Canticle 3 3. 1-4 On my bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves.

”
The Bridegroom has not returned when the Bride calls him back with cries and prayers. He
wishes to increase her desire, test her affection, of love. But He is not displeased with her,
he is concealing his love.
“Return, my beloved, like a roe or a fawn.” When he did not return at this call, she who
loved him became more eager and devoted herself eagerly and entirely to seeking him.
First, she sought him in her bed, but she found him not at all. Then she arose and wandered through the city,
going to and fro among the streets and squares, but she did not meet him or catch sight of him. She questions
everyone she meets, but there is no news. Nor is this search and this disappointment confined to one night or
one street, for she says, “I sought him night after night.” undeterred by any desire for rest, or by a bride’s
modesty, or by terrors of the night
Perhaps this concealment by Him, may have had some good purpose for a time, until everything was
concentrated on calling him, or recalling him.

In my little bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves.” Perhaps he should not be
sought in a little bed,
Church had known him according to the flesh, , but she knows it no more.
‘I will arise and go about the city, through the streets and squares will I seek him whom my soul
loves.’
if you are risen with Christ, set your heart on the things above, not on those below.

“Blessed are they who have not seen yet have believed.” So, giving room for virtue, he
withdraws himself from her sight, that she may merit faith.

‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ ‘The Word is near you, in
your mouth and in your heart.’ Believe, and you have found him
The faithful know that Christ dwells in their hearts by faith.
Therefore seek him faithfully. “The Lord is good to the soul who seeks him.”

‘The watchmen who guard the city have found me.’ “Blessed are they whom the Lord finds
watching when he comes.” watchful in spirit and spend night in prayer,
These are lovers of their suffering Christian brethren who pray a lot for the Lord’s flocks and
early in the morning call upon the Lord
They watch and pray, for “unless Lord keeps city, the guard keeps watch in vain.”

‘Watch and pray, so that you do not enter into temptation,’

The constant care of those who guard them, so they can can abide in safety

To Those granted the privilege of great intimacy as close and dear friends, the Lord, asks 3
times, do you love me?” , Jesus said, ‘Unless you love me so strongly, more than you love
your possessions, your family, and even yourself, that this 3-fold command of mine
is to be fulfilled, to care for sheep of mine for whom my blood was shed.’
Give heed, you who have been chosen to the precious charge which has been entrusted to
you of first..your own family...the Bride of Christ Eph 5
Watch then and keep it in peace and safety. It is his bride. See to her adornment. It
is sheep…with all their weakeness..infantile faith, bruied reed, flickering flame..Fan it to
fullness of God’s love.

, ‘I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband to
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.’
“He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly kingdom. In Christ
he chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish
in his sight in love,”, “he has predestined us to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ,
according to his pleasure, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he has bestowed upon
us in his beloved Son.”
.
3.3 Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” O strong and burning love Rejecting all
else, Lord ,possess my heart and tongue.
If anyone desires to grasp these writings, let him love.
The Lord says: ‘Come to me, all who desire me.’ But it was not enough for her to meet
them as she passed by. She was told to pass on and leave them behind, for he whom she was
searching for had also passed on. He passed not only from death to life but passed on to
glory.
3.4..‘I have hold of him and will not let him go until I bring him to mother’s house,. So,
firmly does she hold to him whom her soul loves, so good it is to cling to God.

Many waters cannot quench love.’ ‘I have hold of him and will not let him go .’ what I
desire on earth apart from you? I will no
t let you go, even if you bless me.’
‘Lo, I am with you every day, even ‘til the end of the world.’

Yet in her turn she is held by the one whom she holds, and she says to him, “You have held
me by the right hand.” Now she both holds and is held. She holds him by her strong faith
and devoted affection. Yet she could not hold for long unless she herself was held. She is
held by the power and mercy of God

Let not the branches be ungrateful to the root, nor sons to their mother. Let not the branches
grudge the roots the sap they took from it, nor the sons grudge their mother the milk they
sucked from her breast...the Church
Pray God’s universal salvation come to all, for it can be possessed by everyone

For him to enter the house would be enough for salvation, but the privacy of her bedchamber
betokens grace. ‘This day has salvation come to this house,’ said our Lord. Salvation must
necessarily come to a house once the Savior has entered it.
‘I have left my house and my inheritance,’ and now she promises to bring him back and
restore its lost salvation to her mother’s house ‘and into the bedchamber of her who bore
me.’ He who enters the bridal chamber is the bridegroom. How great is the power of love!
The Savior had left his house and his inheritance... Now he has inclined towards her in love,
and thus returns not only as Savior but as Bridegroom. You are blessed by the Lord, O
daughter, for you have softened his anger and restored the inheritance!
Nor is this enough. He goes on to say, ‘I will betroth you to myself in justice and
righteousness. I will betroth you to myself in mercy and pity.

walk in love, as Christ also has loved you.”

Such conformity weds the soul to the Word, , Loving as you are loved.
When she loves perfectly, the soul is wedded to the Word.

O soul, as you approach the Word with confidence, cling to him with constancy, speak to
him as to a close friend, in every matter Truly this is a holy marriage…an embrace where
will makes of two one spirit.

This bond is stronger even than nature’s firm bond between parents and children. , “a man
will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his bride.”
Now the Bridegroom is not only loving, he is love.

when God loves, he desires nothing but to be loved, since he loves us for no other reason
than to be loved, for he knows that those who love him are blessed in their very love.

Rightly, she renounce all other affections and devote herself to love alone, for it is in
returning love that she has the power to respond to love.
Although she may pour out her whole self in love, what is that compared to the inexhaustible
fountain of his love? The stream of love does not flow equally from her who loves and from
him who is love, the soul and the Word, the Bride and the Bridegroom, the Creator and the
creature, any more than a thirsty man can be compared to a fountain.

Nightlong in my little bed I sought him whom my soul loves.” It is a great good to seek
God. “Seek his face always.”
Will a soul cease to seek him even when it has found him . On contrary,its desire is not
quenched but kindled. ..it is oil poured upon the flames. .
“In my little bed nightlong I sought him whom my soul loves.”

The spirit of the Word is gentle, , speaking to me persuasively of the zeal and desire of the
Word,.
The Word is the light. ‘, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a lantern for my path.”
king shall desire your beauty.’ How can he but desire a like garment for his Bride, who is
also his likeness And the closer the likeness, the dearer she will be to him.
‘For this shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they two
shall be one flesh,’

the Bride’s glory: ‘It is good to me to cling to good, and to put my hope in the Lord.’ When
you see a soul leaving everything and clinging to the Word with all her will and desire, living
for the Word, ruling her life by the Word, conceiving by the Word what it will bring forth by
him, so that she can say, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,’
My children, with whom I travail in birth again, until Christ shall be formed in you.’

Bride seeks the Word at night,. all night long I sought him whom my soul loves.’

In deep silence when others asleep ,prayer will then purer. ‘Arise at the first watch of the
night and pour out your heart to God.’ How secretly prayer goes up in the night, witnessed
only by God
Seek only the Word .In him is healing for your wounds, help in your need, restoration for
your faults, resources for your further growth. In him is all that men should ask or desire, all
they need,
I FOUND HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH

“It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him,
and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the
chamber of her that conceived me.” (3:4)
Commune with him whom our soul loveth. “ I sought him.”
Those who love Jesus seek his presence with an agony of desire.

“I FOUND HIM”: I knew him to be mine.. He was “my Beloved”, and I was all his own.
“I HELD HIM”;. By my heart’s resolve, determining never to lose him again.
By my tearful pleas, entreating him not to make me wretched by withdrawing. I pleaded
would not let him leave me. and I set him on a high throne in my spirit :

+By renouncing all other loves, sin, idols, He is jealous, a I kept myself altogether for him.
+By simple faith: for he is pleased with trust; and dwells where he is rested in.
+By his own power. “I would not let him go” because I held him by his promise, and by the
power which it gave me.
+If you have Jesus, hold him.
+He is willing to be constrained., “they constrained him” (Lk. 24:29) and he yielded to their will.

“I brought him” or love in communication

The love of Jesus creates in our hearts love to fellow believers for Redeemer’s sake.
3.4bThe Church of God is our mother (Gal. 4:26): the holy assembly is her chamber, where
we were born unto God, and nurtured We are to labour to promote communion with Christ
among those who are our brethren, taking Jesus with us whensoever we go up to the
gatherings of the faithful.
This we should do —
By our own spirit: communing with Jesus before we go to public worship, and going there
with him in our company. We shall always find him in the church if we take him in our
hearts to its hallowed services.
By our words: speak as to set forth Jesus, and promote fellowship with him.
By our prayer, we should bring him into the assembly where he has been unknown.
The world also was once our mother. Oh, that we could introduce the Lord Jesus into her
chambers, that he might reign and rule there! “Thy kingdom come”. By loving violence (Mat. 11:12),
we will constrain him to come with us in his presence and power.

See what the church needs! — Christ in her midst.

See how he is likely to come — he must be brought.
See what must first be done — he must be held.
See who alone can do this — those who have found him.
Yet see also, who may find him — all who love him, and seek him.

Hold him by not offending him. 1-by sloth. When soul turns sleepy, Christ goes away.
--2-, by idols. You cannot hold two objects.
3-, by being unwilling to be sanctified.
4-, by an unholy house. “I brought him into my mother’s house”. Remember to take Christ
home with you, and let him rule in your house. If you walk with Christ abroad, but never
take him home, you will soon part company forever.

But we have another mother, and other brethren, in the human family from which we are
sprung. The Church has the first, not the only claim on our affections;

the 2nd: the perishing world has its right to a large share of our pity and our prayers .
Comparatively, it is not hard for us to bring Jesus into the Church, which is his mother’s
house, as well as ours.
But the world hates Christ, , and lives with its doors barred against him night and day

To introduce him, therefore, into this house of ( 2 nd mother ) is a work demanding effort,
watchfulness, patience. There is much to provoke him to turn away;
 +we must plead with him, and not let him go; and with our mother’s children we must also
plead with “the soft tongue that breaketh the bone” (Proverbs 25:15),
. So sought and prevailed the Bride of the Lamb, till she brought her own Beloved into the midst of
her mother’s children, by whom she had been herself so hardly entreated, requiting evil with
good.? Are you engaged in the effort now? If not, rise and commence such a work of faith
and labour of love on behalf of the lost.

3.1 Him whom my soul loveth.” She cannot see him, but she cherishes a tender affection for him.
She does not enjoy his presence just now, but her heart cleaves to him
Though she may have been idle and slothful, , one thing she knows, she does love her Lord;
Publicly in the streets, she does not blush to say, “Him whom my soul loveth.”
So it was with Peter. When he had much to regret, much to reprove himself for, he could
say, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.” (Jn. 21:15-17)
You, O Jesus Christ, are he whom my soul loves.
Though the spouse does not just now enjoy communion with Christ, she knows its
sweetness, and she feels uneasy until she partakes of it again.

In every true believer in Jesus, not only is love constant, and desire after Christ earnest,
but there remains sufficient strength resolutely to seek for him., “I must seek him.”
You are not like the traveller across the desert who, at last, loses all heart, gives up all
effort, and perishes on the sand for lack of water. But you feel an inward impulse stronger
than any outward discouragements, and, though faint, you are still pursuing. What if you
have sought him and not found him, yet will you seek him again till you do find him, for
divine grace stimulates you and urges you forward.
Do you not feel this desire after Jesus, though deadness, and worldliness? Is there not
some such indescribable yearning for a communion. We often lose the sweetness of
communion with Christ, through unbelief. We think so lightly of unbelief as though it were
an infirmity and not a sin, whereas, of all evils, it is the chief.

