Brethren in the
Church remember times of trouble, times when the ministry was not with
power, when the gatherings on the Lord's-Day were joyless, when the
voice of wailing saddened the courts of Zion. But now we rejoice, yes,
and will rejoice! The contrast between the past and the joyous present
should increase our gratitude till we praise the Lord on the high
sounding cymbals with jubilant exaltation!
Remember, too, that if He had dealt with us according to our sins, and
rewarded us after our iniquities, we should never have heard the
footsteps of the Beloved traversing the garden. How many have grieved
the Holy Spirit by careless living and backsliding? How have most of us
followed Him afar off instead of keeping step with Him in service and
fellowship? Alas, my Lord, if You had regarded only the sins of the
pastor of the Church, You had long ago left this flock. But You have
not dealt with us severely, but according unto Your love and to Your
mercy You have blotted out our sins like a cloud. And like a thick
cloud our transgressions, and still do You condescend to come into Your
garden.
If you take each word of this remarkable sentence, you will find a
meaning. "I am come." There is the personal Presence of Christ. "I am
come." There is the certainty that it is so. It is no delusion, no
dream, no supposition. "I am truly come." Blessed be the name of the
Lord, at this present time it is assuredly so! Many of His saints can
bear testimony that they have seen His face and have felt the kisses of
His lips, and have proven, even this day, that His love is better than
wine. Note the next word, "I am come into My garden." How near is the
approach of Christ to His Church! He comes not to the garden door, nor
to look over the wall, nor in at the gate and out again. But into His
garden.
He goes down every walk, midst the green alleys. Among the beds of
spices He walks, watching each flower, pruning the superfluous foliage
of every fruit-bearing plant, and plucking up by the roots such as His
heavenly Father has not planted. His delights are with the sons of men.
His communion with His chosen is most familiar–so that the spouse may
sing, "My Beloved is gone down into His garden, to the beds of spices,
to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies." Jesus Christ, the Lord,
forgets not His Church, but fulfils the promise–"I the Lord do keep
it, I will water it every moment. Lest any hurt it, I will keep it
night and day."
Brethren, this is a solemn as well as a pleasant fact. You who are
members of this Church, remember that Jesus is come into the Church,
that He is now going His rounds among you, and marking your feelings
towards Him. He knows today who is in fellowship with Him, and who is
not. He discerns between the precious and the vile. He never comes
without the winnowing fan when He visits His threshing floor. Beware if
you are as chaff. He has come into His garden. O you that have not
enjoyed much of His gracious company, pray to Him to cast a look
towards you, and be like the sunflower which turns its face to the sun
to refresh itself with His beams. O pant and long for His Presence. If
your soul is as dark as the dead of night, call out to Him, for He
hears the faintest sigh of any of His chosen.
"I am come into My garden," He says. Note here the possession which
Christ claims in the Church. If it were not His garden, He would not
come into it. A Church that is not Christ's Church shall have none of
His Presence, and a soul that is not Christ's has no fellowship with
Him. If He reveals Himself at all, it is unto His own people, His
blood-bought people, the people that are His by purchase and by
power–and by the surrender of themselves to Him. When I think of this
Church as committed to my care, I am overawed, and well may my fellow
officers be cast down under the weight of our responsibility. But after
all, we may say, "Master, this garden is not ours. It is Your garden.
We have not begotten all this people, neither can we carry them in our
bosoms. But You, great Shepherd of the sheep, You will guard the fold."
Since the garden is His own, He will not suffer even the least plant to
perish. My Brethren who work for Christ–do not be downcast if certain
portions of the work should not seem to succeed. He will attend to it.
"The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." It is more His
work than ours, and souls are more under His responsibility than ours.
So let us hope and be confident, for the Master will surely smile upon
His "vineyard of red wine."
The next word denotes cultivation. "I am come into My garden." The
Church is a cultivated spot. It did not spring up by chance, it was
arranged by Himself. It has been tended by Himself, and the fruits
belong to Himself. Thankful are we if we can truly know that as a
Church —
"We are a garden walled around, Chosen and made peculiar ground."
Christ, the Great Cultivator, exercises care and skill in training His
people, and He delights to see His own handiwork in them.
