The Tender Grapes
(No. 2480)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 30, 1896.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 8, 1880.
"The vines with the tender grape give a good smell." Song of Solomon
2:13.
THE vine is of all trees the most useless unless it bears fruit. You
cannot make hardly anything of it. You would scarcely be able to cut
enough wood out of a vine to hang a pot upon. You cannot turn it into
furniture and barely could you use it in the least degree for building
purposes. It must either bear fruit, or else it must be consumed in the
fire. The branches of the vine that bear no fruit are necessarily cut
off and they are used, as I have seen them used in the South of France
many a time, in little twisted bundles for kindling the fire. They burn
very rapidly, so there is soon an end of them and then they are gone.
The vine is constantly used, in Scripture, as a picture of the nominal
Church of Christ, so, like the vine, we must either bring forth fruit
or we shall be accounted as good for nothing. Dear Friends, we must
serve God! We must bring forth, from our very soul, love to God and
service to Him as the fruit of our renewed nature, or else we are
useless, worthless, shall only abide our time and then we shall be cut
down to be burned. Our end must be destruction if our life is not
fruitful. This gives a very solemn importance to our lives and it
should make each of us seriously ask, "Am I bringing forth fruit to
God? Have I brought forth fruits meet for repentance? For if not, I
must, by-and-by, feel the keen edge of the Vinedresser's knife and I
shall be taken away from any sort of union that I now have with the
Church which is Christ's vine–and be flung over the wall as a useless
thing whose end is to be burned."
Beloved, you all know that there is no possibility of bringing forth
any fruit unless we are in Christ and unless we abide in Christ. We
must bear fruit, or we shall certainly perish–and we cannot have fruit
unless we have Christ. We must be knit to Christ, vitally one with Him,
just as a branch is really, after a living fashion, one with the stem!
It would be no use to tie a branch to the stem of the vine–that would
not cause it to bring forth fruit. It must be joined to it in a living
union and so must you and I be livingly joined to Christ! Do you know,
by experience, what that expression means? For, if you do not know it
by experience, you do not know it at all! No man knows what life is but
the one who is alive. And no man knows what union to Christ is but he
who is united to Christ. We must become one with Christ by an act of
faith. We must be inserted into Him as the graft is placed in the
incision made in the tree into which it is to be grafted. Then there
must be a knitting of the two together, a vital junction, a union of
life and a flowing of the sap, or else there cannot be any bearing of
fruit. Again, I say, what a serious thing this makes our life to be!
How earnest should be our questioning of ourselves! "For the divisions
of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." And so may there be
about this matter. Let each one of us ask, "Am I bearing fruit? I am
not unless I am vitally united to Christ. I have openly professed that
I am in Christ, but am I bringing forth fruit to His honor and glory?"
I think I hear someone say, "I hopeI have begun to bring forth some
fruit, but it is very little in quantity and it is of very poor
quality. And I do not suppose that the Lord Jesus will hardly stoop to
notice it." Well, now, listen to what the text says! It is the Heavenly
Bridegroom, it is Christ, Himself, who, in this Song, speaks to His
spouse and bids her come into the vineyard and look about her. For,
says He, "The vines with the tender grape give a good smell." So, you
see, there was some fruit, though it could only be spoken of as, "the
tender grape." Some read the passage, "The vines in blossom give forth
fragrance." Others think it refers to the grape just as it begins to
form. It was a poor little thing, but the Lord of the vineyard was the
first to spy it out and if there is any little fruit to God upon anyone
here present, our
Lord Jesus Christ can see it! Though the berry is scarcely formed.
Though it is only like a flower which has just begun to knit, He can
see the fruit and He delights in that fruit.
I want, as the Holy Spirit shall help me, to speak about those early
fruits–those tender grapes–that are being brought forth by some who
have but lately come to know the Lord. And first we will enquire, what
are these tender grapes? Secondly, what is the Lord's estimate of them?
