A Bundle of Myrrh

A Bundle of Myrrh

A Sermon

(No. 558)

Delivered on Sunday Morning, February 28th, 1864, by the

Rev. C. H. SPURGEON,

At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

"A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night
betwixt my breasts."–Song of Solomon 1:13.

CERTAIN DIVINES have doubted the inspiration of Solomon's Song; others
have conceived it to be nothing more than a specimen of ancient
love-songs, and some have been afraid to preach from it because of its
highly poetical character. The true reason for all this avoidance of
one of the most heavenly portions of God's Word lies in the fact that
the spirit of this Song is not easily attained. Its music belongs to
the higher spiritual life, and has no charm in it for unspiritual ears.
The Song occupies a sacred enclosure into which none may enter
unprepared. "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground," is the warning voice from its secret
tabernacles. The historical books I may compare to the outer courts of
the Temple; the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Psalms, bring us into
the holy place or the Court of the priests; but the Song of Solomon is
the most holy place: the holy of holies, before which the veil still
hangs to many an untaught believer. It is not all the saints who can
enter here, for they have not yet attained unto the holy confidence of
faith, and that exceeding familiarity of love which will permit them to
commune in conjugal love with the great Bridegroom. We are told that
the Jews d id not permit the young student to read the Canticles–that
years of full maturity were thought necessary before the man could
rightly profit by this mysterious Song of loves; possibly they were
wise, at any rate the prohibition foreshadowed a great truth. The Song
is, in truth, a book for full-grown Christians. Babes in grace may find
their carnal and sensuous affections stirred up by it towards Jesus,
whom they know, rather "after the flesh" than in the spirit; but it
needs a man of fuller growth, who has leaned his head upon the bosom of
his Master, and been baptized with his baptism, to ascend the lofty
mountains of love on which the spouse standeth with her beloved. The
Sung, from the first verse to the last, will be clear to those who have
received an unction from the holy One, and know all things. (1 John
2:20.) You are aware, dear friends, that there are very few
commentaries upon the Epistles of John. Where we find fifty
commentaries upon any book of St. Paul, you will hardly find one upon
John. Why is that? Is the book too difficult? The words are very
simple; there is hardly a word of four syllables anywhere in John's
Epistles. Ah! but they are so saturated through and through with the
spirit of love, which also perfumes this Book of Solomon, that those
who are not taught in the school of communion, cry out, "We cannot read
it, for it is sealed." The Song is a golden casket, of which love is
the key rather than learning. Those who have not attained unto heights
of affection, those who have not been educated by familiar intercourse
with Jesus, cannot come near to this mine of treasure, "seeing it is
hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of
heaven." O for the soaring eagle wing of John, and the far-seeing
dove's eyes of Solomon; but the most of us are blind and cannot see
afar off. May God be pleased to make us grow in grace, and give us so
much of the Holy Spirit, that with feet like hind's feet we may stand
upon the high places of Scripture, and this morning have some near and
dear intercourse with Christ Jesus.

Concerning our text, let us talk very simply, remarking first, that
Christ is very precious to believers; secondly, that there is good
reason why he should be; thirdly, that mingled with this sense of
preciousness, there is a joyous consciousness of possession of him; and
that therefore, fourthly, there is an earnest desire for perpetual
fellowship with him. If you look at the text again, you will see all
these matters in it.

I. First, then, CHRIST JESUS IS UNUTTERABLY PRECIOUS TO BELIEVERS. The
words manifestly imply this: "A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto
me." She calls him her "well-beloved," and so expresses her love most
emphatically; it is not merely beloved, but well-beloved. Then she
looks abroad about her, to find a substance which shall be at once
valuable in itself and useful in its properties; and lighting upon
myrrh, she saith, "A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me."
Without looking into the figure just now, we keep to the statement that
Christ is precious to the believer.