And then there are the two choice words at the close by which He speaks
of His Church, herself, rather than of her work. As if He would draw
the attention of His people to themselves and to Himself, rather than
to their work. He says, "My Sister, My Spouse." There is one name for
the garden, but there are two names for herself. The work is His work,
the garden is His garden, but see, He wants communion not so much with
the work as with the worker, He speaks to the Church herself. He calls
her, "My Sister, My Spouse." "Spouse" has something in it of dearness
that is not in the first word, for what can be dearer to the husband
than the bride?
But then there was a time when the spouse was not dear to the
Bridegroom, there was a period, perhaps when He did not know her, when
there was no relationship between the two–though they are made of one
flesh by marriage, yet they were of different families. And for this
cause He adds the dear name of "Sister," to show an ancient
relationship to her, a closeness and a nearness by blood, by birth, as
well as by betrothal and wedlock. The two words put together make up a
confection of such inexpressible sweetness, that instead of seeking to
expound them to you, I will leave them to your meditations, and may He
who calls the Church, "Sister," and, "Spouse," open up their richness
to your souls.
Here, then, is the gist of the whole matter. The Master's Presence is
in this Church in a very remarkable manner. Beloved, I pray that none
of you may be like Adam, who fled among the trees to hide himself from
God when He walked in the garden. May your business not act like an
overshadowing thicket to conceal you from fellowship. He calls you, O
Backslider, He calls you as once He called Adam–"Where are you?" Come,
Beloved, come and commune with your Lord. Come away from those carking
cares and anxieties which, like gloomy groves of cypress, conceal you
from your Lord, or rather your Lord from you.
Don't you hear His call? "O My Dove that is in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret places of the stairs, let Me see your countenance, let Me
hear your voice. For sweet is your voice, and your countenance is
comely." Let none of us be like the disciples in another garden when
their Lord was there and He was in agony, but they were sleeping. Up,
you Sleepers! Christ has come! If the midnight cry, "Behold, the
Bridegroom comes," awoke the virgins, shall not, "I am come," awaken
you? It is His own voice! It is not, "He comes," but "I am come"!
Stand up, you Slumberers! And now, with heart and soul, seek fellowship
with Him! It would be a sad thing if while Christ is with us any should
be slumbering, and then should wake up and say, "Surely God was in this
place and I knew it not." Rather may you invite Him to come into your
souls and abide with you until the day breaks and the shadows flee
away, and you behold Him face to face.
II. Thus much upon the first point. And now may His Holy Spirit help us
to view OUR LORD IN HIS CHURCH.
The beautiful expressions of the text are capable of many holy
meanings, and it is not possible that any expositions of mine could
fully unveil their treasures. But let me observe, first, that Christ is
delighted with the offerings of His people. He says, "I have gathered
My myrrh with My spice." We may consider myrrh and spice as sweet
perfumes offered by way of incense to God–as being indicative of the
offerings which His people bring to Him.
What if I say that prayer is like sweet smelling myrrh, and that the
Beloved has been gathering the myrrh of holy prayer, the bitter myrrh
of repenting sighs and cries in the midst of this Church, lo, these
many months? You, perhaps, thought that poor wordless prayer of yours
was never heard, but Jesus gathered it, and called it spice. And when
some Brother was praying aloud, and in silence your tears fell thick
and fast for perishing sinners, for you could not bear that they should
die, nor endure that Christ's name should be blasphemed, the Beloved
gathered up the precious drops and counted them as costly oil of
sweetest smell.
Was it not said in Psalm 72:15, "Prayer also shall be made for Him
continually"? And you did pray for Him that His name might be as
ointment poured forth, and that He might gird His sword upon His thigh
and ride forth prosperously. Jesus observed and delighted in your
heart's offering. Others knew not that you prayed–perhaps you thought,
yourself, that you scarcely prayed–but He gathered His myrrh with His
spice from you. No faithful prayer is lost. The groanings of His people
are not forgotten. He gathers them as men gather precious products from
a garden which they have tilled with much labor and expense.
And then, may not spice represent our praises? For these, as well as
prayer, come up as incense before His Throne. Last Thursday night when
my brother spoke to you, if you felt as I did, I am sure your heart
sent up praise as smoke of incense from the warm coals of a censer, as
he cast on them handfuls of frankincense in the form of various motives
for gratitude and reasons for praise. Oh, it was good to sing God's
praises as we then did by the hour together. It was delightful, too, to
come to His Table and make that ordinance in very deed a service of
praise to God. Praise is pleasant and comely, and most of all so
because Jesus accepts it, and says, "Whoever offers praise glorifies
Me."