And thirdly, what is the danger to these tender grapes? You will learn
what that is from the 15th verse–"Take us the foxes, the little foxes,
that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes."
I. First, then, WHAT ARE THESE TENDER GRAPES? What are these
first-fruits of the Spirit of God of which our text says, "The vines
with the tender grape give a good smell"? While I am preaching, I shall
be going over my own experience and the experience of many of God's
people. And though I shall not be especially speaking to them, it will
do them good to remember what they passed through in the early days of
their Christian life.
One of the first tender grapes that we spy out on living branches of
the True Vine is a secret mourning for sin and, very often, an
openmourning, too. The man is no longer the mirthful, jovial,
light-headed, dare-devil sort of fellow that he was. He has found out
that his life has not been right in the sight of God. He has become
conscious that he has done much that is altogether wrong and that he
has left undone a thousand things which he ought to have done–and he
feels heavy of heart and sad in spirit. His old companions notice that
there is a change in him, but he does not tell them much because they
would only laugh at him. But he has a wound somewhere within his
heart–an arrow has pierced his conscience–and his soul bleeds
inwardly. The pleasure which he once took in sin is all now gone and,
what is more, he grieves to think that he ever could have taken any
pleasure in it. He hopes that God will forgive him, but he feels that
he never will forgive himself. He strikes upon his breast and wishes he
could strike so hard as to kill the sin which is there– but he
discovers that when he would do good, evil is present with him–and
that makes him cry, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?"
He used to think that to believe in Christ was a very easy thing and
that to be a Christian was almost as simple a matter as kissing his
hand. But he finds it quite another thing, now. He has a heavy burden
to carry and it is crushing him to the ground–he is fighting with
himself and cannot get the victory. Whenever he sees his sin, it
grieves him and he is grieved because he does not grieve more than he
does. He wishes his heart would become softer and that by some means he
could weep for sin more thoroughly, for he really does hate it with all
his soul. Well now, this is one of the tender grapes and if any of you
are brought into that condition, I thank God for it! This is a crop
that will ripen and sweeten before long. Surely, there never was a
truly gracious soul who did not put forth this as one of the first
fruits of the Spirit–a secret mourning for sin.
Another tender grape is a humble faith in Jesus Christ The man,
perhaps, has got no farther than to say, "Lord, I believe, help my
unbelief! I trust myself with You and You have said I am saved if I do
that and, therefore, I conclude that I am saved, but, oh, that I had
more faith! Oh, that I could trust You without a doubt! But, Lord, You
know all things–You know that, humbly, tremblingly, I do accept You as
my Savior and I am hopeful to be numbered among Your people, though
meanest of them all. Though my faith is but as a grain of mustard seed,
I bless You that I have even that grain! And I know that it will grow,
for it has within it the life You did impart." That little trembling
faith, like a freshly-lighted candle which is easily blown out, is,
nevertheless, one of the tender grapes. It will grow, it will come to
perfection in due time, for the least true faith has everlasting life
in it! All the devils in Hell could not quench a single spark of
God-given faith, for it is a living thingand it cannot be destroyed!
This faith possesses immortality. It shall defy death, itself, yet,
while it is so little, it is like the tender grape which gives a good
smell.
Then there comes another tender grape and that is, a genuine change of
life. The man has evidently turned right about–he is not looking the
way he used to look and he is not living as he used to live. At first
he fails and, perhaps, fails a good many times, like a child who is
learning to walk and has many a tumble. But it will never walk if it
does not tumble a bit. So, when men begin to live the new life, they
have many slips. They thought that ugly temper of theirs would never
rise again, but it does, and it grieves them very much. And some old
habit, from which they thought they had clean escaped, entangles them
unawares and they say, "Surely I cannotbe a child of God if I do these
things again!" And there is great sorrow, brokenness of spirit and
soul-humbling. Well, that very soul-humbling is a tender grape! That
effort to do better–not in your own strength, because you have none
and you are sure to fail utterly if you attempt such a task alone–but
the effortto do better in the strength of God, yet with the full
consciousness of your own weakness– all that indicates a real change!