Observe first, that nothing gives the believer so much joy as
fellowship with Christ. Ask yourselves, you who have eaten at his table
and have been made to drink of his cup, where can such sweetness be
found as you have tasted in communion with Jesus? The Christian has joy
as other men have in the common mercies of life. For him there are
charms in music, excellence in painting, and beauty in sculpture; for
him the hills have sermons of majesty, the rocks hymns of sublimity,
and the valleys lessons of love. He can look upon all things with an
eye as clear and joyous as another man's; he can be glad both in God's
gifts and God's works. He is not dead to the happiness of the
household: around his hearth he finds happy associations, without which
life were drear indeed. His children fill his home with glee, his wife
is his solace and delight, his friends are his comfort and refreshment.
He accepts the comforts which soul and body can yield him according as
God seeth it wise to afford them unto him; but he will tell you that in
all these separately, yea, and in all of them added together, he doth
not find such substantial delight as he doth in the person of his Lord
Jesus. Brethren, there is a wine which no vineyard on earth ever
yielded; there is a bread which even the corn-fields of Egypt could
never bring forth. You and I have said, when we have beheld others
finding their god in earthly comforts, "You may boast in gold, and
silver, and raiment, but I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." In
our esteem, the joys of earth are little better than husks for swine
compared with Jesus the heavenly manna. I would rather have one
mouthful of Christ's love, and a sip of his fellowship, than a whole
world full of carnal delights. What is the chaff to the wheat? What is
the sparkling paste to the true diamond? What is a dream to the
glorious reality? What is time's mirth in its best trim compared to our
Lord Jesus in his most despised estate? If you know anything of the
inner life, you will all of you confess that our highest, purest, and
most enduring joys must be the fruit of the tree of life which is in
the midst of the Paradise of God. No spring yields such sweet water as
that well of God which was digged with the soldier's spear. As for the
house of feasting, the joy of harvest, the mirth of marriage, the
sports of youth, the recreations of maturer age, they are all as the
small dust of the balance compared with the joy of Immanuel our best
beloved. As the Preacher said, so say we, "I said of laughter, It is
mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?" "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity."
All earthly bliss is of the earth earthy, but the comforts of Christ's
presence are like himself heavenly. We can review our communion with
Jesus, and find no regrets of emptiness therein; there are no dregs in
this wine; no dead flies in this ointment. The joy of the Lord is solid
and enduring. Vanity hath not looked upon it, but discretion and
prudence testify that it abideth the test of years, and is in time and
in eternity worthy to be called "the only true delight."

"What is the world with all its store?

"Tis but a bitter sweet;

When I attempt to pluck the rose,

A pricking thorn I meet.

Here perfect bliss can ne'er be found,

The honey's mix'd with gall;

'Midst changing scenes and dying friends,

Be thou my All in All."

We may plainly see that Christ is very precious to the believer,
because to him there is nothing good without Christ. Believer, have you
not found in the midst of plenty a dire and sore famine if your Lord
has been absent? The sun was shining, but Christ had hidden himself and
all the world was black to you; or it was a night of tempest, and there
were many stars, but since the bright and morning star was gone on that
dreary main, where you were tossed with doubts and fears, no other star
could shed so much as a ray of light. O, what a howling wilderness is
this world without my Lord! If once he groweth angry, and doth, though
it be for a moment, hide himself from me, withered are the flowers of
my garden; my pleasant fruits decay; the birds suspend their songs, and
black night lowers over all my hopes. Nothing can compensate for the
company of the Savior: all earth's candles cannot make daylight if the
Sun of Righteousness be gone.

On the other hand, when all earthly comforts have failed you, have you
not found quite enough in your Lord? Your very-worst times have been
your best times? You must almost cry to go back to your bed of
sickness, for Jesus made it as a royal throne, whereon you reigned with
him. Those dark nights–ah! they were not dark, your bright days since
then have been darker far. Do you remember when you were poor? Oh! how
near Christ was to you, and how rich he made you! You were despised and
rejected of men, and no man gave you a good word! Ah! sweet was his
fellowship then, and how delightful to hear him say, "Fear thou not;
for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God!" As afflictions
abound, even so do consolations abound by Christ Jesus. The devil, like
Nebuchadnezzar, heated the furnace seven times hotter, but who would
have it less furiously blazing? No wise believer; for the more terrible
the heat the greater the glory in the fact that we were made to tread
those glowing coals, and not a hair of our head was singed, nor so much
as the smell of fire passed upon us, because the Son of God walked
those glowing coals in our company. Yes, we can look with resignation
upon penury, disease, and even death; for if all comforts be taken from
us, we should still be blest, so long as we enjoy the presence of the
Lord our Savior.