When the Lord, in another place, speaks of offering sweet cane bought
with money, does He not refer to other offerings which His people bring
in addition to their prayers and their praises, when they give to Him
the first fruits of all their increase, and present thank offerings to
His name? He has said, "None of you shall appear before Me empty," and
I hope none of you have been content to do so! The contributions given
for the spread of His cause, for the feeding of His poor, and clothing
of His naked ones are given by true hearts directly to Himself. Though
they may be but as two mites that make a farthing, yet offered in His
name are they not also included in this word, "I have gathered My myrrh
with My spice"?
The Savior's satisfaction is found, in the next place, in His people's
love–"I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey." Shall I be wrong if I
believe that this sweetness refers to Christian love? For this is the
richest of all the graces, and sweetens all the rest. Jesus Christ
finds delightful solace in His people's love, both in the inward love
which is like the honey, and in the outward manifestation of it, which
is like the honeycomb. He rejoices in the love that drips in all its
preciousness from the heart, and in the honeycomb of organization, in
which it is for order's sake stored up and put into His hand.
Or, what if it should mean that Christ overlooks the imperfections of
His people? The honeycomb is not good eating, but He takes that as well
as the honey! "I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey." As He looks
upon His people, and sees what He has done for them, His loving heart
rejoices in what His Grace has accomplished! As a benevolent man who
has taken a child from the street and educated it would be pleased to
see it growing up, prospering, happy, well-informed, talented–so when
Jesus Christ, remembering what His people were, sees in them displays
of Divine Grace, desires after holiness, self-denials, communion with
God, and the like–this is to Him like honey. He takes an intense
satisfaction in the sweet fruits which He Himself has caused us to
produce. In spite of all our imperfections, He accepts our love, and
says, "I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey."
Turning again to our precious text, we observe that our Lord's
satisfaction is compared to drinking as well as eating, and that
drinking is of a twofold character. "I have drunk My wine." Does He
intend, by this, His joy which is fulfilled in us when our joy is full?
Does He mean that as men go to feasts to make glad their hearts with
wine, so He comes to His people to see their joy, and is filled with
exultation? Isn't that what He means? Surely He does. And the milk, may
not that mean the Christian's common, ordinary life? As milk contains
all the constituents of nourishment, may He not mean by this the
general life of the Christian?
Our Lord takes delight in the graces of our lives. One has said that
wine may represent those actions resulting from well-considered
dedication and deep spiritual thought. For wine must be extracted from
the grape with labor and preserved with care–there must be skill, and
work, and forethought spent upon it. But milk is a natural
production–it flows freely, plentifully, spontaneously. It is a more
common and ordinary, yet precious thing. So the Lord delights that His
people should give to Him those elaborate works which they have to tend
with loving care and watch over with much anxiety before they are
produced.
These are the wine. But He would have them give Him the simple
outgushing of their souls, the ejaculations which flow forth without
labor, the little deeds of love which need no forethought, the everyday
outgoings of their inner life– these are milk, and are equally
acceptable to Him. Well, if it is so, certain it is that Christ finds
great pleasure is His people, and in their various forms of piety He
drinks His wine with His milk.
Permit me now to call your attention to those many great little words,
which are yet but one–I refer to the word "My." Observe that eight or
nine times it is repeated. Here is the reason for the solace which the
Bridegroom finds in His Church. Does He walk in the Church as men do in
a garden for pleasure? Then He says, "I am come into My garden." Does
He talk with His Beloved? It is because He calls her, "My Sister, My
Spouse." Does He love her prayers and praises? It is because they never
would be prayed or praised if He had not created these fruits of the
lips.
He says not, "I have gathered your myrrh with your spice." Oh, no!
Viewed as ours, these are poor things, but viewed as His they are most
acceptable. "I have gathered My myrrh with My spice." So if He finds
any honey in His people, any true love in them, He first put it there.
"I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey." Yes, and if there is any joy
and life in them to make His heart glad, He calls it, "My wine," and,
"My milk." When I read these words, and thought of our Lord's being fed
by us, I could almost have cried out, "Lord, when did we see You
hungry, and feed You? Or thirsty, and give You drink? Do You find any
satisfaction in us? Surely, our goodness extends not to You. Why should
we give You anything to eat?"