I know that there are some men who have been so long steeped in evil
that to get their old habits down is a very difficult task. "Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also
do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Nothing but almighty power
could get the blackness out of the Ethiopian's skin, or the spots out
of the leopard. God can do it and He can reverse the whole current of
our lives, but, nevertheless, while it is being done, there is often
much painful contrition and brokenness of heart before Him. See what a
change it is that the Lord works in a man when He converts him from the
error of his ways! There is Niagara–see the mighty flood come roaring
down–what a sight it is! But can that Niagara be made to flow up-hill?
Yes, God can accomplish that marvelous feat, but while it is being
done, think of the twists, twirls, whirlpools and sheets of spray that
there will be! The vast mass of water has to stop and then to rush up
again! What roaring of waves and shaking of rocks there will be even
while God is performing this great operation! So is it when there is a
change of heart in one who has long been steeped in evil–one who has
been an open sinner. There is a great deal of distress of heart while
the work is being done. Yet, if there is a radical change in the man,
it is like the tender grape which is a sure sign of life in the vine
which brings it forth.
Another very blessed fruit of spiritual life in the soul is secret
devotion. The man never prayed before. He sometimes went to a place of
worship, but he did not care much about it. Now you see that he tries
to get alone for private prayer as often as he can. He may not have the
privilege of a room to himself, but he climbs up into a hayloft, or
goes down into a sawpit, or retires behind a hedge, or, in order to be
quite alone, perhaps he walks the streets of London. It is very easy to
be alone in a crowded street! In busy Cheapside there is many a man who
is utterly lonely, for he does not know anybody in all the throng that
rushes past him. It is a really awful loneliness that a man may have in
the midst of a dense crowd– and his heart may then be talking with God
as well as if he were shut up in some private room. A soul must get
alone if it is really born again–it cannot live without private
prayer. I also like to see the young beginners in the Divine Life
carrying a pocket Testament, so that they may read a short portion
whenever they can get a few spare moments–two or three verses to lie
in their memory, like a lozenge under the tongue–to melt there and
dissolve into their inmost being. It is a grand thing to keep a man
right and it is one of the tender grapes on the vine when there is a
love for the Word of God and a love for private prayer. I am sure that
it is one of the tokens by which we are not very often deceived.
"Behold, he prays," is an indication that God has renewed his heart!
Another of these tender grapes is an eager desire for more Grace, a
longing for more of the good things of the Covenant. Why, those who are
just brought to know the Lord would like us to preach seven sermons a
day–and they would like to hear them all! I know that when I was first
brought to Christ, I was ravenous after the Gospel. I felt like the
great beast mentioned in the Book of Job, that "drinks up a river, and
trusts that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth," so thirsty did I
seem to be after the river of the Water of Life! I do not think that
the seats felt hard to me, then, or that standing in the aisle was too
tiresome so long as it was but the Gospel that was preached to me, for
there was an eager desire after it in my soul. If anyone can tell the
poor seeking one who has just a little Light of God where he can get 10
times the Grace he has, I guarantee you that he will make the journey
if he may but find it, that his feeble faith may grow to full
assurance, that his repentance may be deeper, that his love to God may
be more intense! If his whole soul is set on attaining this objective,
it is manifest that these are the tender grapes that grow out of the
life that is within the branches of the Vine.