Nor should I be straining the truth if I say that the Christian would
sooner give up anything than forsake his Master. I have known some who
have been afraid to look that text in the face which saith, "He that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me," or
that–"Except a man hate (or love less) his father and mother, and wife
and children, he cannot be my disciple." Yet I have found that those
have frequently proved to be the most sincere lovers of Jesus who have
been most afraid that he had not the best place in their hearts.
Perhaps the best way is not to sit down calmly to weigh our love, for
it is not a thing to be measured with cool judgment, but put your love
to some practical test. Now, if it came to this, that you must deny
Christ, or give up the dearest thing you have, would you deliberate?
The Lord knoweth I speak what I feel in my own soul–when it comes to
that, I could not hesitate a second. If there were a stake and burning
faggots, I might flinch from the fire, but so mighty is divine love
that it would doubtless drive me to the flames sooner than let me leave
Jesus. But if it comes to this, "Wilt thou lose thine eyes or give up
Christ?" I would cheerfully be blind. Or if it were asked, "Wilt thou
have thy right arm withered from its socket or give up Christ?" Ay; let
both arms go; let them both drop from the shoulder blades. Or if it
should be, "Wilt thou be from this day dumb and never speak before the
multitude?" Oh! better to be dumb than lose him. Indeed, when I talk of
this it seems to be an insult to my Master, to put hands, and eyes, and
tongue, in comparison with him.

"Nor to my eyes is light so dear

Nor friendship half so sweet."

If you compare life itself with Jesus, it is not to be named in the
same day. If it should be said, "Will you live without Christ or die
with Christ?" you could not deliberate, for to die with Christ is to
live with Christ for ever; but to live without Christ is to die the
second death, the terrible death of the soul's eternal perdition. No,
there is no choice there. I think we could go further, dear friends,
and say, not only could we give up everything, but I think, when love
is fervent, and the flesh is kept under, we could suffer anything with
Christ. I met, in one of Samuel Rutherford's letters, an extraordinary
expression, where he speaks of the coals of divine wrath all falling
upon the head of Christ, so that not one might fall upon his people.
"And yet," saith he, "if one of those coals should drop from his head
upon mine and did utterly consume me, yet if I felt it was a part of
the coals that fell on him, and I was bearing it for his sake, and in
communion with him, I would choose it for my heaven." That is a strong
thing to say, that to suffer with Christ would be his heaven, if he
assuredly knew that it was for and with Christ, that he was suffering.
Oh! there is indeed a heavenliness about suffering for Jesus. His cross
hath such a majesty and mystery of delight in it, that the more heavy
it becometh, the more lightly doth it sit upon the believer's
shoulders.

One thing I know proveth, beloved, that you esteem Christ to be very
precious, namely, that you want others to know him too. Do you not feel
a pining in your souls till others hearts be filled with the love of
Christ? My eyes could weep themselves out of their sockets for some of
you who are ignorant of my Master's love. Poor souls! ye are sitting
outside the feast when the door is wide open, and the king himself is
within. Ye choose to be out in the highways and under the hedges sooner
than come to this wedding-feast, where the oxen and fatlings are
killed, and all things are ready–oh! did you know him, did you know
him, you would never be able to live without him. If your eyes had ever
seen him once, or if your heart had ever known the charm of his
presence, you would think it to be a hell to be for a moment without
Christ. O poor blind eyes which cannot see him, and deaf ears which
cannot hear him, and hard stony hearts which cannot melt before him,
and hell-besotted souls which cannot appreciate the majesty of his
love, God help you! God help you! and bring you yet to know and rejoice
in him. The more your love grows, beloved, the more insatiable will be
your desire that others should love him, till it will come to this that
you will be, like Paul, "in labors more abundant," spending and being
spent that you may bring the rest of Christ's elect body into union
with their glorious head.