What can be more displeasing to the tender heart of Jesus than ungenerous thoughts
concerning him? When last you were repining and reflecting that he had forgotten you,
you quickly lost that hallowed calm, and that sweet confidence which once you knew.

Faith is the hand which holds the Saviour and will not let him go; unbelief opens the
door and bids him go.
How shall he tarry when we will not believe in him?
perhaps you have let the world steal into your heart.

Don’t let the cravings and the covetousness of the world, get inside your heart. Keep that
chamber clear for Christ.
Let your heart be the marriage-bed, and keep it chaste for him who is your husband
and your Lord
,
If negligent in the use of private prayer, Unless you are muchin prayer, you cannot expect
to have your head much upon his bosom.
if you would renew your fellowship, go again to your closet, and there pray to the Lord

You lose his fellowship with Christ by harbouring resentment or a bitter spirit

Your heart is rather craving its restoration. Tell me how I may find him whom my soul
loves, for I desire to renew my fellowship with him.
 Come then, beloved, with hearts humbled on account of past sin, and with the assurance
that he who received us at the first is willing to receive us still; and let us go to him anew.

3.2 unsuccessful attempts to find the beloved one… ? lazy attitude “By night on my bed I
sought him whom my soul loveth.” As it were on her bed of sloth and idleness,. But we
shall never get privilege of close communion with Christ by sloth or merely wishing for it.
. Does the idler ever prosper?— he will not communicate on your bed in laziness

It was not because she sought him by night that she did not find him, for Jesus is often
found by his people in the dark. ..if we seek Jesus with our whole heart, though to our own
apprehension we grope about like blind men, we shall find him,.
It was not the night that prevented her finding him; it was the bed — her
supineness, her languor, and her sloth.
May the Lord deliver us from the lukewarmness, lest he should spue us out of his mouth.
With no better success did she seek him when she went about in a self- sufficient
spirit. ..the words, “I will rise now,” sound a little like dependence on her own exertions. “I will rise
now” has not half so grateful, nor is it half so graceful, as “Draw me, we will run after thee.”
In coming to Christ, no merit of your own but Let his rich grace be your poor plea

We shall now hold her up as an example which you will do well to imitate. With what
constancy she sought this communion. She began at dead of night, as indeed it is never
too late to seek renewed fellowship. Yet she sought on. The streets were lonely, and it
was a strange place for a woman to be at such a strange time, but she was too earnest in
seeking to be abashed by such circumstances.

But she sought on; she would never rest until she had found him. Believer, if you would
have fellowship with Christ, you must be in continual quest after it..
You want Christ and nothing but Christ..

You know the love and mercy that are in his heart, unworthy as you are; so cast yourself at
his feet, and you may have the love of your espousals given back to you

If you find him, be sure you lay hold of him. He himself loves to be embraced.
Let your love lay hold of his love, for his love is laying hold of you. Hold him fast.
Dismiss all ungrateful thoughts, for they will fill your hands so that you cannot hold him.
Divest yourself of all cares for a while, and now with an empty hand just lay hold of his
righteousness and strength.

And when you get Him,tell your brothers and sisters. Bring him to your mother’s house.
tell them Jesus is still alive; tell them that Jesus yet sits upon the throne; that he is still full
of love for his chosen ones;

, let no f unworthiness keep you back, for Christ loves youas you are . Neither let any
backsliding keep you back. “for yet he says, “Return, return.” 6:13)
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bled on the cross and died for such as you. Whoever
believes in him shall never perish, but have everlasting life. Trust in him, and you are
saved.
Through his grace, , we draw near to him, and cast ourselves on his mercy
Let there not be an hour’s delay

steps in the spouse’s progress.

1-The first one is, “I love him.” “Him whom my soul loveth.”
He loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
If he has loved us with an everlasting love, if he loved us even when we were his enemies,
and loved us so as to take upon himself our nature — if this dear Son of God loved us so
much that he became man for our sakes, and became obedient unto death, of the cross
(Phil 2:6-7) —then, we much much must love him in return

Can you stand at the foot of the cross and not kiss the feet of him who was wounded for
your transgressions?
See him taken down from the cross, and embrace his wounded, bloodied,precious body
I do love him

2-step: “I sought him.”: By night on my bed I sought him w“hom my soul loveth”, for love
cannot bear to be at a distance from the loved one; love longs for communion;
we cannot bear to be away from him; We must be in his presence till the day break,
In your devotions, cry, “Lord, , let me find youseek him with your whole heart,
Come and seek him, and your fears, doubts, distresses of mind, shall go

3-step..Then mournful..but I found him not

If we have been indulging in any sin, we could not find him then
. If we,, like the spouse who sought him on her bed, lazy,, we have not found him.
We have to rise, stir up ourselves to lay hold of him, or else we have not found him.
So these 3 steps ,ascend to him—“I love him> “I sought him”’ >“I found him not.”

3 further steps: “I found him”, “I held him”, “I brought him into my mother’s house, …
“I found him.”. O you who love Christ, go beyond ordinances, preachers, ..go deep into an
actual possession of the living Christ. Labour till….., “I found him whom my soul loveth.”
Have you yet found him? If you have not, keep on seeking, keep on praying, till at last you
can say, “I have found him whom my soul loves. Jesus is indeed mine.”

But that will not be enough; get to know that he is present with you.
Experience, “ Know “he loves you even as the Father loves him., “ (Jn. 15:9).
Not only that he loved you, and died for you, but he still loves you.
He says to you, individually, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” (Is. 49:16)
Look at the nail-wounds;, Be fully assured of his love, say, “I have found him.”

Jesus loves you now at this very moment. …Rejoice

“Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” (5:1)

2nd step. “I held him.” This is a deeper experience than the former one. “
Hold him by our heart’s resolve. “My sweet, blessed Lord, how can I let you go? Abide with
me, do not go from me.”

“My Lord, don’t go away from me. O tarry with me, my Master, forever
Lord, if you go, your chosen one will be unsafe. There is a wolf prowling about; what will
your poor lamb do without you,?
you will never deliver your turtle- dove to the cruel fowler. Therefore, abide with me.”

Oh, stay with me, My most blessed Lord!” His delights arein us, whom he has purchased
with his precious blood. so hold him;

Yield up everything to him, be obedient to him, be willing to suffer for him, do not grieve His
Holy Spirit, , Magnify him,
keep singing his praises, for so will you hold him.
Renounce all else for him, for he sees you truly love him when you count all things dross
He says, “I remember, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the
wilderness.” (Jer. 2:2) ..
Break your idols, keep your heart pure for him alone, you shall abide in his love.
Yes, and you shall get deeper and deeper into it till what was a stream up to your ankles
shall soon be breast-deep, and, by-and-by, shall be waters to swim in. (Ezek. 47:5) “

Hold him, too, with a simple faith. “My Lord, I have found you now, and I rejoice in you; but
still, if you hide your face from me, I will still believe in you.

And if you are in me, I can hold you, for it is not I, but Christ in me that holds Christ, and will
not let him go. This is the power which enables us, to say, “I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39)

3rd step“I brought him into my mother’s house, and into chamber ofher that conceived me
have great reverence for Mother Church. under ministry of the Word that we born to God;
love Mother Church (Gal. 4:26)
Lovingly remember the church of God. By the Holy Spirit, we were begotten unto newness
of life in the church, and through the preaching of the Word by preacher or godly works
written. Through the church’s instrumentality, the Bible itself has been preserved for us,.
She is our mother, and we love her.

“But, I find much fault with the church?” Brother, if you love church , you will cover her faults
..as there is so much the more need of her Lord’s presence in her to cure those faults
:. , seek to bring Christ into an imperfect church an erring church, to be strong in the Lord

How to bring Lord into his church:by their testimonyof his power to save, his atoning blood,
And prayers. There is a mysterious efficacy in the prayers of men who dwell near to God.
“You that make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give him no rest day or night,
till he establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Is. 62:7)

Now, were there not some saints kept awake at night by sickness to pray, we should not so fully realise that
word, “Give him no rest day or night.” Some of those dear ones, whose faces we miss from among us, keep
up the perpetual ministry of intercession. Their incense of prayer goes up at all hours.
When most of us are rightly enough asleep, they are compelled to wake, and therefore are
led still to pray. How many blessings come down on the church of God through the prayers
of his feeble saints it is not possible for us to say; but I believe if all of us were to set apart a
special time for praying and pleading with Christ, he would come into his church, and it
would not be long before we saw a wonderful effect resulting from those pleadings.
Wrestling prayers bring Christ into the innermost chambers of the church of God. Let us try
the power of prayer.

When we find our Beloved, hold him, bring him down to the Church
How can you bring Christ to his Church? Partly, you can bring him by your spirit. There
is a wonderful power about a man’s spirit, even though he does not speak a word. Silent
worshippers can contribute very greatly to the communion of saints.

If you bring him with you into the assembly, you will not criticise, find fault, and quarrel
you will be very considerate to others.
Anything will do for you, , for you have seen the Beloved. You want other people to get as
much good as they can. You are no longer selfish; how can you be, when you have found
him whom your soul loves?
 And now, your poor preacher need not be very choice in the selection of his words ; if he will only
talk about Jesus, you will be quite satisfied. If his accent broken, you will not mind that..

In the Church talk to your brother, “I have found him whom my soul loveth.”
:.hold Christ fast, and bring him to mother’s house by 1-your spirit 2- by your words.

But if, alas, you feel that you cannot speak for Christ, then, , bring him by your prayers.
Do pray, at Eucharist that the King himself will come and feast his saints Ask him to bless
all ,that they all love him better than you do, and praise him even more than you do,.

We must enjoy the perpetual fellowship of Jesus.

If our sins have grieved him, and he has taken himself off to the far-off “mountain of myrrh
and hill of frankincense.” (4:6) It may be our lax living, our neglect of prayer,
Resolve there shall be no rest in our souls until once again he has returned to us in the
fullness of his love, and abide in our hearts. Seek with an intense longing for him;

In seeking our Lord, we must use all ministries. The spouse enquired of the watchmen.
We are not to despise God’s servants, for he is usually pleased to bless us through them,.
But, , we must go beyond them. The spouse did not find her Lord through the watchmen;
but went beyond .”after I passed from them, that I found him whom my soul loveth: “

Lord, give me fellowship with yourself.” True, we are led to see Jesus sometimes, through
listening to the truth proclaimed, but, O Lord, it is no outer court worship that will satisfy
us; we want to come into the holy of holies and stand at the mercy-seat itself.
Like Simeon, we must take thee into our arms
Like John, we must lean our heads upon the bosom or we cannot rest.
Feel constrained to go beyond for we thirst after fellowship with you, our Saviour!

Note that we must search to the very utmost till we find our Beloved. till get back
fellowship with Christ.
+If any sin obstructs the way, it must be rigorously given up;
+ if any neglected duty, do it now.
+if there s to be any higher walk of grace, necessary to continuous fellowship. We must
ascend it, fearing no hill of difficulty.
if lions hinder, we must slay them;
+we must go on hands and knees if we cannot run; must have Christ or pine till we do.
+Sacrifices ,penalties we must endure, but to Christ we must come,.”