There is also, in such persons, another very precious sign of Grace,
and that is, a simple love to Jesus. The heart knows little, but it
loves much. The understanding is not yet fully enlightened, but the
affections are all on fire. "Your first love" is mentioned with special
commendation in the Book of the Revelation and I think that some of us
who have known the Lord for 30 years or more, can look back upon our
first love with something of regret. I hope that we love Christ better,
now, than we did then, but there was a vividness about our first love
which we do not always realize in our more matured experience. It was
then very much as it is when your servant lights a fire–at the first,
the shavings, or the paper, or whatever it may be at the bottom of the
kindling, makes a great deal more of a blaze than appears afterwards–
and the fire is at its best when it all gets into one great steady ruby
glow. It is to this state that the ardent love of Christians should
come, but still, there is something very pleasing about that first
blaze and I could almost wish that we always blazed away as we did in
the fervor of our first love. That first flame was one of the sure
tokens that the fire was there, just as the tender grapes prove that
the life is in the Vine-branches. If, dear Friends, you are now full of
love to Christ, do not let anybody quench it, or even dampen it, but
may it burn more and more, like coals of juniper which have a most
vehement flame! God grant that this love, and all the other tender
grapes that I have mentioned, may be seen in everyone who has newly
sought and found the Lord!
II. Now I must try to answer our second question–WHAT IS THE LORD'S
ESTIMATE OF THESE TENDER
GRAPES? What does He think of that sorrow for sin, that little faith,
that humble trust in His atoning Sacrifice, that earnest attempt to
live a changed life, that weariness of frivolity, that private prayer
and study of the Scriptures, that eager desire for more Grace and that
childlike love? What does the Lord think of all this?
Well, first, He thinks so much of it that He calls His Church to come
and look at it Look at the verses that precede our text–"My Beloved
spoke and said to me, Rise up, My love, My fair one and come away, for,
lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear
on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of
the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree puts forth her green
figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell." We do not
usually call our friends to look at things which we do not, ourselves,
admire. So here the Bridegroom calls His spouse to share in His joy in
these tokens of the heavenly life of the Church of God! Be always on
the lookout for the tender grapes. I think I know some Christians who
do not appreciate these early fruits as they ought. When dear children
are brought to know the Lord, we cannot expect that such little shoots
as they are should, at first, bring forth anything but tender grapes.
There are some who do not take that view of the matter. "Ah," they say,
"there is no flavor in those grapes." Did you expect that there would
be? "Oh," they cry, "they are tart and sour." Of course they are! While
they are tender grapes, they mustbe so. You cannot get the ripeness or
the sweetness of maturity in that which is just beginning to grow! Our
Lord would not have us find fault with the fruit of young converts, but
rather go and look at it, and admire it, and bless God that there is at
least some and that it is as good as it is. "Ah," says one, "that young
man does not know much!" Does he know that one thing, whereas he was
blind, now he can see? Then be thankful that he knows as much as that.
"Oh," you exclaim, "but he has not much prudence!" No, my dear Friend,
do you suppose that this young man is to have as much prudence as you
have at your age–and you are perhaps 60 or seventy? I might possibly
say with truth that you have not quite so much zeal as you might have
to go with your prudence. "Oh, but," you say, "we need the young man to
be more mature!" Give him time and he will get as mature as you are,
but while the grapes are still tender, your Master and his calls you to
look at them and to thank Him for them, for there is something very
cheering in the sight of the first weak, faint tokens of the working of
the Holy Spirit in the soul of a young Believer!
What is Christ's estimate of these tender grapes? Why, next, He calls
them tender He does not call them mature–He does not speak of them as
ripe–He calls them, "tender." Do you know how He might have described
them? He might have called them sour, but He does not. He calls them,
"tender." He likes to use a sweet word, you see–the softest and best
word that He can use! So, when you describe a young convert, my dear
Brother, do not at once point out his immaturity, but call him,
"tender." Do not speak about his lack of discretion, but call him,
"tender." Do not say, "Oh, well, I question whether he can be a child
of God or not!" He is one of God's little ones. A little child is just
as much its mother's child as the biggest one in the family is! And no
doubt that little one whose voice we heard just now is as much beloved
of the mother as any of her older sons or daughters. So it should be
with those who are the little children in God's great family of love.