II. But, secondly, THE SOUL CLINGETH TO CHRIST, AND SHE HATH GOOD
REASON FOR SO DOING, for her own words are "A bundle of myrrh is my
well-beloved unto me." We will take the myrrh first, and then consider
the bundle next.

1. Jesus Christ is like myrrh. Myrrh may be well the type of Christ for
its preciousness. It was an exceedingly expensive drug. We know that
Jacob sent some of it down into Egypt as being one of the choice
products of the land. It is always spoken of in Scripture as being a
rich, rare, and costly substance. But no myrrh could ever compare with
him, for Jesus Christ is so precious, that if heaven and earth were put
together they could not buy another Savior. When God gave to the world
his Son, he gave the best that heaven had. Take Christ out of heaven,
and there is nothing for God to give. Christ was God's all, for is it
not written, "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily?"
Oh! precious gift of the whole of deity in the person of Christ! How
inestimably precious is that body of his which he took of the substance
of the virgin! Well might angels herald the coming of this immaculate
Savior, well might they watch over his holy life, for he is precious in
his birth, and precious in all his actions. How precious is he, dear
friends, as myrrh in the offering of his great atonement! What a costly
sacrifice was that! At what a price were ye redeemed! Not with silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. How precious is he
too, in his resurrection! He justifies all his people at one
stroke–rising from the dead–that glorious sun scatters all the nights
of all his people by one rising. How precious is he in his ascension,
as he leads captivity captive, and scattereth gifts among men! And how
precious to-day in those incessant pleadings of his through which the
mercies of God come down like the angels upon Jacob's ladder to our
needy souls! Yes, he is to the believer in every aspect like myrrh for
rarity and excellence.

Myrrh, again, was pleasant. It was a pleasant thing to be in chamber
perfumed with myrrh. Through the nostrils myrrh conveys delight to the
human mind; but Christ gives delight to his people, not through one
channel, but through every avenue. It is true that all his garments
smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, but he hath not spiritual smell
alone, the taste shall be gratified too, for we eat his flesh and drink
his blood. Nay, our feeling is ravished, when his left hand is under us
and his right hand doth embrace us. As for his voice it is most sweet,
and our soul's ear is charmed with its melody. Let God give him to our
sight, and what can our eyes want more? Yea, he is altogether lovely.
Thus every gate of the soul hath commerce with Christ Jesus in the
richest and rarest commodities. There is no way by which a human spirit
can have communion with Jesus which doth not yield unto that spirit
fresh and varied delights. O beloved, we cannot compare him merely to
myrrh. He is everything which is good to look upon, or to taste, or to
handle, or to smell–all put together in one, the quintessence of all
delights. As all the rivers run into the sea, so all delights center
into Christ. The sea is not full, but Jesus is fall to the very brim.

Moreover, myrrh is perfuming. It is used to give a sweet smell to other
things. It was mingled with the sacrifice, so that it was not only the
smoke of the fat of kidneys of rams, and the flesh of fat beasts, but
there was a sweet fragrance of myrrh, which went up with the sacrifice
to heaven. And surely, beloved, Jesus Christ is very perfuming to his
people. Does not he perfume their prayers, so that the Lord smelleth a
sweet savor? Doth he not perfume their songs, so that they become like
vials full of odour sweet? Doth he not perfume our ministry, for is it
not written, "He causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a
sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish." Our persons are perfumed with Christ. Whence get we our
spikenard but from him? Whither shall we go to gather camphire which
shall make our persons and presence acceptable before God but to him?
"For we are accepted in the beloved." "Ye are complete in
him"–"perfect in Christ Jesus"–"for he hath made us kings and priests
unto our God, and we shall reign for ever and ever."