Have habitual close communion with Jesus, meditating upon his love, , drinking into his
spirit, changed into his likeness, living his life,
.
it is needful for those who commune with Christ to continue in that communion..
But to abide in that mountain, this is the difficulty. To come to Christ, and to sit down at his
feet, is a simple enough thing for believers,; but to sit day after day at the Master’s feet
We are walking with Christ, rejoicing, and then the cold frosts of worldliness come over us,
and we depart from him.
“ABIDE IN ME.” (Jn. 15:4)
lt is not “Look at me”, nor “Come near to me, but “Abide in me

according to 3.4 it is very apparent that Jesus will go away if he is not held. “I held him and
I would not let him go”, as if he would have gone if he had not been firmly retained.
At Emmaus, “He would have gone further, but they constrained him, saying, “Abide with
us for the day is far spent.” If you are willing to lose Christ’s company, he will go away
 from you, till you begin to pine for him. “I will go“and return, till they acknowledge their
offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”

But note, he is very willing to be held.. When his spouse said, “I held him, and I would not
let him go”; he did not go, he could not go, for his love held him as well as her hands.
Christ loves that sacred violence which takes him by holy diligence which does not leave a
gap open by which he may escape, and says, “I have you now, and I will take care never
lose you, Jesus is willing enough to be retained by hearts which are full of his love.

How to hold him

1- Lay hold of him by faith, clasp him with love.rest in him every moment.
Walk by faith and he will walk with you.. Be much in prayer.
Prayer binds as cords of love him, for never leaves the heart that prays. There is a sweet
perfume about prayer that always attracts the Lord;

2- Hold him, too, by your obedience. Be very tender, so that nothing will grieve him.
Show him you are ready to suffer for his sake.
If you so hold him fast, fellowship with Jesus shall continue throughout entire lifetime,

++++ “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field,
that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.” 3:4-5)

God is a jealous husband to his church. He will not tolerate in her what he would tolerate
in others She lies near his heart, and she must be chaste for him .. That story of Ananias and
Sapphira the danger of lying (Acts 5:1-5.. they did not lie to men, which would have been sin enough, but, in
lying to the church officers, they lied to God, and the result was their sudden death. (Acts 5:1-5)
Paul, speaking in a certain church there was so much sin that many were weak and sickly among them, and
many slept (1 Cor. 11:30); that is to say, there was great sickness in the church, and many died.
Judgements are begun in the house of God .I have seen men in the church who have walked at a distance
from God, who have been visited with severe chastisements; and some who have arrogantly touched God’s
ark, and the doom of Uzzah has fallen upon them
Lord Jesus Christ, , if he sees anything evil in his bride,, will either depart because the evil
is tolerated, or he will leave that church to become like Laodicea,
So Christ when he comes to the church to take his repose, , we should not stir him up nor
awake him till he please.

:. be more watchful lest the Bridegroom should withdraw from us. He will go away if we
grow proud. and IF we speak critically of weaker brethren,

Again, if there is a lack of love among us, the Lord of love will be offended.
The holy dove does not strife; he frequents the calm still waters of brotherly love.
Envy, quench His holy Spirit“ “Walk in love as Christ also has loved us.” (Eph 5:2)
The roes and hinds “of the field” are even jealous things, for a sound will startle them; even the breath of
hunter tainting the gale puts them to flight. Even thus is it with Jesus.
A very little thing, will drive him from us, and it may be many a day before our
repentance will be able to find him again.
He has suffered so much from sin that he cannot endure the approach of it.
His pure and holy soul abhors the least taint of iniquity.

Wherever he sees true repentance, consecration, purity of life, , there Christ rests.
He rests in our love. Our love is very sweet to him; our deeds of gratitude are very
precious, the broken alabaster boxes of self-sacrifices done for him are his esteem.
he finds sweet rest on the bosoms of his faithful ones.
Let us be very watchful, against all impurity. Be holy even as your Father is holy

again, a lack of prayer will send him away. some never come to prayer-meetings, ..
the Master may say, “They do not value the blessing, for they will not even ask for it; they
evidently do not care about my Spirit, for they will not meet together and cry for him.” Do not grieve
him by any such negligence of prayer.

we may grieve the Spirit by worldliness.

If envious of others, whom God has given more substance than to you, will grieve the Lord.
Israel in the wilderness provoked him, murmuring

++++ THE KING, ..extols the beauty of his bride. 3:6-11

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Pet. 1:8) The portion of the canticle is, ,
descriptive of the progress of the hidden Christ through the world . The true Church of Christ is
scattered among all denominations
Lift high your lamps, you servants of our Lord. Lift high, lift up the cross of the Redeemer;
for in him is light, and the light in the life of men.
Christ’s Church is always safe because of divine protection,.

Pray the Lord of the harvest that he may send forth labourers into his harvest.” Mat. 9:38)
3.7-8 Notice every valiant man in Christ is well armed. the sword of the Spirit, the Word of
God.” Prayer is a weapon
The tongues with which you speak of Christ lovingly, tenderly, persuasively are weapons
against enemy.. God gives right weapons to right men, and his Church shall be secure

Not only wellarmed, but well trained. endured temptations and always ready.
They never sleep, but watch and pray for the suffering Church.
Pray the Lord may raise up many such, who, night day with tears, watch for souls of men,

3.9-10 Chariot in which Jesus rides…of strong pillars

God’s justice cannot smite soul for whom Christ has paid the debt at the cross of Christ. If
Next, solid pillar of his power. “They shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of
my hand; my Father which gave them me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them
out of my Father’s hand.” (Jn. 10:28)
Then on the other side is the pillar of his love, silver bright and sparkling— love eternal,
strong as the power of, and fast as, the justice which bear up the canopy on the other side.
And on this side, stands immutability, upon which the atonement rests.
Look up, delight yourself in that blood-red canopy which shelters From hell and heaven,
from time and from eternity, you are secured by the precious atonement

basis on which silver pillars rest, “he blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus,
according as he hath chosen us in him from before the foundation of the world.” Eph. 1:3f

Then, to make soft and pleasant recline ..“paving” of needlework, soft cushions of love on
which to rest. ..double meaning : both the bride and bridegroom find rest in love. Our Lord
finds rest in the love of his people. “Here will I dwell for ever.

On the other hand, our Beloved spent his life to work for us as our bed of rest, so that we must
translate it “love of,” as well as love for, the daughters of Jerusalem.
” We rest in Christ’s love; he rests in our love.
.
Take your rest now to the full. You are married to Christ; you are one with him; betrothed to
him in faithfulness, embraced in the arms of his affection.
Do not fear noise of archers; the 3-score valiant men” protect you, and the king himself
embraces you. Now solace yourself with him

Say to him from the bottom of your heart, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for
his love is better than wine.” (Song 1:2) Leave fighting to the valiant men who can do it.
As for you, , rest upon your Lord’s bosom. Leave conflict to the men ordained to fight,
As for you, be in intimate communion; understand the motions of Jesus’ heart;
Gaze, behold , meditate Christ’s Love, beauty ;
Be ravished with his divine affection to you; Be full of the loving- kindness of the Lord!

Duty of every believing heart : Be part of the Church inside the palanquin

Get up from your beds of slotha and ease; go forth to pray, labour, to suffer; leaving all
behind even kinsfolk ; go forth to walk with him alone

Therefore, why tarry? “Behold the Bridegroom come, come to meet him”Mat. 25:6
Behold, his hands pierced, but now grasping the sceptre.
Behold, his feet, pierced with iron, but now set upon the dragon’s head.
Behold, his heart, which heaves with love for you;
Exclaim, “he is the chief among10000, and altogether lovely”. 5:16)

Does sin prevail? Behold your King . Any doubts and fears arisen? Behold King Jesus.
Are you troubled, and does your enemy annoy you? Look up to him; behold King

He treads on principalities and powers,. And now his saints cry, “Hosanna, blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Mk. 11:9)

When we look on Him, let us rejoice. the shackles, fetters are to be taken off and we reign
with him, world without end.

Go forth; leave your self, worldliness, go forth and. Look to Jesusbleeding on the cross,
It will be the day of your espousal to him,
Lay aside every fear,anxiety and continue all day gazing on Christ, adoring him, and having
fellowship with him. For; his chariot safe, and soon he will step out of it with his bride ,
before the presence of his Father and all the holy angels!

…the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.” 3:10)
the royal bridegroom as travelling up from the wilderness in palanquin, As the spouse in the
second chapter sings, “His banner over me was love” (Song 2:4),

This palanquin (or travelling chariot) in which the king is carried represents the covenant of
grace, the plan of salvation, by which the Lord Jesus comes down in mercy among men, ….
the mediatorial work of Jesus. The ark was carried through the wilderness preceded by the pillar of
cloud and fire, as a symbol of the divine presence in mercy, and here we have a somewhat similar
representation of the great King of grace, borne in regal splendour through the world, and bearing his elect
spouse with him. May it be ours to be made to ride like Jeshurun upon the high places of the earth in happy
fellowship with him whose goings forth were of old, even from everlasting. (Mi9c. 5:2)

The growth indicated here as the covenant of grace.

each sentence mentioning preciousness. The chariot of ..precious material.
“the top of princely purple”, atonement by the stream of Calvary blood
 the song proceeds yet one step further, for we find that “the midst thereof was paved with love, for
the daughters of Jerusalem.”;
the way of salvation, and the covenant of grace, and you will see holiness
+Let us view the royal canopy of the chariot: “the covering thereof is of purple
+The atonement shelters us: Get under the blood-red canopy, and then are at peace,
+the blood adorned the lintel and 2 side-posts of every house in which he revealed his
saving power. “without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” (Heb. 9:22)
+Our Saviour’s life must end in blood upon the tree; ..

carriage vehicle lined with something soft to sit on, and lean against .
So the whole covenant of grace
is, within beautified, and delightful to the believer’s soul, by the sweet love of God in Christ.
The covenant is love in its secret places, all unalloyed love, nothing else but love.
You have crowned me with loving kindness; you have loved my soul out of the pit; you
have loved me, and given yourself for me.
Your love redeemed me with a price most precious; your love made me what I am;
your love will conform me to its own perfect image; for “the midst of it is paved with love,

meditate much in the Scriptures, to consider much the Person and character of your Lord,
his love and beauties, and on all work he has done on your behalf. sit constantly at the
Master’s feet, to know the Lord, “the breadth, length, depth, height of love of Christ,

Position from which the love is best seen. “The midst thereof is paved with love.”

It is not, therefore, to be seen from the outside. The love which lines the chariot of
salvation is not to be known by those who remain outside; “the secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.” (Ps. 25:14)

when the Christian himself stands apart from his Lord, and judges by outward, he cannot perceive
the loving kindness of the Lord. The tried believer cries, “My assets, spouse etc taken from me; I
am sick in body and weary in soul; I cannot see a trace of the love of God to me in all this.”
Chariot is plated with love not on the outside, but is paved with love within, “
Oh have faith to believe that the real core of every providence is love!
You can’t examine the exterior of providence, and the mere letter of the Word, and begin
to judge and try your God,. BUT Look into the heart of God and read what he has written
When faith takes a step up, and mounts to the inside of the chariot of grace, she finds that
it is paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem.

Come and sit side-by-side with Jesus in his chariot of grace, his bed of rest.
Come and recline with him in hallowed fellowship.
Come now, and be carried with him who carried all your cross.
Sit down with him who, in his hands and side, bears memorials of his dying love for you.

I sit in the chariot with the Beloved look around me. …purple above my head, his love
which bled and died for me. I look at the silver pillars which support the covering, and how
infinite holiness stands fast, and, in love for me, secures my perfection.. I see above me,
and around me, and beneath me, nothing but love — the free, unbounded love of God.

Look to the cross, and at God incarnate ..Jesus living in suffering, and dying in shame!
Look to the time of your own life. Was not love present at your birth, perfuming your first
breath? Were you not nursed in love, cradled in love, and wrapped in love? Have you not
since then, even in your sinfulness, been loved with an exceeding great and wondrous
love? Did not love turn your heart of stone into flesh? Has not love dwelt in you since then
even to this day? Have not even your trials been sent in love? Oh, , from the first day my
life ..love, love, , love alone. Of my life, I say, “The midst paved with love.”
 Look at pavement of love beneath your feet for a moment.. Jesus loved you to the death.
Look at the love of the Spirit, too: equally precious tender affection ..how the Holy Spirit
has borne with you, and yet blessed you still. Look at those delightful embroideries from
the divine needle — the precious promises.