Therefore, imitate your Lord and call them, "tender."
Then He says something more–"The vines with the tender grape give a
good smell." Of what do they smell?
Well, first, they smell of sincerity. You say, "That young man does not
know much, but he is very sincere." How many do I see, who come to make
a confession of their faith in Christ, who do not know this doctrine,
or have not had that experience, but they are very sincere! I can tell
that they are genuine by the way they speak–they often make such
dreadful blunders, theologically, that I know they have not learned it
by rote, as they might get up a lesson. They talk straight out of their
loving but ignorant hearts and I like that they should do so, for it
shows how true they are in what they say! And our Lord Jesus always
loves sincerity. There is no smell so hateful as the smell of
hypocrisy–a religious experience that is made to order, religious talk
such as some indulge in, which is all cant–is a stench in the nostrils
of God! The Lord save us from it! But these vines with the tender grape
give forth the sweet smell of sincerity.
Next, there is about these young Believers a sweet smell of heartiness.
Oh, how hearty they generally are, how earnest, how lively! By-and-by,
some of the older folks talk about the things of God as if they were
worn threadbare and there was nothing of special interest in them. But
it is not so with these new-born souls–everything is bright and fresh,
they are lively and full of earnestness–and Jesus loves that kind of
spirit. He said to the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans, "I would
you were cold or hot." It is lukewarmness that He cannot bear! But He
approves of warm, simple heartiness–it is to Him like the smell of the
vines that bear the tender grapes.
There is sure to be, also, about these young Christians the sweet smell
of zealand, whatever may be said against zeal, I will take up the clubs
for it as long as I live! In the work of God we cannot do without fire!
We Baptists like water because our Master has ordained the use of it,
but we must also have fire, fire from Heaven, the fire of the Holy
Spirit. When I see our young men and young women full of zeal for God's
Glory, I say, "God bless them! Let them go ahead." Some of the old folk
want to put a bit in the mouths of these fiery young steeds and to hold
them in–but I trust that I shall always be on their side and say, "No,
let them go as fast as they like. If they have zeal without knowledge,
it is a deal better than having knowledge without zeal! Only wait a bit
and they will get all the knowledge they need."
These young Believers have another sweet smell–they are
teachable–ready to learn, willing to be taught from the Scriptures and
from those whose instructions God blesses to their souls. There is also
another delicious smell about them and that is they are generally very
joyful. While they are singing, some dear old Brother who has known the
Lord for 50 years, is groaning–what is the matter with the good man? I
wish that he could catch the sweet contagion of the early joy of those
who have just found the Savior! There is something delightful in all
joy when it is joy in the Lord, but there is a special brightness about
the delight of those who are newly-converted.
You see that Christ forms a correct, condescending, wise estimate of
these vines with the tender grape. He calls His Church to look at them.
He calls them tender. He says that they have a sweet smell and then He
shows that He cares very much about them, for He says, "Take us the
foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have
tender grapes." He does not want even the tender grapes to be spoiled.
Some people seem to think that none but advanced Christians are worth
looking after, but our Lord is not of that opinion. "Oh, it was only a
lot of girls that joined the Church," said somebody. "A lot of girls?"
That is not the way that our Lord Jesus Christ speaks about His
children! He calls them King's daughters–and let them be called so.
"They were only a pack of boys and young men." Yes, but they are the
material of which old men are made! And boys and young men, after all,
are of much account in the Master's esteem. May we always have many
such in this Church!
III. So I come to my third and closing question–WHAT IS THE DANGER TO
THESE TENDER GRAPES? The 15th verse says that they are in danger from
foxes and gives the command, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that
spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
Dear young Friends who have lately found Christ, there are foxes about!
We try all we can to stop the gaps in the hedge, that we may keep the
foxes out, but they are very crafty and they manage to get in,
sometimes. The foxes in the East are much smaller than ours and they
seem to be even more cunning and more ferocious than those we have in
this country–and they do much mischief to the vines.