Yet He declares it. And we may blushingly believe Him, and praise His
name–for surely if He found it so–it is because He made it so. If He
has gotten anything out of us, He must first have put it in us. If He
sees of the travail of His soul, it is because the travail came first.
Note well, you lovers of Jesus, that our Lord in this heavenly verse is
fed first. "I have eaten," He says. And then He turns to us, and says,
"Eat, O Friends." If any of you seek friendship with the Well-Beloved,
you must commence by preparing Him a feast. Remember our Lord's own
parable–"Which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will
say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit
down to eat'? But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for
my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk,
and afterward you will eat and drink'?"
Even if your poverty compels you, to say, "As the Lord lives, I have
not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a
cruse," listen to Him as He answers, "Fear not, make Me thereof a
little cake first." Be assured that after you have done so, your barrel
of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail. The way
for Believers to be fed by
Christ is to seek to feed Him–look to His being satisfied, and He will
assuredly look to you. "You shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn,
nor green ears, until the same day that you have brought an offering
unto your God." (Lev. 23:14).
"Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat
in My house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of Hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it." See, my Brothers
and Sisters–you must find meat for your Lord, and then, but not till
then–there shall be meat for you!
In a feast it is remarkable how complete the entertainment is. There is
the sweetest food and the most nourishing and exhilarating drink. Then
over and above that there is the rarest perfume, not counted to be
needed in ordinary entertainments, but crowning all and making up a
right royal feast. How marvelous that our Beloved should find within
His Church all that His soul wants! Having given Himself to cover her,
He delights in her, He rests in His love, and rejoices over her with
singing. For the Joy that was set before Him, He endured the Cross,
despising the shame–and this day He continues to be filled with the
same delight.
III. I would gladly linger, but time forbids. We must now remember, in
the third place, that the text contains an INVITATION. The Beloved
says, "Eat, O Friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O Beloved." In the
invitation we see the character of the invited guests–they are spoken
of as friends. We were once aliens, we are now more like the Lord from
whom the love proceeds. O you that stand shivering in the cold shallows
of the river of life, why tarry there? Descend into the greater depths,
the warmer waves, and let the mighty stream bathe you breast high.
Yes, go farther, plunge where you can find no bottom, for it is blessed
and safe swimming in the stream of Christ's everlasting love and He
invites you to it now. When you are at a big banquet table, pick not
here and there a crumb, sip not now and then a drop–He says, "Eat,"
and He adds, "drink abundantly." The invitation to receive abundantly
applies to both refreshments. Your eating and your drinking may be
without stint. You cannot impoverish the Most High God, possessor of
Heaven and earth. When you are satiated with His love, His table shall
still be loaded. Your cups may run over, but His flagons will still be
brimmed. If you are straitened at all, you are not straitened in
Him–you are straitened in yourselves.
But now let me speak to my Brethren, and especially to my fellow
workers in the kingdom of Christ. It is for us, just now, while our
Lord is walking in His garden–while He is finding satisfaction in His
work and in His people–to beware of taking any satisfaction in the
work ourselves. And equally to beware that we do not neglect the
appropriate duty of the occasion, namely, that of feasting our souls
with our Lord's gracious provisions. You are caring for others, it is
well. You are rejoicing over others, it is well. Still watch well
yourselves, and rejoice in the Lord in your own hearts.
What did He say to the Twelve when they came back glorying that even
the devils were subject unto them? Did He not reply, "Nevertheless
rejoice not in this, but rather rejoice that your names are written in
Heaven"? It is your personal interest in Christ, your being yourself
saved, Christ being present with you–that is your main joy. Enjoy the
feast for yourselves, or you will not be strong to hand out the Living
Bread to others. See that you are first partakers of the fruit, or you
will not labor aright as God's farmers. The more of personal enjoyment
you allow yourself in connection with your Lord, the more strong will
you be for His service, and the more out of an experimental sense of
His preciousness will you be able to say with true eloquence, "O taste
and see that the Lord is good!"