Jesus rests in love. Nothing gives Jesus such rest as his love in his people.
“He will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing .” (Zeph. 3:17).. To see them
saved is bliss to him
, Cling still to the love of God in Christ Jesus, for that always keeps you safe. You sleep in
it, you wake in it, you eat and you drink in it. Wherever you are, love surrounds you.
It is in the atmosphere you breathe; it is to be found in every place You are never out of the love
which is in the midst of the chariot.digest this precious truth“The midst thereof is paved with love

DWELL ON HIS LOVE It is love undeserved,. everlasting and eternal. It never had a
beginning, and it never will have an end.
seek to love as God has loved us
may the love of God be shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit all the days of our
lives,and to God shall be glory! Amen and Amen.+++++

Songs 3 She still continued her affection to him, whom her soul loved, that bond of the covenant still
continued firm. "Though he slay me, I will trust in him; though he leave me, I will love him. When I
have him not in my arms, I have him in my heart." But wanted communion.. thirsting She sought him,
BUT It was night on her bed half asleep; it was late and lazy seeking. Her affections chilled,. The
wise virgins slumbered in absence of bridegroom. Those whose souls love Jesus Christ will continue
to seek him even in silence and solitude: At times he is not found ..if slothfulness , worldly cares or
to try faith and patience,whether she will continue seeking.
V 2 meditated on him in the night-watches (Ps.63. 6.. yet she not given up., "; I will not lie here if I
cannot find my beloved here, nor be content if he be withdrawn. I will rise now without delay, and
seek him immediately, lest he withdraw further from me." Those seeking Christ must lose no time.
V 3 press through crowds of other delights in pursuit of Christ, whom they prefer before their chief
joy.. We must search scriptures, be much in prayer,
V 4 , Hold out, faith and patience; the vision is for an appointed time,How close she kept to him
when she had found him.: I held him fast. , I would not let him go. I would never do any thing to
provoke him to depart, but I would by faith and prayer prevail with him to stay,
Those that hold Christ fast in the arms of faith and love shall not let him go; he will abide with them.
How desirous she was to make others acquainted with him: "I brought him to my mother's
house, that all who are dear to me, might benefit of communion with him." When Zaccheus found
Christ.salvation came to his house Wherever we find Christ we must take him home with us to our
houses and Mother church that she may have Christ present with her.
V 5 ..Take heed to obey his voice; provoke him not. See that none of disturb him, but with quietness
of heart, worship him ; let all bitterness be put far from you, for that grieves the Holy Spirit of
God, Eph. iv. 30, 31.
V 7 Christ's bed: The church is his bed, This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell. The hearts of
believers are his bed, for he lies all night between their breasts, the sweet repose in communion with
him; ..his bed, therefore i our bed 1.16. His peace is our rest, John 14.27. I will give you rest, Matt.
11. 28.
V 7 that rest in Christ not only dwell at ease in safety. quiet from fear of evil
Lest any hurt this vineyard, God himself keeps it night and day (Isa.27. 2, 3); particular believers,
when they repose themselves in Christ and with him, Angels watch over them, ministers watch
for their souls, , expert in the spiritual warfare, holding the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God, His peace protects those in whom it rules (Phil.4. 7),
:. quietness and assurance, Isa32. 17
V 11 Behold him.. (crowned on the day of his death, which was the day of his espousals to his
church, when he loved it, and gave himself for it Eph. v. 25);
When believers join s to him in an everlasting covenant, [1.] It is his coronation-day in their souls.;
they bring every thought into obedience to him; they set up his throne in their hearts, and cast all
their crowns at his feet. [2.] It is the day of his espousals, in which he betroths them to him for ever in
lovingkindness and in mercies, , and gives himself to them to be theirs forever In that hour Jesus
rejoices in spirit, Luke x. 18, 21. There is joy in heaven over repenting sinners Christ's grace toward
sinners, as his crown, his glory.

Canticle 4 +++ "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee."4:7)
In Song 3 the king extols his bride will be understood by those who know that the imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus puts upon the saints a perfect comeliness, so that they are
“all fair” in the sight of God.

He does not blindly admire her faults, or even conceal them from himself. He is acquainted
with her sin in all its heinousness of guilt, and deserving of punishment. That sin he does
not shun to reprove. His own words, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Rev. 3:19.)
He abhors sin in her --sin against love and grace. She is black in her own sight 1:5-6).
Yet "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee."

He views her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood,

and clothed in his meritorious righteousness :. full of comeliness and beauty ….,
+the holiness, glory, and perfection are his own garments on his own well-beloved spouse,
and she is "bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh." (Gen. 2:23)

Her deformities of sin are removed; but more, she has, through her Lord, obtained a
righteousness by which an actual beauty is conferred upon her.
And become "accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. 1:6.)
"Come, ye blessed of My Father" (Mat. 25:34) will be his solemn affirmation of the
loveliness of His elect.

A second time looks into those doves' eyes of hers, and listens to her honey-dropping lips.
It is not enough to say, "Behold, thou art fair, my love". He sings again, and again, "Behold,
thou art fair."
After surveyed her with rapturous delight, he takes a second gaze,

"Thou art beautiful, O My love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with
banners. Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock
of goats that appear from Gilead. Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the
washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them. As a
pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks…My dove, my undefiled 5:4-7, 9.)

All her beauty, her pure devotions, , all her constant sufferings, are precious to his heart.
She is "all fair."
Her ministry, intercessions, her alms, her watching, performed in the Spirit…Her faith, her
love, her patience, are "rows of jewels" and "chains of gold." 1:10)
He loves and admires her everywhere. On the top of Lebanon, his heart is ravished, and in the
fields he joyfully receives her loves. ..he has an equal appreciation of her when he withdraws
himself, for it is immediately after he said, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get
me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense" (Song 4:6), that he exclaims, in the
words of our text, "Thou art all fair, my love."
believers are very near the heart of the Lord Jesus, always as the apple of His eye
Our name is still on his breastplate,
Jesus does not waver in his love to her,he still exclaims, How fair O love, for delights!" 7:6.

he who pronounces believer to be "all fair" is none other than "very God of very God

"There is no spot in thee.”. She often wanders from him, and grieves his Holy Spirit, but He
does not allow her faults to affect his love.
He sometimes chides, but it is always in the tenderest manner, and with the kindest
intentions — it is "My love" even then.

There is no remembrance of our follies, he does not cherish bad thoughts about us, but
pardons and loves as well after the offence as before it.

He is not easily provoked as we are,

But he is "ready to pardon…slow to anger." (Neh. 9:17)

How can sin remains even in the hearts of the regenerate? How are we "all fair" though
we ourselves feel we are black, because the sun has looked upon us? Song 1:6.)

"…though all sin is seen by God, yet .they all stand 'holy and unblameable Col. 1:22)
The blood of Jesus removes all stain, and His righteousness confers perfect beauty;
:.in the Beloved, the true believer is at this hour as much accepted in the sight of God

It is His purpose to present them “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Eph. 5:27.).
The fact of her future perfection is so certain that it is spoken of as if it were already
accomplished, and indeed it is so in the mind of him to whom 1000years =1 day

Oh, how his heart goes out after his redeemed!

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you." (John 15:9)
All the eternity, , are found in the love of Jehovah the Father towards Jehovah-Jesus
And so is love of the Lord Jesus towards his chosen ones. Before the foundation of the
world, he loved his people; in all their wanderings, he loved them; and, to the end, he will
abide in his love. (Jn. 13:1)

The willing nature of his death is confirmation of his boundless love. How Christ delighted in
the work of our redemption! "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I
delight to do Thy will, O my God." (Ps. 40:7-8)
. "I have a baptism to be baptised with." (Lk. 12:50), baptised in His own blood, and how he
thirsted for that time! "How am I straitened till it be accomplished."
He went to his crucifixion without halting to deliberate whether he should complete his
sacrifice. The stupendous mass of our fearful debt he paid at once, asking neither delay nor
diminution., "Not My will, but Thine, be done" (Lk. 22:42 Even when full of sorrow, he met
the law demands, and cried, "It is finished." (Jn. 19:30)

How often have our eyes been full of tears for Jesus "Oh, how he loves!" (Jn. 11:36)
,He loved me"? (Gal. 2:20)
:. adoring gratitude. O you angels, such love as this you never knew! Jesus does not
bear angel’s names in his hands, or call angels His bride. No! This highest fellowship he
reserves for worms, whose only return is tearful, hearty thanksgiving and love.

Christ delights to think on his church, and look upon her beauty.
4.7“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, And there is no blemish in you.”2
.If you are struggling against sin and you desire passionately to please Christ and you mourn for
your sin, the fact is when he looks at you he sees no blemish because he himself has put away
your blemishes with his own scars, with his own wounds, with wrath of God that he took on that
 cross in your place.
:.rejoice. He calls you darling.
But you are dearly loved. You can’t do anything to make him love you less. You can’t do anything
to make him love you more. You cannot be more darling to him.. You are darling to him and you
will always be darling to him, always,

As the bird returns often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so does the
mind continually pursue the object of its choice.. From all eternity, we were His delights

His thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world,. "In
thy book", he says, "all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them." (Ps.139:16
.
Because his soul delighted in them, he could not rest away from them, for his heart
longed after them.
+Never were they absent from his heart, for he had written their names on his hands, and
graved them on his heart. (Is. 49:16) …
+names of Christ's elect were his most precious jewels, hung nearest his heart.
+We may often forget to meditate on our Lord, but he never ceases to remember us.
+He does not care so much for any of His most glorious works as he does for his children .
+Although his eye sees everything that has beauty and excellence in it, he never fixes his
gaze anywhere with that admiration and delight he spends on his purchased ones.
+He charges his angels concerning them, and calls upon those holy beings to rejoice with
him over His lost sheep. (Lk. 15:4-7).

. His eye is ever upon the vineyard, on each of us , his Church: "I the Lord do keep it; I will
water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." (Is. 27:3)
We are in the centre of his heart, and he cannot forget her, for every day his thoughts are
set upon her.

When the bride, by her neglect of him has hidden herself from his sight, he cannot be
quiet until, again, he looks upon her. He calls her out with the most wooing of words: "O
My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy
countenance; let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is
comely." (2:14)

She thinks herself unfit to keep company with such a Prince, but he entices her from her lurking-
place, and, inasmuch, as she comes out trembling, and bashfully hides her face with her veil , he
bids her uncover her face, and let her Husband gaze at her. She is ashamed to do so, for
she is black in her own esteem, and therefore he urges that she is comely to him.

Nor is he content with looking, for he must feed his ears as well as his eyes, and,
therefore, he commends her speech, and entreats her to let him hear her voice.
+truly our Lord rejoices in us :. Let our hearts as much delight in him as he does

The Holy Spirit is often pleased to witness with our spirits of the love of Jesus. He takes of
the things of Christ, and reveals them to us

lean our heads on the bosom of our Lord, He has kissed us with the kisses of His love 1:2),
by the closeness of his embrace. "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth
embrace me." 8:3)
His love stirred us to desire more of him,. I have, sometimes, when the Lord has assured me of His
love, felt as if I could not contain more joy and delight. My eyes ran down with tears of gratitude. I fell on my
knees to bless him, but rose again in haste, feeling as if I had nothing more to ask for. But I must stand up
and praise him. Then I lifted my hands to heaven, longing to fill my arms with him, panting to talk with him as
a man talks with his friend, and to see him in his own Person, that I might tell him how happy he had made his
unworthy servant, and might fall on my face and kiss his feet in unutterable thankfulness and love. Such a
banquet have I had with one word from my Beloved — "thou art Mine".

preserve the fragrance of Christ's words for they are priceless manna
feed in the green pastures beside the still waters, for his rod and staff comforted them (Ps.
23:4), and his right hand led them. (Song 2:6; 8:3)

++++++ Thou hast taken my heart, my Sister,

mySpouse, Thou hast taken my heart with one
Of thy eyes, with a single chain of thy neck;4:8-16, 5:1
Come, let my Loved One into his garden,
And let him eat his pleasant fruit.
To her he answers lovingly. Song 5:1
Jesus accepts us and our fruit; let us therefore rejoice in him and feast upon him.

“Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and
Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.” 4:8)

Are we not in ourselves black as the tents of Kedar? So defiled,

But inspite of loathsomeness, having first washed us in his blood, he next puts his own
beauty on us, puts his own jewels on us and , clothes us with his own righteousness, and
conformed to his own image
though it is his beauty and not our own, yet he admires us for that very beauty with which
he has arrayed us.
At first, Jesus loves us only because he will love us. (Deut. 7:7-8)

While we are yet dead in sins his heart goes after us; still his heart clings to us with a force
that is stronger than death., and endowed with the best gifts and the choicest graces.

Then, as true love always begets a desire for the company of those we love, so the Lord
feels a longing towards his people. If the Lord has looked on you, beloved, and made you a
new creature; if he has made you white by his washing, and glorious by the imputation of
his righteousness, then he longs after your company
. He will not be contented until you sit on his throne, and wear his crown, and share his joy.

He has given our soul the beauty of God; and has given it, in himself, perfection; and
now he longs and pants to have communion with that soul .
Let us meditate on a loving invitation.., “Come w i t h me; come with me.”

the Saviour calls his people away from everything else to himself. He lures them, and
draws them away, from all earthly enjoyments! “Come with me, my spouse, with me from
Lebanon.” Lebanon was a place for enjoyment.
Beloved, you are called to forget all the earthly joys. .from these inferior delights
4.8 “ It is retreating with Christ to solitary places. It is hiding with Christ under the shadow of his wing. It is
communing with Christ.
So much doing, so many things, so much noise. Even in our praying.. In silence, in the quiet of the night, in
listening, retreat with him.
He says, “. Come down from all your so many thoughts and so much striving
Be with God like a weaned child.

From the dens of lions... your eyes on dangerous. places

, it is a father calling a child away from the edge of a cliff.. It is a voice of love. A broken voice.. saying, “.
Please come away from those places that cannot feed you. Come down from those dangerous haunts.”.
You should fear what sin can do to you. You should fear what self can do to you. Come down. Get away
 from it!
He has given you his Word as a means of discerning that which is evil
His Word has been given to you to save you and to bring you joy and to bring you in communion with him.
. I am to have a hedge built around me with the Word of God
if your right eye offend thee, pull it out.
Our bridegroom is meek and he is lowly.. He says, “Take my yoke upon you.”

Let a father's love remind you of the love of him who gave his Son for you.
..“friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” ..more closely allied to you than your earthly
spouse ever can be, for he is yours and you are his, and by eternal union one.

. “Come with me”, says Jesus, “and drink of the upper streams where the river flows more
sweet, more pure, more deep.”. (Is. 40:32)
Come now, and wait on the Lord, and quench your spiritual thirst.. with heavenly bread, and
drink of the water which flows from his bleeding wounded body

“Come with me from all else and commune with me.

Oh, put those other cups aside, and drink of my chalice!
Lay aside all other food and feast on this heavenly manna which is better than angels' food.

I pray you by his wounds and by his love, hear what he is saying.” his name is written on
your heart. 'Tis he, his heart was broken for your sake. 'Tis he, his head is wetwith dew, and
his locks with the drops of the night. (Song 5:2) 'Tis he, who knocks at the door of your
heart, and says:
“Let me come in to you;, commune with me; come away from all those allurements
Cut the cords that bind you; and arise; put on your beautiful garments of contemplation and
adoration,.”
Portray before your eyes the Sufferer. He is despised and rejected. (Is 53:3) He gave his
back to the smiters, and his cheeks to those who plucked out the hair.
He does not hide his face from shame and spitting. He hangs on yonder tree. The passers-
by wag their heads; the scoffers thrust out the tongue; the multitude reviles;
and he dies in grief. Will not your willing heart say rather, “Yes, Jesus, murdered for my
sake, I will come with you from every earthly joy”
He has led captivity captive Eph. 4:8), and dragged your foes
, Spirit of God, come and make us obedient to the loving request! — “Come with me

Jesus invites us to come with him even from spiritual enjoyments, for at least two of the three
mountains mentioned here indicate the spiritual mirth of a believer than his temporal
happiness.
“Come with me from Amana” signifies “firmness” o r “ steadfastness”., “Come with me from Hermon,
the place where the dew of God drops, and, in the Scripture, is like those who dwell together in unity.
(Ps. 133:1-3) Well, now, some of you and I have sweet enjoyment — standing, as itere, on the summit
of Amana — contemplating the steadfastness of the purposes and decrees of God.
Know of no mountain which is more delightful, unless it is Mount Calvary.

as we gaze, Christ seems dearer that he who loved us at the beginning will love us even
to the end. Oh, how sweet to know that nothing from the heart of Christ can sever one of
the blood-bought!

, we are one with him, and we were chosen in him from before the foundation of the world”
(Eph. 1:4). Your heart can only be steadfast as you abide in him; you cannot live without
him; therefore, you must wait for the fullness of joy when you shall be with him forever.

in our highest spiritual enjoyments, whether solitary or of the sanctuary, the Lord's Table or the
hearing of the Word, or the singing of praise, the core of our happiness should be Christ.
— “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Heb. 12:2)

Come away as much from the entanglements and trials as from the enjoyments of life.
in fellowship with Jesus, there is, perfect safety, where the redeemed walk. But while we
are men, we must still be subjected to these beasts of prey, and especially to that roaring lion
that goes about seeking whom he may devour. (1 Pet. 5:8) But a sweet voice says — “Come
with me from the lions' dens and from the mountains of the leopards.”
Forget the sickness of your household. put aside the thought of your poverty for a
moment. cast your care on him who cares for you. (1 Pet. 5:7)
You who are vexed with many doubts, distressed with temptations :.rest awhile;
Hearken to the voice of Jesus. “Come with me from …etc , Come with me my spouse,.”
Come away from every earthly care, anxieties,. Flee, you doves, when the hawk pursues
you, flee to the clefts of the divine rock, Hide in the wounds of Jesus,

Do not deny your Master He asks it because you are his spouse. He loves you; he
knows that you love him; he is married to you; you are married to him
. You are to live with him forever; you are to be a partner of his glory; you are soon to
dwell in his own house, never to be separated from him. Is it not natural that he should
want you to come with him now? Can you refuse him?

Shall not the sweet love which has made you what you are, and which has bound you to
him by his flesh bloody cords of love ..draw you to him now?
He wants you to come to him for your good as well as for his own delight.
It will make you like him to be with him
. Being with you, he will be like a bundle of myrrh 1:13)

. What if you were to depart from the world, were he with you, death would be swallowed
up in victory. (1 Cor. 15:54) He knows what there is on this earth to hinder you, and he
knows that you will be sanctified by his presence.
He knows you need his presence; he understands your your weakness without him; and,
like as a father pitieth his children (Ps. 103:13),so he pities you, and prescribes this as a
remedy for all your ills— “Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, Come with me
To the top of Amana, and to the top of Hermon, you go up, leaving the world far below you, its joys and griefs
alike dwindling and growing smaller and smaller. Another world begins to dawn on your nearer sense as you
draw close to the verge of time. High up on those lofty peaks another voice will greet your ears, saying —
“Come with me, come with me.” Then you will mount upwards to be with Jesus. He will come
and meet you, and your soul shall spread her wings in haste to go to him.
Soul, you can have it for the seeking. You need not distract your heart with doubts.
“Seek, and ye shall find.” (Mat. 7:7; Lk. 11:9)..

.4. 9. “You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride; with a single glance of your eyes.”
When you bow your knee to pray and you look up to heaven, an amazing thing.
..the very heart of God beats faster.
Communion, walking, breathing God. Laughing, joy with God.>That glance,
4.10.... “You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, With a single
strand of your necklace.”Where did the bride get a necklace? She gets it from her lover.It is the
very beauty and the very gifts that he has won for you and given you. I am adorned. Where sin
abounds, grace abounds even more.

why would God want to turn his eyes off of himself? How could he?
he has conformed you to the image of his only begotten Son. And so he can look at you and his
heart can even beat faster because of the work he has done in you. He sees himself, his own
reflection, his own conformity that he has worked in you to make you like Jesus. 16 Love truly
does cover a multitude of sins.
A fountain of his love pouring out from his wounds on the cross was opened up. And not all the
powers of hell could close it down, Worship Him forever

How beautiful is the presence of God,. It is beyond words to describe. The presence of God is such
a joy and here we have God speaking the same thing about our presence to him.

He says, “Your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than all kinds of spices!”19“Your lips, my bride,
drip honey; Honey and milk are under your tongue, And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance
of Lebanon.

He longs to hear your voice, any kind of voice ..Call out to him..Pray..Speak to Him . Seek him.
Call out to him. Wait..Listen to Him speaking It is mainly waiting
There, , the presence of God. And The presence of you to God.
He desires your fellowship. He desires your presence.
Lord,. I want you. I want to know you. I want you to come.I am not coming out of this closet until
either you show up or I die.”. I am going to wait. I know my Redeemer lives. 21
“Your lips, my bride, drip honey;.”22

+++++++How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and
the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey
and milk are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.” (Song
of Solomon 4:10-11)
“You say my love is better than wine, so is yours to me; you tell me all my garments smell
of myrrh, so do yours; you say my word is sweeter than honey to your lips, so is yours to
mine. All that you can say of me I say it back to you; I see myself in your eyes, I can see
my own beauty in you; and, whatever belongs to me, belongs to you. Therefore, O my
love, I will sing back the song! You have sung it to your beloved, and I will sing it to my
beloved; you have sung it to your Ishi((my Husband (Hos. 2:16), I will sing it to my
Hephzibah (Is. 62:4); you have sung it to your husband, I will sing it to my sister, my
spouse.”

Now note how sweetly the Lord Jesus sings to his spouse, First, he praises her love:
+“How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is thy love than wine!”
+ Next, he praises her graces: “The smell of thy ointments is much better than all spices.”
+Then he praises her words: “Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb.”
+ Then he praises her thoughts, the things that do not come out of her mouth, but lie under
her tongue: “Honey and milk are under thy tongue.”
+Then finishes by praising her works:The smell of thy garments is like smell of Lebanon.

Christ first praises his people’s love.

Can you say, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.” (Jn. 21:15-17)
And do you know, O my Lord, that my grief is that I do not love you more. I pant to have my
little love increased that my heart may be eaten up with love, that zeal of love for you may
completely consume me?”
Hearken then, to what the Lord Jesus says to, by his Holy Spirit, from this song! Your love,
poor, feeble, and cold though it be, is very precious to the Lord Jesus ;. He does not say
how precious, but he says, “How fair.”
Have you ever thought of Christ’s love to you till your heart has been melted, while your beloved spoke to you
till the tears ran down your eyes, and you believed you could do as Mary Magdalene did, and kiss his feet,
and wash them with your tears, and wipe them with the hairs of your head?

Just what you think of Christ’s love, Christ thinks of yours.