Myrrh has preserving qualities. The Egyptians used it in embalming the
dead: and we find Nicodemus and the holy women bringing myrrh and aloes
in which to wrap the dead body of the Savior. It was used to prevent
corruption. What is there which can preserve the soul but Christ Jesus?
What is the myrrh which keeps our works, which in themselves are dead,
and corrupt, and rotten–what, I say, keeps them from becoming a foul
stench in the nostrils of God, but that Christ is in them? What we have
done out of love to Christ, what we have offered through his mediation,
what has been perfumed by faith in his person, becomes acceptable. God
looketh upon anything we say, or anything we do, and if he seeth Christ
in it, he accepteth it; but if there be no Christ, he putteth it away
as a foul thing. See to it then, beloved, that you never pray a prayer
which is not sweetened with Christ. I would never preach a sermon–the
Lord forgive me if I do–which is not full to overflowing with my
Master. I know one who said I was always on the old string, and he
would come and hear me no more; but if I preached a sermon without
Christ in it, he would come. Ah! he will never come while this tongue
moves, for a sermon without Christ in it–a Christless sermon! A brook
without water; a cloud without rain; a well which mocks the traveler; a
tree twice dead, plucked up by the root; a sky without a sun; a night
without a star. It were a realm of death–a place of mourning for
angels and laughter for devils. O Christian, we must have Christ! Do
see to it that every day when you wake you give a fresh savor of Christ
upon you by contemplating his person. Live all the day, trying as much
as lieth in you, to season your hearts with him, and then at night, lie
down with him upon your tongue. It is said of Samuel Rutherford, that
he often did fall asleep talking about Christ, and was often heard in
his dreams, saying sweet things about his Savior. There is nothing
which can preserve us and keep us from sin, and make our works holy and
pure, like this "bundle of myrrh."

Myrrh again, was used as a disinfectant. When the fever is abroad, we
know people who wear little bags of camphor about their necks. They may
be very good; I do not know. But the Orientals believed that in times
of pest and plague, a little bag of myrrh worn between the breasts
would be of essential service to whoever might carry it. And there
doubtless is some power in myrrh to preserve from infectious disease.
Well, brethren, certain I am it is so with Christ. You have to go into
the world which is like a great lazar-house; but if you carry Christ
with you, you will never catch the world's disease. A man may be worth
never so much money, he will never get worldly if he keepeth Christ on
his heart. A man may have to tug and toil for his livelihood, and be
very poor, he will never be discontented and murmuring if he lives
close to Christ. O you who have to handle the world, see to it that you
handle the Master more than the world. Some of you have to work with
drunken and swearing men; others are cast into the midst of
frivolities–O take my Master with you! and sin's plagues can have no
influence upon your moral nature.

But myrrh was believed by the ancient physicians to do more than
this–it was a cure–it did not merely prevent, but it healed. I do not
know how many diseases are said to be healed by the use of myrrh, nor
do I altogether suppose that these Oriental physicians spoke from
facts, for they were too much given to ascribe qualities to drugs,
which those drugs did not possess; however even modern physicians
believe myrrh to have many valuable medical properties. Certain is it
that your Christ is the best medicine for the soul. His name is Jehovah
Rophi–"I am the Lord that healeth them." When we see Luke called "the
beloved physician," we almost grudge him the name. I will take it from
him and give it to my Master, for he deserves it far more than Luke.
The beloved physician! he touched the leper, and he was made whole. He
did but look upon those who were lame. and they leaped as a hart. His
voice startled the silence of Hades, and brought back the soul to the
body. What cannot Christ do? He can heal anything. You who are sick
this morning, sick with doubts and fears, you who are sick with
temptation, you who struggle with an angry temper, or with the
death-like sleep of sloth, get Christ, and you are healed. Here all
things meet, and in all these things we may say, "A bundle of myrrh is
my well-beloved unto me."