In the spiritual'vineyard there are foxes of many kinds. There is,
first, the hard censurer. He will spoil the vines if he can–and
especially the vines that have the tender grapes. He finds fault with
everything that he can see in you who are but young Believers. You know
that you are simply depending upon Christ for salvation, but this
censurer says, "You are no child of God, for you are far from being
perfect." If God had no children but those who are perfect, He would
have none under Heaven! These censorious people will find fault with
this and that and the other in your life and character. And you know
well enough that you have all too many imperfections, but if they look
for them, they can soon spy them out. Then they say, "We do not believe
that there is any Grace in you at all," though you know that by the
Grace of God you are what you are! It may be that there is a fault in
you which they have discovered. Perhaps you were taken by surprise and
suddenly overcome. Possibly they even set a trap for you and lured you
into it, provoking you to anger, and then turning upon you, saying,
"You have made a profession, have you? That is your religion, is it?"
and so on. May God deliver you from these cruel foxes! He will often do
so by enabling you not to mind them. After all, this is only the way in
which all Christians have been tried–there is nothing strange in your
experience from these censurers! And they are not your judges–you will
not be condemned because they condemn you. Go and do your best in the
service of your Lord! Trust in Christ and do not mind what they
say–and you will be delivered from that kind of fox.
A worse fox even than that one, however, is the flatterer. He comes to
you smiling and smirking and he begins to express his approval of your
religion. And he very likely tells you what a fine fellow you are.
Indeed, you are so good that he thinks you are rather too precise, you
have gone a little over the line! He believes in religion, he says,
fully, though if you watch his life, you will not think so. But he says
that he does not want people to be too righteous–he knows that there
is a line to be drawn and he draws it. I never could see where he drew
it, but still, he says he does and he thinks that you draw the line a
little too near the Cross. He says, "You might be a little more
worldly–you cannot get through life in your way. If you get out of
society, you may as well get out of the world! Why do you make yourself
appear so singular?" I know what he is after–he wants to get you back
among the ungodly. Satan misses you and he wants to have you again, so
he is sending Mr. Flatterer to wheedle you back, if possible, into your
former bondage to himself. Get away from that fox at once! The man who
tells you that you are too precise ought to be precisely told that you
do not need his company! There never lived a man, yet, who was too
holy, and there never willlive a man who will imitate Christ too
closely, or avoid sin too rigidly! Whenever a man says that you are too
Puritanical, you may always smell one of these foxes! It would be
better if we were all more Puritanical and precise. Has not our Father
said to us, "Be you holy; for I am holy"? Did not our Lord Jesus say to
His disciples, "Be you, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which
is in Heaven is perfect"?
Then there comes another foul fox, Mr. Worldly-Wiseman. He says, "You
are a Christian, but do not be a fool! Carry your religion as far as
you can make it pay, but if it comes to losinganything by it, well
then, don't you do it. You see, this practice is the custom of the
trade–it is not right, I know–but still, other people do it and you
ought to do it. If you do not, you will never get on in business." Mr.
Worldly-Wiseman further says, "Never mind if you tell a lie or two,
make your advertisements say what is not true–everybody else does it
as a matter of course–why shouldn't you? Then try whether you cannot
get a slice out of your customer here and a slice there when he does
not know it–it is the custom of the trade! It is the way other people
do and, as it is the custom, of course you mustdo it." To all such talk
I reply that there is another custom, a custom that God has, of turning
all liars into Hell! Mind that you do not come under that Divine Rule
and Law! There is another custom that God has, namely, that of cutting
down as hypocrites those who do not walk honestly and uprightly towards
their fellow men. The plea of custom will not stand for a moment at the
Judgment Seat of Christ–and it ought to have no weight with us here. I
know that there are many young people who, unless they are watchful and
careful at the very beginning of their spiritual life, will get lamed
and never walk as they ought to, because this fox has bitten them.