He says: my spouse does not love me as I deserve, but still she loves me.”
Jesus Christ is delighted with the thought that his people love him, which gladdens him.
Just as the thought of his love gladdens us, so the thought of our love gladdens him.
Notice how he puts it when he says, “How much better is thy love than wine!”

“I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” (Jn. 4:32) He had brokenSamaritan’s heart, he had won her, and
when he saw the tear roll from her eye, and knew that her heart was set upon him, his spirits all revived, and
his poor flagging strength grew strong.

.When Christ went to his cross, there was one thing that cheered him even in the agonies
of death; it was the thought of his people’s love., “…for the joy that was set before him,
endured the cross, despising the shame
+the joy that he should see his seed, and that seed would love him, and that he would
have his love written in their hearts in remembrance of his dying pains and agonies
. “My people, they are dear to me, for them I stretch these bleeding hands; for them shall
this heart be pierced and oh, how they will love me,..this was the meaning of these words
of Jesus — “How much better is thy love than wine!”

Jesus Christ has banquets in heaven, and yet he does not feed there but where does he
seek his wines? In our hearts in our hearts. Not all the love of angels, nor joys of Paradise,
are so dear to him as the love of his poor people, sprinkled with sin, Read it, digest it.
And oh, if you saw him standing here tonight, looking into your eyes, and saying to you
personally, “You love me, I know that you love me, your love is to me better far than wine”,
Would you not fall at his feet and say, “Lord, is my love so sweet to you? Then shame
upon me that I should give you so little of it

This is the first point: the love of the believer is sweet to Christ.
Jesus Christ to his church, “all these offerings of wine, and all that burning of incense, is
nothing to me compared with your graces. Your love is my wine, and your virtues are my
sweet smelling ointments.
”
when you are on your sick bed and are suffering with patience; when you go about your
humble way to do good by stealth; when you distribute your alms to the poor; when you lift
up your thankful eye to heaven; when you draw near to God with humble prayer, and
make confession of your sin to him; all these acts are smell of a sweet savour, and he is
gratified and pleased.

So Jesus esteems your graces, for they are his gift to you.

“Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb.”:.use lips in the service of Christ.
the words from our lips are to be the very words of his life, his life-honey, and they ought
to be sweet to everyone. They are as sweet to the taste of the Lord

lips “drop as honeycomb.”.One drop hangs for a time; then comes another, then another,
and does not all come in quick succession..wise man knows how to hold his tongue.

Sometimes believers talk about what he said, and what he suffered for them here below.
They begin to speak of his boundless love; what they have tasted of the good word of life,
Do you know that Jesus is in that room, smiling saying to his own soul, “It is good to be
here, the lips of my brethren drop as the honeycomb, and their words are sweet to me.”
At another time the Christian is alone in his chamber, and as he talks with his God in a few
broken words, and with many sighs, many tears, and many groans, and Jesus Christ is
there, saying “Thy lips, O my beloved, drop with honey like the honeycomb.”

, Christians, will you not talk much about Jesus? Will you not speak often of him?
Will you not give your tongue more continually to prayer and praise, to edifying,
our thoughts are to be the bees. We are always to be looking about for good thoughts,. By
reading, by meditation and by prayer, we are to send bees out of the hive.” ..when you
read your Bibles, like bees settling on flowers and sucking the sweetness out of them..

Honey and milk are under thy tongue.” Christian is to have words ready to come out by-and-by.
Christian meditation are to Christ like honey for sweetness, and like milk for nourishment.
Such love of Jesus, that the very least things that you have. he values at a great price.
The words you are not speaking, the words you cannot utter, the groans you cannot bring
out — these the Holy Spirit utters for you; and these Jesus treasures up as choice and
precious things. “Honey and milk are under thy tongue.”

,“the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.”

garment of imputed righteousness, and the garment of inwrought sanctification..
The garments of a Christian are his EVERY DAY ACTIONS — the things that he wears
upon him wherever he goes. Now, these smell very sweet to the Lord Jesus.
Jesus should meet you at the close of the day and say to you, “I am pleased with the works
of today?” ..you would reply, “Lord, I have done nothing for you.” You would say, like those
at the last day, “Lord when saw we thee hungry and fed thee? When saw we thee thirsty
and gave thee drink?” (Mat. 25:35-39)

I saw you give your alms to one of my poor sick children; I heard you speak a good word
to the little child, and teach him the name of Jesus; I heard you groan when swearing
polluted your ears; I heard you sigh when you saw the iniquity of this great city; I saw
when your hands were busy;; I saw you, when the day was ended, give yourself to God
again; I marked you mourning over the sins you have committed, and I tell you I am
pleased with you.”

“But, Lord, I was angry, I was proud”, and he says, “But I have covered this over, I have
cast it into the depths of the sea; I have blotted it all out with my blood. I can see nothing
bad in you; you are all fair, my love, there is no spot in you.”
Would you not at once fall down at his feet and say, “Lord, I never knew love like this: I
have heard that love covers a multitude of sins, but I never knew a love so broad as to
cover all mine. And then declare that you can see no sin in me at all — ah, that is love!”
It may melt our heart, and make us seek to be holy, that we might not grieve Christ,

Servants, be obedient to your masters, not only to those who are good and gentle, but to
the difficult. (1 Pet. 2:18)
. And those little cups of cold water you give to his people — those little services you do for
his church, those self-denials that you make for his honour.. “The smell of thy garments is
like the smell of Lebanon.”

Still, Lord, I do not deserve it; I am conscious I do not, and I never can deserve it. Still, if
you will help me, I will strive to be worthy of your praise in some feeble measure.
Lord, I will seek to love you better,; I will ask for grace, that my actions may be really what
you say they are.
+++++A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 4:12)

The Eternal Father chose for himself a people, and gave them over to his SON, that they
might be his portion forever and ever.—
“Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” (Eph. 5:25) This is “the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
This is the church with which the marriage supper will be celebrated when the beloved
will come to take his own to himself forever. \

While we, at this time, speak of the church as a whole, it will be quite correct for each
individual believer to take home to himself any truth,” That which belongs to the redeemed
family belongs to each member of that family. That which is true of light is true of each
light-beam; that which is true of water is true of each drop; and that which is true of the
church as a whole is true of each member of that mystical body.

The love of the Lord Jesus is for his church as a body, and it is the same for each believer
He who invites a company to a feast virtually invites each person of that company.
Jesus loves each one with that same love with which he loves the whole of his people;
If you were the only people that were ever born into the world, and all his love were
yours, he would not then love you one atom more than he loves you now.
The love of Jesus is dispersed, but not divided; it flows to all with the same force with
which it flows to one.
To redeem a single soul our Ransom must have laid down his life, and he loves each one
with such a love that he laid down his life for each one, as much as if there had not been
another to redeem. ..we enjoy all the love of Jesus of which we are capable, enjoying and
appropriating the words of love to ourselves as if they were meant for us alone.

“My sister, my spouse.”.

“My sister” —one by birth, partaker of the same nature.
“My spouse”, one in love, joined by sacred ties of affection that never be snapped.
“My sister” is by birth, “My spouse” is by choice. “

the Person of Christ. As Man and as God in the perfection of his nature he still exists. He dwells at the right
hand of God at this moment, and though he cannot be here in his corporeal person, yet he is everywhere by
his spiritual presence, which is more real still.
Do not spirit him away. Believe that he truly is, and that he truly is here — as much here, and as really here,
as he was in Jerusalem, when he sat at the head of the table and entertained the twelve at the last supper.
Jesus is a real Man, a real Christ —.

He has become so truly man in his incarnation that he is not ashamed to call us brethren.
He takes each one by the hand, and says, “My brother!” “My sister!” with tenderness

“ “my spouse” ..by choice, but, once undertaken, is irrevocable and everlasting union.
This unity, insofar that the spouse loses her identity in Him, and, to a high degree, is
merged in the greater personality to which she is united.

Such is our union with Christ, as the marriage union. He loves us so much that he has
taken us up into himself by the absorption of love.
We may henceforth forego our name, for “this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
The Lord our righteousness.” (Jer. 23:6, 33:16)
Wonderful that the very name which belongs to our Lord Jesus, and one of the most
majestic of his names, should yet be used as the name of his bride
The Lord Jesus Christ’s name is now named upon her, and she is permitted to make use
of his name whenever she draws to throne of the heavenly grace in prayer. “In his name”
She speaks in the name which is above every name, the name at which angels bow.
The Bridegroom calls “my sister, my spouse.” Now come, renewed heart, trust your
Saviour, see how near, how dear, you are to him! If he says, “My sister, my spouse”,
Let our answer to him be ; “My Brother, my Husband.”

“It shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi (my Husband), and shalt
call me no more Baali, (my Lord). For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her
mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.” (Hos. 2:17)

We hear a voice full of music, saying, “He is thy Lord, and worship thou him” (Ps. 45:11);
but his commandments are not grievous. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. (Mat.
11:30). We rejoice in his rule and reign. Perfect love has cast out fear. (1 Jn. 4:18)
We live in such joyful fellowship with him as a sister has with a brother, or a wife with her
husband. Do not be backward towards your own Betrothed. Do not be stiff and cold.

He has participated in your nature, and he has made you a partaker of his nature, and, in
so many words, he says, “I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, and in judgement, and in loving- kindness, and in mercies. I will even
betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.” (Hos. 2:19-20)

Can you grasp it?. One with Jesus! By eternal union, one with Jesus!
. “I am married unto you, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 3:14)
He has taken our nature, and made us “partakers of the divine nature” (1 Pet. 1:4);
who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? (Rom. 8:35f
Neither height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, shall ever be able to effect a break up of this most complete, perfect,
mystical union between Christ and his people.

Their security in consequence of being what they are. “A garden inclosed is my sister, my
spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.”

I, Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of
her.” (Zech. 2:5) Is she a spring? Are her secret thoughts and loves and desires like cool
streams of water? Then the bridegroom calls her “a spring shut up
God’s people are shut and preserved, and kept from danger by the care of Christ

Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. (Ps. 4:3) He has taken measures to
preserve all his chosen from all those who would defile them.
“This people I chosen for myself.” He issued his command that none should injure them,
“Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.”1 Chron16:22; Ps. 105:15)
He sets a hedge about them in providence, so nothing shall by any means harm them.
He has shut them up from the enemy, and sealed them up for perpetual preservation.
.
Especially has the Lord walled them with grace. While angels keep watch to drive off the
powers of darkness, the invincible grace of God is ever like a wall so that neither sin nor
the world shall be able to uproot them.
You are a garden, and a garden is a tender thing, soon destroyed; but the Lord who
planted you has seen to your protection and provision. “The sun shall not smite thee by
day, nor the moon by night” (Ps. 121:6), and
In a garden, weeds spring up; But there is One who will take care to pluck up evil growths
“I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and
day.” (Is 27:3) A garden is a dependent thing, requiring perpetual care from the
husbandman; and that care the church of God shall have, for it is written, “He careth for
you.” (1 Pet. 5:7) Jesus says, “My Father is the husbandman” (Jn. 15:1);
 Lord preserves his own beloved. We are too dear to him to let us perish
at what a price he bought you? Will the husband forget his beloved spouse,? Do not let
the thought tarry with you for a moment, for it is dishonouring to your Lord’s love.
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” (Is. 49:15)
You are as safe as Jesus, for on his heart he bears your name.
“I give my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand.” (Jn. 10:28
How can that new life be quenched? By fear, anxiety, unbelief in his love.
“The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life.” (Jn. 4:14) accept him as quenching your thirst forever
Believe in the Lord Jesus for the whole of life, yes, for eternity.
“According to your faith be it unto you!” (Mat. 9:29)
For ye are complete in him.Col. 2:10“He that believe in him hath everlasting life.Jn. 6:47)
“We know that we have passed from death unto life” (1 Jn. 3:14), Be assured that you are
a garden enclosed sealed against all adversaries -perfect security in Christ Jesus.

there should be no alliance between bride and world by compromise, even to a shade.
She is to be a spring shut up, and a fountain sealed, separate from the rest.RESERVED.
Come out ,be ye separate, (2 Cor. 6:17) That is the Lord’s own word to you.
Himself suffer outside t gate that you might go forth unto him outside the campHeb. 13:13

None may come into that garden to eat its fruit, but Lord himself. remember it all your life.
It is “a spring shut up”, that no one may drink of the stream but the Lord Jesus.
May the Spirit of God daily sanctify us to the Lord, wholly consecrated to the Lord.