I have not done yet, for myrrh was used in the East as a beautifier. We
read of Esther, that before she was introduced to Ahasuerus, she and
the virgins were bidden to prepare themselves, and among other things,
they used myrrh. The belief of Oriental women was, that it removed
wrinkles and stains from the face, and they used it constantly for the
perfecting of their charms. I do not know how that may be, but I know
that nothing makes the believer so beautiful as being with Christ. He
is beautiful in the eyes of God, of holy angels, and of his fellow-men.
I know some Christians whom it is a great mercy to speak to: if they
come into your cottage, they leave behind them tokens of remembrance,
in the choice words they utter. To get them into the Church is a
thousand mercies, and if they join the Sunday-school, of what value
they are! Let me tell you that the best gauge of a Christian's
usefulness will be found in the degree in which he has been with Jesus
and learned of him. Do not tell me it is the scholar, do not say to me
it is the man of eloquence, do not say it is the man of substance–well
we would have all these consecrate what they have to Christ–but it is
the man of God who is the strong man; it is the man who has been with
Jesus who is the pillar of the Church; and a light to the world. O
brethren, may the beauty of the Lord be upon us through being much with
Christ.

And I must not close this point without saying that myrrh might well be
used as an emblem of our Lord from its connection with sacrifice. It
was one of the precious drugs used in making the holy oil with which
the priests were anointed and the frankincense which burned perpetually
before God. It is this, the sacrificial character of Christ, which is
at the root and bottom of all that Christ is most precious to his
people. O Lamb of God our sacrifice, we must remember thee.

2. Now there has been enough, surely, said about the myrrh. Have
patience while we just notice that he is called a bundle of myrrh, or
as some translate it, a bag of myrrh, or a box of myrrh.

There were three sorts of myrrh; there was the myrrh in sprigs, which
being burnt made a sweet smell; then there was myrrh, a dried spice;
and then thirdly, there was myrrh a flowing oil. We do not know to
which there is reference here. But why is it said "a bundle of myrrh?"
First, for the plenty of it. He is not a drop of it, he is a casket
full. He is not a sprig or flower of it, but a whole bundle full. There
is enough in Christ for my necessities. There is more in Christ than I
shall ever know–perhaps more than I shall understand even in heaven.

A bundle again, for variety; for there is in Christ not only the one
thing needful, but "ye are complete in him;" there is everything
needful. Take Christ in his different characters, and you will see a
marvellous variety–prophet, priest, king, husband, friend, shepherd.
Take him in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, second advent,
take him in his virtue, gentleness, courage, self-denial, love,
faithfulness, truth, righteousness–everywhere it is a bundle. Some of
God's judgments are manifold, but all God's mercies are manifold, and
Christ being the sum of God's mercies, hath in fold upon fold of
goodness. He is "a bundle of myrrh" for variety.

He is a bundle of myrrh again, for preservation–not loose myrrh to be
dropped on the floor or trodden on, but myrrh tied up, as though God
bound up all virtues and excellencies in his Son: not myrrh spilt on
the ground, but myrrh in a box–myrrh kept in a casket. Such is Christ.
The virtue and excellence which goeth out of Christ is quite as strong
today as in the day when the woman touched the hem of his garment and
was healed. "Able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God
through him," is he still unto this hour.

A bundle of myrrh again, to shew how diligently we should take care of
it. We must bind him up, we must keep our thoughts of him and knowledge
of him as under lock and key, lest the devil should steal anything from
us. We must treasure up his words, prize his ordinances, obey his
precepts, tie him up and keep him ever with us as a precious bundle of
myrrh.

And yet again, a bundle of myrrh for speciality, as if he were not
common myrrh for everybody. No, no, no; there is distinguishing,
discriminating grace–a bundle tied up for his people and labelled with
their names from before the foundation of the world. No doubt there is
an allusion here to the scent bottle used in every land. Jesus Christ
is a bottle of myrrh, and he doth not give forth his smell to everybody
but to those who know how to draw forth the stopper, who understand how
to get into communion with him, to have close dealings with him. He is
not myrrh for all who are in the house but for those who know how to
put the bottle to their nostrils and receive the sweet perfume. Oh!
blessed people whom the Lord hath admitted into his secrets! Oh! choice
and happy people who are thus made to say "A bottle of myrrh is my
well-beloved unto me."