There is another ugly fox about and that is a doubting fox. He comes
and says, "You seem very happy and very joyful, but is it true? You
appear to have become quite a different person from what you used to
be, but is there, after all, such a thing as conversion??" This fox
begins nibbling at every doctrine! He even nibbles at your Bible and
tries to steal from you this chapter and that verse. God save you young
people from all these foxes!
There are some foxes of evil doctrine and they generally try to spoil
our young people. I do not think anybody ever attempts, now, to convert
me from my beliefs. The other day, when a man was arguing with another,
I asked him, "Why don't you try me?" "Oh," he said, "I have given you
up as a bad case! There is no use trying to do anything with you!" It
is so when we get to be thoroughly confirmed in our convictions of the
Truth of God–they give us up and they generally say that we are such
fools that we cannot learn their wisdom–which is quite correct! And so
we intend to be as long as we live!
But with some of the younger folk, they manage it thus. They say, "Now,
you are a person of considerable breadth of thought. You have an
enlarged mind, you are a man of culture. It is a pity that you should
cling to those old-fashioned beliefs which really are not consistent
with modern progress." And the foolish young fellow thinks that he is a
wonder and so is puffed up with conceit. When a man has to talk about
his own culture and to glory in his own advancement, it is time that we
suspected the truth about him! When a man can despise others who are
doing vastly more good than he ever dreamed of doing and call such
people antiquated and old-fashioned, it is time that he should get
rebuked for his impudence, for that is what it really is! These clever
men, as far as I know them, are simply veneered with a little learning,
not a sixteen-thousandth of an inch thick! There is nothing in the most
of them but mere pretence and bluster. But there are some who hold
firmly to the old Gospel who have read as much as they are ever likely
to do, and are fully their equals in learning, though they do not care
to boast of their acquirements. Do not any of you young people be
carried away with the notion that all the learned men are heretics–it
is very largely the reverse–and it is your sham, shallow philosopher
who goes running after heresy! Get out of the way of that fox, or else
he will do much mischief to the tender grapes.
So, Brothers and Sisters, I close with this remark. If you have any
sign of spiritual life. If you have any tender grapes upon your
branches, the devil and his foxes will be sure to be at you. Therefore,
endeavor to get as close as you can to two persons who are mentioned
hard by my text, namely, the King and His spouse. First, keep close to
Christ, for this is your life. And next, keep close to His Church, for
this is your comfort. Get among elderly Christian people–seek to catch
up with those who have long known the Lord, those who are farther on
the heavenly road than you are. Pilgrims to Zion should go to Heaven in
companyand often, when they go in company, and they can get a Mr.
Great-Heart to go before them, it saves them from many a Giant
Slay-Good and many a Giant Grim–and they get a safe and happy journey
to the Celestial City where otherwise they might have been buffeted and
worried. Keep close to God's people, whoever they may be–they are the
best company for you, young Believers! Some Christians may, like
Bunyan's pilgrim, start on the road to Heaven, alone, but they miss
much comfort which they might have had with companions of a kindred
spirit. As for Christiana and her children and especially the younger
folk, they will do well to keep in company with some one of the Lord's
champions, and with the rest of the army with banners who are marching
towards the Celestial City! God bless and comfort all of you who know
His name, henceforth and forever! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: SOLOMON'S SONG 8:11-14; ISAIAH 5:1-7;
LUKE 13:6-9. Song of Solomon 8:11, 12. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal
Hamon. He leased the vineyard to keepers; everyone was to bring for the
fruit thereof a thousand pieces of silver My vineyard, which is mine,
is before me. ' 'The great Husbandman has graciously leased His
vineyard out to me, that I may keep it, and dress it. He has made it
mine for the time being. I have some ground to till, some plants to
tend, some vines to prune. It may not be a very large vineyard, but
still, it is mine, and I am accountable for it and must look well to
it. It is before me. I am thinking of it. I am caring for it, I am
praying about it."