, “Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire thy
beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.” (Ps. 45:10-11
“All for Jesus” ..our motto. Not one may dare to live to himself, but for Jesus alone
We must thoroughly, living for Jesus:, reserved, for him.
your life to be a stream that flows for e refreshment of him who poured out his life for you!
You are to let him drink of the deep fountains of your heart, but no one else may rival Jesus
You are a spring shut up, a fountain sealed for Jesus only, and always.
Even if self come forward, or personal advantage, you are to bid them be gone.
Should the world, the flesh, or the devil leap over the wall you are to chase them away,.
Our whole being is to be a fountain sealed for Jesus Christ alone.
All for Jesus: body for Jesus, mind for Jesus, spirit for Jesus, eyes for Jesus, mouth for
Jesus, hands for Jesus, feet for Jesus, all for Jesus.
The wall must wholly enclose the garden, for a gap anywhere will admit an intruder. If one
part of our being is left under the dominion of sin, it will show its power everywhere.
Our first thoughts, desires, must be his

Let Lord Jesus Christ holds the reins of your life…live wholly to him, and for him.
Honour him in your families, and honour him in the outside world. Make it your delight that
you are reserved for him. Acknowledge that the vows of the Lord are upon you.
You are his sister and his spouse — give him love in both forms: find in him a sister and a
bridegroom.

“A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed… a well
of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.” 4:12, 15)
 My sister, near to me by ties of nature, my next of kin, born of same mother,
my spouse, nearest and dearest, united to me by tenderest bands of love; my sweet
companion, part of my own self.

My sister, by my Incarnation which makes me bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh;
my spouse, by heavenly betrothal in which I have espoused you to myself in
righteousness.
My sister, whom I knew of old, and over whom I watched from her earliest infancy;
my spouse, taken from among the daughters, embraced by arms of love, and affianced to
me forever.
Do not, slow to return the hallowed flame of his love
We have the word “my” twice, as if Christ dwelt with rapture on his possession
Christ is dear to you in the bonds of marriage union, and you are dear to him.
Behold, he grasps both of your hands saying, “ My sister, my spouse.”
Mark the two sacred holdfasts by which thy Lord hold of you that he will never let you go.
Do you say in your heart this morning, “My brother, my husband?”

Seek to have near and dear intimacy with your husband, that you may know him,
and have fellowship with him, being conformable unto his death. (Phil. 3:10)

2 works of the Holy Spirit within us. 1-he puts into us the living waters; 2-he enables us to
pour out streams of the same living waters in our daily life.
, “If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (Jn. 7:37-38)
The Spirit of God first implants in us the new nature.— to regenerate us, to put into us the
life of God in Christ. Then next, he gives us power to send out that stream in holiness of
life, communion with God, of likeness to Christ, of conformity to his image. The streams
are as much of the Holy Spirit as the fountain itself.
He digs the well, and he afterwards, with heavenly rain, fills the pools. He first of all makes
the stream in the desert to flow from the flinty rock, and, afterwards, out of his infinite
supplies, he feeds the stream and bids it follow us all our days.

Note the secret and mysterious work of the Holy Spirit in the creation of the new man in the soul.. The inner
life in the Christian may well be compared to an enclosed garden — to a spring shut up — to a fountain
sealed. But the second verse sets out the manifest effects of grace, for no sooner is that life given than it
begins to show itself. No sooner is the mystery of righteousness in the heart, It cannot lie still; it cannot be
idle; it must not rest; but, as God is ever active, so outer life proceeding from the inner. “A fountain of
gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. The first is the blessedness which he receives
in himself; the next is the blessedness which he diffuses to others.
Our souls will pine for sweet solitude, secret communion, hidden embraces; we shall be
compelled to walk alone with Christ.
. Oh, there will be periods with your soul, when you must be alone with Him, when the face
of man will not disturb you, But only the face of Jesus ,for you must be a garden enclosed,
that you must enter into your closet and shut the door.
be as chaste virgins, kept alone for Christ.
stay at home with Jesus, your lover, your Lord, your all. Shut up your gates, O my heart,
to all company but his
Be sealed only for him, that he may come and drink, and drink again, and take sweet
solace in you, your soul being his, and his alone.

Sacredness of Christian’s heart: The garden enclosed . preserved for use of only Jesus

“Ye are not your own, but are bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:20), “All for Jesus”
 whether you read or pray, whether you go out in the world or come back to your home,
Jesus alone ,on whom your heart is set, and for whom your life is spent
Blessed are they, who, follow wherever the Lamb leads them,
let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” (Gal. 6:17)

there is another idea : security to the inner life. “A garden enclosed.”

How sure and safe is the inner life of the believer. Satan does not know where it is, for
“our life is hid with Christ.” (Col. 3:3)
The world cannot touch it; it seeks to overthrow it with troubles, and trials, and
persecutions, but we are covered with the Eternal wings, and are safe from fear of evil.
How can earthly trials reach the spirit? Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not
come nigh unto him; he has placed us in the secret place of the Most High;
. “Who is he that shall harm you” (1 Pet. 3:13) when God is your protector? “
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth against
thee in judgement shalt thou condemn.” (Is. 54:17)
No temptation shall be able to destroy the purity of the life within;.
Within this outward crust that perishes there is a soul which endures, and within that soul..
God dwells in us, and we in him.
We are one with Christ, even as Christ is one with the Father; and therefore as
imperishable through Christ’s life as Christ himself.

Communion is the lifeblood of the soul.

“the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Cor. 5:14), so that we cannot resist the impulse; we
do love each other in Christ Jesus.

“A fountain of gardens.”, it is a sin to be always seeking to hide what God has

bestowed on us for the good of others. A Christian is not to be a city in a valley — he is
to be a city set upon a hill. (Mat. 5:14) He is not to be a candle put under a bushel, but a
candle in a candlestick, giving light to all.
the hiding of Christ in us can never be justified, and the keeping back of truth which is
precious to us, is a sin against our kind, and an offence against God.
Those of you who are of a nervous disposition, and of retiring habits of life, must take care that
you do not be useless to the Church.
Seek in the name of him who was not ashamed of you to do some little violence to your
feelings, and tell others what Christ has told you.
Do not keep it secret — it is too precious —
Speak! If thou cannot with trumpet tongue, yet speak with a still small voice. And speak,
too, as you as gently as you can to one to one, . Also in the midst of your own household,
Do not conceal it; bring it out; trade with it; and so you will multiply the talent, and you will
bring in good interest to your Lord and Master.

, we have in this second text, in opposition to the separation of the first, diffusiveness.
The garden was enclosed before; now it is “a fountain of gardens”. The well was shut up,
now it is a well of living waters; before, we had the fountain sealed, now we have streams
dashing down the sides of Lebanon.
So a Christian is to be separate in his inner life; but in the outer manifestation of that inner
life, he is to mingle for good among his fellow-men.
If we keep ourselves altogether apart, we shall be useless to our fellow-men; we shall be
like stagnant pools, we shall grow putrid by degrees.
We must let the streams flow out
we must seek to give to others what Christ has given to us.
 Go out as torchbearers in the midst of darkness. Go out as looseners of the bonds among
the captives; as openers of prison doors among those that are bound. By watering others,
your own soul shall be watered too.

The fountain was sealed in the first verse; here it is a flowing stream,
God keeps his people in security is not by shutting out their enemies from attacking them,
but, while laying them open to temptation and attack, he yet sustains them..
. God will put where we must be tried, God keeps them in tribulation, preserves them in
temptation, and brings them joyfully out of all their trials.
So, Christian, you may rejoice in your security; but you must not think that you are not to
be attacked. You are a stream from Lebanon, to be dashed down many a cascade, to be
broken over many a rough rock, to be stopped up with many a huge stone, to be impeded
by many a fallen tree; but you are to dash forward with the irresistible force of God,
sweeping everything away, till you find at last the place where shall be your perfect rest.

Diversity : You have “a fountain”, not of a garden, but “of gardens”; you have a well, but it
is a well of living waters; you do not have a stream, but streams — streams from Lebanon.
So a Christian is to do good in all sorts of ways, and his fruit are to be of many kinds; he is
to be like the trees of Paradise, which bear twelve kinds of fruits. (Rev. 22:2)

The Christian is to have all sorts of graces: “Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good repute”. (Phil. 4:8)
“Let me serve my Master; let me live or let me die, if I may but glorify him.” “For God I
devote myself; to Christ I give body, soul, and spirit, and if I am offered up on the sacrifice
of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.”

? If your soul is not renewed by grace, you cannot do good. “Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn, 3:3) No one enters fully into discipleship with Christ till the
water as well as the Spirit has been reverently received. “Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”
make all men know that God in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor. 5:19)

++++++++++Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices
thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.” 4:16)

THE soul of the believer is the garden of the Lord

At times within that garden, everything is very still and quiet; indeed, more still than might be
wished. Flowers are in bloom, but they seem scentless, for there are no breezes to waft the
perfume. Spices abound, but one may walk in the garden and not perceive them, for no gales bear
their fragrance on their wings.
The loved one desired the company of her Lord, and felt that an inactive condition was not
altogether suitable for his coming. Her prayer is first about her garden, that it may be made
ready for her Beloved; and then to the bridegroom himself, that he would come into his
garden, and eat its pleasant fruits. She pleads for the breath of heaven, to break the dead
calm which broods over her heart.

In this prayer, there is an evident sense of inward sleep. ..she herself needs to be awakened. She
has a sense of absent-mindedness, too, for she cries, “Come, thou south.” If the south wind would
come, the forgetful perfumes would come to themselves and sweeten all the air. The fault,
whatever it is, cannot lie in the winds; it lies within us.
Awake, O north wind”; though the blast be cold and cutting, ..
in the form of repentance and self- humiliation. Some precious graces naturally flow in the
form of tears;. The rough north wind has done much for some of us in the way of arousing our best
graces. Yet it may be that the Lord will send something more tender “Come, thou south.”.
 Either movement of the Spirit will sufficiently bestir our inner life; but the spouse desires
both.. The Holy Spirit may be at one and the same time working grief and gladness,
causing humiliation and delight.; so that, while I have been ready to die to self, I have
been made to live unto God. “. No flower can keep asleep when both rough and gentle winds arouse

Lord, if you blow, my heart will flow out to you! “Draw me, we will run after you.” We know
full well what it is to have grace in our souls, and yet to feel no movement of it. We may
have much faith in existence, yet none in exercise, for no occasion summons it into action.
We may have much repentance, yet no conscious repenting; much fire of love, yet no love
flaming forth; and much patience in the heart, though at the moment we do not display it.

Holy Spirit breathing on us. has the power to quicken, arouse, and bestir graces, so that
holy fruit within us becomes perceptible
The second half of the prayer expresses our central desire: we long for THE LORD

The bride does not seek that the spices of her garden may become perceptible for her
own enjoyment but for her Beloved’s sake. He is to come into his garden, and eat his
pleasant fruits. We are a garden for his delight. Our highest wish is that Jesus may have
joy in us.
I fear that we often come to the communion table with the idea of enjoying ourselves; or,
rather, of enjoying our Lord; but we do not rise to the thought of giving him joy.