But I am afraid I tire you, especially those of you who do not know
anything about my subject. There are some such here who know no more
about what I am talking of than if they were Mahometans. They are
listening to a new kind of religion now. The religion of Christ is as
high above them as is the path of the eagle above that of the fish, and
as much hidden from them as the way of the serpent on the rock from the
eye of man. This is a path which the eagle's eye hath not seen, nor
hath the lion's whelp trodden it; but I trust there are some here who
know it.

III. Our third remark was to be–that with a sense of Christ's
preciousness is combined A CONSCIOUSNESS OF POSSESSION. It is "my
well-beloved." My dear hearer, is Christ your well-beloved? A
Savior–that is well; but my Savior–that is the best of the best. What
is the use of bread if it is not mine? I may die of hunger. Of what
value is gold, if it be not mine? I may yet die in a workhouse. I want
this preciousness to be mine. "My well-beloved." Have you ever laid
hold on Christ by the hand of faith?

Will you take him again this morning, brethren, in Jesus? I know you
will. Would that those who never did take him, would take him now and
say, "My saviour." There stands his atonement, freely offered to you,
may you have the grace to take it, and say, "My Savior, my Savior,"
this morning. Has your heart taken him? It is well for us to use both
hands, not only the hand of faith, but the hand of love, for this is
the true embrace when both arms meet around our beloved. Do you love
him? O souls, do you LOVE Christ, with an emphasis upon the word. Do
not talk to me about a religion which dwells in the head and never gets
into the heart. Get rid of it as quickly as you can; it will never
bring you to heaven. It is not "I believe this and that" merely, but "I
love." Ah! some who have been great fools in doctrine have been very
wise in love. We tell our children to learn things "by heart." I think
you can, you love Jesus, and if you cannot you must confess as I do,

"A very wretch, Lord, I should prove,

Had I no love to thee;

Sooner than not my Savior love,

O may I cease to be."

But that is not the only word. "A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved
unto me." That is not a redundant expression, "unto me." He is not so
to many. Ah! my Lord is a root out of a dry ground to multitudes. A
three-volume novel suits them better than his Book. They would sooner
go to a play or a dance than they would have any fellowship with him.
They can see the beauties upon the cheeks of this Jezebel world, but
they cannot see the perfections of my Lord and Master. Well! well!
well! Let them say what they will, and let them think as they please,
every creature hath its own joy, but "a bundle of myrrh is my
well-beloved unto me"–unto me–unto me, and if there is not another
who finds him so, yet "a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me." I
would it were not with others as it is–I would that others did think
so also of him; but let them say what they will, they shall not drive
me out of my knowledge of this–"a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved
unto me." The infidel saith, "There is no God." The atheist would
altogether laugh me to scorn. They shall say what they will, but "a
bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me." Even bishops have been
found who will take away a part of his Book, and so rend his garments,
and rob him; and there be some who say his religion is out of date, and
grace has lost his power; and they go after philosophy and vain
conceit, and I know not what, but "a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved
unto me." They may have no nostril for him, they may have no desire
after him; so let it be, but "a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto
me." I know there are some who say they have tried him and not found
him sweet, and who have turned away from him and gone back to the
beggarly elements of the world because they see nothing in Christ that
they should desire him; but "a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto
me." Ah! Christian, this is what you want, a personal experience, a
positive experience; you want to know for yourself; for there is no
religion which is worth a button which is not burnt into you by
personal experience; and there is no religion worth a straw which does
not spring from your soul, which does lay not hold upon the very vitals
of your spirit. Yes, you must say–I hope you can say as you go down
those steps this morning, and enter again to-morrow into that busy,
giddy world–you must say, "Let the whole world go astray, a bundle of
myrrh is my well-beloved unto me.'"