You will tell others what you have tasted and handled. You will say,
"This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and delivered him from all
his fears." I put this before you with much earnestness, and I pray
that none of you may think it safe to work as to forget to commune–or
wise to seek the good of others so as to miss personal fellowship with
the Redeemer. I might now conclude, but it strikes me that there may be
some among us who are, in their own apprehensions, outside the garden
of Christ's Church. They are, therefore, mourning over this sermon, and
saying, "Alas, that is not for me! Christ is come into His garden, but
I am a piece of waste ground. He is fed and satisfied in His Church,
but He finds nothing in me. Surely I shall perish from the way, when
His wrath is kindled but a little!"
I know how apt poor hearts are to write bitter things against
themselves–even when God has never written a single word against them.
So let me see if by turning over this text we may not find thoughts of
consolation for the trembling ones. We were once enemies. We are made
servants, but we have advanced from the grade of service (though
servants,
still) into that of friends. From now on He calls us not servants, but
friends, for the servant knows not what his Lord does. And all things
that He has seen of His Father He has made known unto us.
The friendship between Christ and His people is not in name only, but
in deed and in truth. Having laid down His life for His friends, having
brought them to know His friendship in times of trial and of
difficulty, He at all times proves His friendship by telling His
secrets to them and exhibiting an intense sympathy with them in all
their secret suffering. David and Jonathan were not more closely
friends than Christ and the Believer, when the Believer lives near to
His Lord. Never seek the friendship of the world, nor allow your love
to the creature to overshadow your friendship with Christ.
He next calls His people Beloved as well as friends. He multiplies
titles, but all His Words do not express the full love of His heart.
"Beloved." Oh, to have this word addressed to us by Christ! It is
music! There is no music in the rarest sounds compared with these three
syllables which drop from the Redeemer's lips like sweet smelling
myrrh. "Beloved!" If He had addressed that one word to any one of us,
it would create a Heaven within our souls which neither sickness nor
death could mar! Let me sound the note again, "BELOVED!" Does Jesus
love me? Does He own His love? Does He seal the fact by declaring it
with His own lips?
Then I will not stipulate for promises, nor make demands of Him. If He
loves He must act towards me with loving kindness. He will not smite
His Beloved unless love dictates the blow. He will not forsake His
chosen, for He never changes. Oh, the inexpressible, the heaped-up
blessedness which belong to the man who feels in his soul that Christ
has called him Beloved!
Here, then, you have the character in the text of those who are invited
to commune with Christ. He calls His friends and His Beloved. The
provisions presented to them are of two kinds. They are bid to eat and
to drink. You, who are spiritual, know what the food is and what the
drink is–for you eat His flesh and drink His blood. The incarnation of
the Son of God, and the death of Jesus the Savior–these are the two
sacred viands whereon faith is sustained. To feed upon the very Christ
of God is what is needed. Nothing but this can satisfy the hunger of
the spirit. He who feeds on Him shall know no lack. "Eat," says He,
"and drink." You ask, "Where are the provisions?" I answer, they are
contained in the first words of the text, "I am come." If He is come,
then eat. If He is come, then drink. There is food, there is drink for
you in Him!
Note that delightful word, "abundantly." Some dainties satiate, and
even nauseate when we have too much of them. But no soul ever had too
much of the dear love of Christ. No heart did ever complain that His
sweetness was too much. That can never be. Some things, if you have too
much of them, may injure you. They are good to a certain point, but
beyond that, evil. But even the smallest child of Grace shall never
overindulge himself with Jesus' love. No, the more you have, the more
you shall enjoy, the more blessed shall you be, and who knows? There
may be a soft breath in the text which may fan the smoking flax, a
tender hand that may bind up the bruised reed. I will briefly indicate
two or three comfortable thoughts.
Seeking Soul, should it not console you to think that Jesus is near?
The kingdom of God is come near unto you, for He has come into His
garden. He was in our last meeting for anxious souls, for many found
Him there. You are not, then, living in a region where Christ is
absent–maybe when He passes by He will look on you. Can you not put
out your finger and touch the hem of His garment, for Jesus of Nazareth
passes by? Even if you have not touched Him, yet it should give you
some good cheer to know that He is within reach, and within call.
Though you are like the poor withered lily in the garden, or worse
still, like a noxious weed–yet if He is in the garden He may observe
you and have pity on you.
Notice, too, that although the text speaks of a garden, it never was a
garden till He made it so. Men do not find gardens in the wilderness.