12. You, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit
thereof two hundred. This is our resolve–that our greater Solomon
shall have the profits and proceeds of His own vineyard. It is ours on
lease, but the freehold is His. He "must have a thousand," and we shall
be well content with our share of the vintage–joyful and glad that we
may have "two hundred."
13. You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to Your
voice: cause me to hear it.''For to hear that voice will be far better
than the 'two hundred' which shall be my share of the fruit! If I may
have You with me, O my Lord, I will be better pleased, though my
portion of fruit should be very small, indeed, for in having You, my
portion will be great, indeed! I hear, my Lord, that some of Your
people live with You until they are called Your companions. There are
some whom You call Your friends. There are disciples whom Jesus loves.
These 'hearken to Your voice: cause me to hear it.' Unstop my deaf
ears, give me a sensitive spirit, let my soul thrill and my heart
throb, and my whole being delight to obey every syllable that falls
from Your blessed lips. 'You that dwell in the gardens, the companions
hearken to Your voice: cause me to hear it.'"
14. Make haste, my Beloved. "Do not let me have to wait long for You, O
my Beloved! Even at the beginning of this service, cause me to realize
Your presence." [The exposition was always the first part of the
service.–EOD.]
14. And be like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.'
'Are there mountains that divide me from You? Come and leap over them,
for You are swift of foot and sure of standing–'Be You like a roe or a
young hart,' and when You come, the mountains of division shall change
into mountains of spices, and all around me shall be sweet."
Isaiah 5:1. Now willI sing to my Well-Beloved a song of my Beloved
touching His vineyard. My Well-Beloved has a vineyard in a very
fruitful hill. You and I, dear Friends, are placed in a position where
we have very choice opportunities of glorifying our God. We are like "a
vineyard in a very fruitful hill," most favorably placed for
fruitfulness. The Well-Beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill–
2. And He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted
it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and
also made a winepress therein: and He expected that it should bring
forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. Is that my case?
Is it your case, dear Friend? Has even our religion been a false thing?
Has it been like wild grapes or poisonous berries? Have we been, at
times, right only by chance and have we never carefully and sedulously
sought to serve our Lord, or to bring forth fruit to His praise? O
Lord, You know!
3-6. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I
pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard. What could have been done more to
My vineyard, that I have not done to it? Why, then, when I expected
that it should bring forth good grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
And now please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will
take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it
waste. There is no destruction like that which comes when God destroys
the fruitless vineyard! When a human enemy or the wild boar out of the
forest lays it waste, it may be restored again, but if, in righteous
wrath, the Divine Owner of the vineyard, Himself, lays it waste, what
hope remains for it? "It shall be trodden down; and I will lay it
waste"–
6, 7. It shall not bepruned, nor dug; but there shall come up briers
and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon
it. For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and
the men of Judah His pleasant plant: and He looked for justice, but
behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. This passage
has a special reference to God's ancient people and one cannot read it
without noting how literally this terrible threat has been fulfilled!
Luke 12:6. He spoke also thisparable, A certain man hada fig tree
planted in his vineyard; andhe came and sought fruit thereon, and found
none. Let us, everyone, read this parable as if our Lord Jesus Christ
were now speaking it for the first time to each of us. There is a
lesson here which we shall do well to heed.
7-9. Then saidhe to the dresser ofhis vineyard, Behold, these three
years Ihave come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and found none: cut it
down; why cumbers it the ground? And he answering said to him, Lord,
let it alone this year, also, tillI shall dig about it, and fertilize
it: andifit bears fruit, well: andif not, then after thatyou shall cut
it down. "In that case, I will plead for it no longer, for it will have
had its full time of testing and every opportunity of bearing fruit–
'After that you shall cut it down."' The parable is so simple that it
needs no explanation and, therefore, our Lord Jesus has not given any.
May we all make a personal application of its solemn teaching! Amen.