IV. Now the practical point closes it. A SENSE OF POSSESSION AND A
SENSE OF ENJOYMENT WILL ALWAYS LEAD THE CHRISTIAN TO DESIRE CONSTANT
FELLOWSHIP. "He" or rather "it shall lie all night betwixt my breasts."
The Church does not say, "I will put this bundle of myrrh on my
shoulders"–Christ is no burden to a Christian. She does not say, "I
will put this bundle of myrrh on my back"–the Church does not want to
have Christ concealed from her face. She desires to have him where she
can see him, and near to her heart. The bundle of myrrh shall lie all
night upon my heart. The words "All night" are not in the original; I
do not know how they got into the translation. He is to be always
there, not only all night but all day. It would be always night if he
were not there, and it cannot be night when he is there, for

"Midst darkest shade, if he appear,

My dawning has begun."

He shall always be upon our heart. I think that expression just means
these three things. It is an expression of desire–her desire that she
may have the consciousness of Christ's love continually. Do not you
feel the same desire. O Christian, if thou hast ever been made like the
chariots of Amminadib, it will be ill for thee if thou canst be content
to be otherwise. If thou hast but once tasted Christ, thou wilt wait to
feed upon him all day and all night, and as long as thou livest. My
desire is that Jesus may abide with me from morn till even, in the
world and in the Church, when I awake, when I sleep, when I go abroad,
and when I come home into the bosom of my family. Is not that your
desire that he may be always with you?

But then, it is not only her desire, but it is also her confidence. She
seems to say, "He will be with me thus." You may have a suspension of
visible fellowship with Christ, but Christ never will go away from
people really. He will be all night betwixt your breasts; he will at
all times abide faithful to you. He may close his eyes and hide his
face from you, but his heart never can depart from you. He has set you
as a seal upon his heart, and increasingly will make you sensible of
it. Recollect there is no suspension of Christ's union with his people,
and no suspension of those saving influences which always make his
people to stand complete in him.

To conclude, this is also a resolve. She desires, she believes, and she
resolves it. Lord, thou shalt be with me, thou shalt be with me always.
I appeal to you, brethren, will you not make this resolve in God's
strength this morning to cling close to Christ. Do not go talking, as
you go home, about all sorts of nonsense; do not spend this afternoon
in communion with folly and vanity, but throughout this day let your
soul keep to Christ, to nothing but Christ. This evening we shall come
to his table, to eat bread and drink wine, in remembrance of him, let
us try if we can, that nothing shall make us give up Christ all this
day. Have you got him, hold him and do not let him go till you bring
him to your mother's house, to the chamber of her who bare you. Then
there will be the family prayer at night. O, seek to keep him till you
put your head upon the pillow. And then, on Monday morning, some of you
have to go to work, and as soon as you get into the workshop or the
factory, you say, "Now I must lose my Master." No, do not lose him.
Hold him fast when your hand plies the hammer, and when your fingers
hold the needle, still cling to him, in the market or in the exchange,
on board ship, or in the field, do not let him go. You may have him
with you all day. The Mahometan usually wears a piece of the Koran
round his neck, and one, when converted to Christianity, put his New
Testament in a little silken bag, and always wore it there. We need not
such outward signs, but let us always have the Savior there; let us
hang him about our neck as a charm against all evil; seek his blessed
company, place him as a star upon your breast to be your honor and joy.

Well, I have done, but I must have a word with the unconverted. There
are some who can say, "I will have Christ always on my tongue." Away
with tongue religion. You must have him on your heart. Ah! there are
some who say, "I hope I shall have Christ on my heart in all eternity."
You cannot have Christ in eternity if you do not have him in time. If
you despise him to-day–in this life, he will reject you to-morrow in
the world to come; and if he call and you refuse, one day you will call
and he refuse. Do not put up with desires merely, dear friends–some of
you have desires, and nothing more. Do not only desire Christ, but get
him. Do not stop short with saying, "I should like to have him in my
heart;" give no sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids, till by
humble faith you have taken Christ to be your all in all. May the Lord
bless these poor words, for Jesus' sake. Amen.