In the wilds of Australia or the backwoods of America, men never
stumble on a garden where human foot has ever been. It is all forest,
or prairie, or mountain. So, mark, Soul, if the Church is a garden,
Christ made it so. Why cannot He make you so? Why not, indeed? Has He
not said, "Instead of the thorns shall come up the fir tree, and
instead of the briers shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to
the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut
off"? This garden-making gives God a name. Jesus gets honor by plowing
up the wastes, extracting the briers, and planting firs and myrtles
there. See, then, there is hope for you yet, you barren Heart–He may
yet come and make your wilderness like Eden–and your desert like the
garden of the Lord.
Note, too, that the Bridegroom gathered myrrh, and fed on milk and
wine, and honey. Yes, and I know you thought, "He will find no honey in
me. He will find no milk and wine in me." Ah, but then the text did not
say He found
them in the Church. It is said, "I have eaten My honeycomb with My
honey. I have drunk My wine with My milk." And if He put those things
into His Church, and then took comfort in them, why not put them into
you, and take comfort in you, too? Be of good cheer! Arise, He calls
you this very morning.
Another word, perhaps, may help you. Did you notice, poor hungry Soul,
how Jesus said, "drink abundantly"? "Ah," you say, "He did not say that
to me." I know it. He said that to His friends and to His Beloved–and
you dare not put yourselves among those. But do not you see how
generous He is to His friends, and how He keeps back nothing? He
evidently does not mean to lock anything up in the storeroom, for He
tells them to eat and drink abundantly. Now, surely, where there is
such a festival, though you dare not come and sit at the table with the
guests, you might say with the Syrophenician woman, "Yet the dogs under
the table eat of the children's crumbs."
It is good knocking at a door where they are keeping open house, and
where the feast reveals a lavish hospitality. Knock now, and try it. If
it were a poor man's dinner with a dry crust and a poor herring, or if
it were a miser's meal spread most begrudgingly, I would not advise you
to knock. But where there is wine and milk in rivers, and the good Man
of the house bids His guests eat and drink abundantly, I say knock, for
God says it shall be opened!
Another thought. Jesus finds meat and drink in His Church, and you are
afraid He would find neither in you–I want to tell you a Truth of God
which, perhaps, you have forgotten. There was a woman that was a
sinner. She had had five husbands, and he with whom she then lived was
not her husband. She was an adulteress and a Samaritan. But Christ
said, after He had conversed with her, that He had found meat to eat
that His disciples knew not of. Where did He get it, then? If He had
drank that day, He did not get it from Jacob's well, for He had nothing
to draw with, and the well was deep.
He found big refreshment in that poor woman, to whom He said, "Give me
to drink." The Samaritan harlot refreshed the soul of Jesus–when she
believed in Him and owned Him as the Christ! Have you ever read that
Word of His, "My meat and My drink is to do the will of Him that sent
Me, and to finish His work"? And what is the will of Him that sent Him?
Well, I will tell you what it is not– "It is not the will of your
Father, that is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should
perish." The will of God and the will of Christ are these–to save
sinners. For this purpose was Jesus born and sent into the world–He
came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. See, then,
poor lost One, in saving you, Christ will find both meat and drink! I
trust, therefore, you will look to Him and cry to Him, and cast
yourself upon Him–and you shall never, as long as you live, have any
cause for regretting it.
Finally, the text represents the Lord saying, "I am come into My
garden." It may imply that He is not always in His garden. Sometimes
His Church grieves Him and His manifest Presence departs. But hearken,
O Sinner, there is a precious thought for you–He is not always in His
garden. But He is always on the Throne of Grace. He does not always
say, "I am come into My garden," but He always says, "Come unto Me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He never
leaves the Mercy Seat. He never ceases to intercede for sinners.
Come, and welcome, then. If you have not seen the Beloved's face, come
and bow at His feet. Though you have never heard Him say, "Your sins
are forgiven you," yet come now with a broken and a contrite heart and
seek absolution at His hands. Come, and welcome! Come, and welcome! May
the sweet Bridegroom with cords of love draw you, and may this morning
be a time of love. And as He passes by, if He sees you wallowing in
your blood, may He say unto you, "Live!" May the Lord grant it, and on
His head shall be many crowns. Amen! Amen! Amen!
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Backsliding Healed