See how joyfully he cries in 5:1): “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.”
Our heavenly bridegroom rests in his love, and rejoices over us with singing .. We not even
known that he was present, but praying him to come; all the while he has been near us.

She calls him hers — “My Beloved”. When we are sure that he is ours, we desire him to
come to us as ours, and to reveal himself as ours.
. However slumbering my graces may be, Jesus is mine.

first she says, “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden”; but
now she prays, “Let my Beloved come into his garden”. She had spoken just before of her
fruit, but now they are his fruit.. We do not produce fruit of ourselves. The Lord says,
The garden is of our Lord’s purchasing, enclosing, planting, and watering; and all its fruit
belongs to him.

“Let my Beloved come.” say, “Amen, let him come” If he does not come in the glory of his
Second Advent at this moment, , yet let him come.
+let him come to gather the fruit of his redemption in us.
O my Beloved, let not my sinful, sluggish, wandering thoughts prevent you from coming!
You visited the disciples, “the doors being shut”; Come, I beseech you, O my Beloved!

The spouse further cries — “Let him eat his pleasant fruits.”
Though we are not content with ourselves, yet may our Lord be pleased with us! Do come
Fulfil to us that gracious promise, “I will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20), for we
do open to you.
Receive our love, our trust, our consecration. Delight yourself also in us, as we now
delight ourselves in you. We will come to Eucharistic table, where you shall be our meat
and drink.
But suffer our spices to be the perfume of the feast, “While the King sitteth at his table my
spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” Fulfil this wish of our soul, Lord .Amen.
 “My Father is the husbandman”, and he has made us to be fruitful unto his praise, full of
sweetness where once there was no fruit, and nothing that could give him delight.

There are sweet spices in believers “Blow upon my garden, that the spices may flow out”.
the names of these sweet spices.— 1-faith which trusts and clings, which declares that,
though God shall slay it, yet will it trust in him FAITH is very dear to him.

2-And LOVE which loves God and the love which flows out to all brothers, and seeks to do
them good.
Exceedingly pleasing to God to see Love growing where once all was hate, and
to see faith in that very soul which formerly choked with the thorns of doubt and unbelief.

3-And HOPE, by which we behold eternal bliss. and rejoice in God their Saviour.

4f all graces: meekness, brotherly kindness, patience which endures much

There is a perfume about all graces and it delights him that it should flourish where once its
opposite was growing in the heart

these sweet spices are delightful to God. The God who gave us faith may well be pleased with faith.
The God who created love in such unlovely hearts as ours may well be delighted at his own
creation. He will not despise the work of his own hands; rather, he will be delighted with it,.!

God takes delight even in our longings after holiness, and in our loathing of our own
imperfections. He has joy over one sinner that repents,. And when we go on higher in the
divine life, his joy is in us, and therefore our joy may well be full.

These spices of ours are not only delightful to God, but help keep other souls alive, “Ye
are the salt of the earth.” (Mat. 5:13) the Lord has provided these sweet spices to
counteract the unhealthy odours that float on every breeze.
The spices in the flowers planted in the his Church.is conserving this present evil age, lest
his anger should destroy it because of the growing evil, can be found

It sometimes happens that these sweet odours within God’s people lie quiet and still.
..hidden grace, which in no way reveals itself by its blessed odours,
. Alas!, when everything has fallen into a deep slumber, even God’s saints, though they
may be wise virgins, go as soundly asleep as the foolish virgins, and they forget that “the
Bridegroom cometh”. (Mat. 25:6) “when we ought to be wide awake. there are sweet spices
lying in Christians, ..hidden
examine yourself whether you be in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5),

Those sweet odours should be diffused. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow
upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out.”

Observe, first, that until our graces are diffused, it is the same as if they were not there .
You may go through a wood, and it may be abounding in hare, yet you may scarcely see a hare. There they
lie all quiet and undisturbed; but, when the beaters go through the wood making a great noise, you may see
the timid hares run like hinds let loose, because they are disturbed and woken up. That is what we
sometimes need, to be aroused and stirred from slumber.

We may not know that we have any faith till there comes a trial, and then our faith
starts boldly up. We can hardly know how much we love our Lord till there come a
test of our love, and then we so behave ourselves that we know that we do love him.
:. something is needed from without to stir the life that lies hidden
 Notice it is very painful to a Christian to be in such a condition that his graces are not
stirring. He cannot endure it. We who love the Lord were not born again to waste our time
in sinful slumber; our watchword is, “Let us not sleep, as do others.” (1 Thess. 5:6)

We were not born to inaction; every power that God has put within us was meant to be used
in striving, serving the Lord. So, when our graces are slumber, we unhappy.
Then we long for set those graces moving. The north wind?— a heavy trial, adversity,
fierce temptation —, so long as we just begin to diffuse our graces.
Or if the north wind is dreaded, we say, “Come, thou south!” Let sweet fellowship with our
brethren rouse us, and holy meditations, stir our souls. Let a sense of the divine life, like a
soft south wind, come to our spirit. We are not particular which it is; let the Lord send
whatever he pleases, only let us be aroused. “Quicken thou me, O Lord, according to thy
Word” (Ps. 119:25) — whichever Word you choose to apply and do not let the graces
within me be as if they were dead!

the best Quickener is always the Holy Spirit; as the north wind, convincing us of sin, and
tearing away self-confidence, or he may come as the soft south wind, all full of love,
revealing Christ, grace, and all the blessings treasured for us.
Come, Holy Spirit! Come as the Heavenly Dove, or as the rushing mighty wind; but come!
Drop from above, as gently as dew, or come like rattling hail but come, blest Spirit of God!,
we must be stirred once again throb to prove that the life of God is really in us

:. when a child of God sees that his graces are not diffused, then time to prayer.
Let not one of us ever think of saying, “I do not feel as if I could pray, and therefore I will
not pray.” On contrary, it is time when you ought to pray more earnestly than ever.

When the heart is disinclined from prayer, take that as a danger-signal, and at once
go to the Lord with this resolve

“O my Father, You have made me to be a flower, to shed abroad my perfume, yet I am not
doing it. Oh, , stir my flagging spirit till I promote your glory, O my Lord and Master!”

While you are thus crying, you must believe God the Holy Spirit can stir your spirit,
Never permit a doubt about that fact linger in your bosom,

Laodicea, which was neither cold nor hot, and t so nauseous to the Lord that he threatened to spit
her out of his mouth; yet He pleads?” Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” (Rev. 3:20)
if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me.”

Oh,grace! He is sick of these lukewarm yet he promises to sup with them, and they
shall sup with him.
That is the only cure for lukewarmness and decline, to renew heart-fellowship with Christ;
“Only open the door, and I will sup with you, and you shall sup with me.”
O you whose graces are lying so sinfully dormant, who have to mourn because of “the
body of this death” (Rom. 7:24) — for death in you seems to have taken to itself a body,
and to have become a substantial thing, no mere skeleton now, but a heavy, cumbrous
form that bows you down — cry still to him who is able to deliver you from this lukewarm
and sinful state!
cry, “Awake, north wind come, southwind; and blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.”

Let my Beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.”.
 While spouse was, shut up and frozen, and the spices of the Lord’s garden were not blowing out,
she cried to winds, “Blow upon my garden.” She hardly dared to call it her Lord’s garden; but now,:
“Let my Beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.” The wind has blown through the
garden, and made the sweet odours flow out. Now it is no longer “my garden” but “his garden”.
While we have but little grace, we cry, “my”, but when we get great grace, we cry “his”.”..
As the spouse says, “Let my Beloved come into his garden. Here are all the sweet
perfumes flowing out; he will enjoy them, let him come and feel himself at home amongst
them. He planted every flower, and gave to each its fragrance; let him come into his
garden and see what wonders his grace has wrought.”

= the one thing you need to stir your whole soul is that Christ’s should come into it

The true spouse of Christ, ought not to bear broken communion for even 5 minutes,
but should be sighing and crying for its renewal.

Seek to “walk in the light as God is in the light” (1 Jn. 1:7), fully enjoying
communion with Christ our Lord;
If fellowship is broken, must be sorrowfully fast.
If presence of Bridegroom shall be taken away from you, then fast and be sad.
And resolve give God no rest till you get back to communion with him, and to give
yourself no rest till once more you abide in the Well-beloved.

“Let him eat his pleasant fruits.” The best things that you have, everything that you have,
leave all at his dear feet. We do not lay up our fruit, , and store them up for ourselves; we
ask him to come and eat them.

it is joy to give joy to the Man of sorrows, who was emptied of joy for our sakes, and who
now is filled up again with joy as each one of us come and bring his share, and cause the
heart of Christ to receive a new and fresh delight.

Did you ever reclaim a poor girl from the streets? Did you ever rescue a poor thief who
had been in prison? There is no joy equal to it. The effort cost me money, it cost me time,
it cost me thought, it cost me prayer, but I am repaid a thousand times
God made me the instrument of a soul’s conversion.”

But what must be the joy of Christ who redeems us from sin,, when he sees us made to
be like him,
He will take supreme delight in “My redeemed”, , “the sheep of my pasture, the purchase
of my blood, borne on my shoulders, my very heart pierced for them, oh, how I delight to
see them in the heavenly fold!
These, my redeemed people are joint-heirs with me forever; oh, how I delight in them+++

Songs 4 beauties of holiness. Thou art my love, and are beloved of me,
7 specified, ..manifold graces by the seven spirits that are before the throne,
(1.) hast doves' eyes, clear and chaste, cast up towards heaven. It is not the eagle's eye,
that can face sun, but dove's eye, a humble, modest, mournful eye, ever towards the Lord,
The bashfulness of her looks; does not her eyes wander, but focus on Him alone Heb 12.2
(2.) very hairs of their head numbered, Magdalen's hair wiped the feet of Christ with it.
(3.) Her teeth,.. chew the meat for the babes of Christ... Faith, by which we feed upon
Christ, meditation, by which we ruminate on the word and chew . These are compared to a
flock of sheep. Christ called his disciples little flock.
(4.) Her lips.. thy speech with grace, edifying, praise God with our lips, and with the
mouth make confession of him to salvation, All our words must be washed in the blood of
Christ, (5.) Her temples, or cheeks,... Humility.., blushing to lift up our unworthy faces
before God, (6.) neck like a tower, stately, and strong, does not droop, when faith
fails. (7.) Her breasts; . spiritually nursing to the children of God with sincere milk of the
word, that they may grow thereby, to feed among the lilies where Christ feeds ii. 16
Also breasts of a believer are his love to Christ, which he is pleased with
V6 Christ was so pleased with the beauty of his church that he chose this to be his rest for
ever;.. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
(v. 7). His repeated commendation of the beauty of the spouse Thou art all fair, my
love; thou art all over beautiful, sanctified wholly in every part; all things have become
new (2 Cor. v. 17); there is no spot in thee, as far as thou art renewed
And so ought men to love their wives as Christ loves the church, and takes pleasure
in it as if it were spotless and had no fault, when yet it is compassed with infirmity .
V9-12 marriage-covenant between Christ and every true believer. "I have betrothed thee
unto me for ever; and, as groom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over
thee."
, My sister, my spouse. His calling her sister .. his taking our nature upon him in his
incarnation, and his making us partakers of his nature in our sanctification. He clothed
himself with a body (Heb. ii. 14), and he clothes believers with his Spirit (1 Cor. vi. 17), and
so they become his sisters. They are children of God his Father (2 Cor. vi. 18) and so they
become his sisters; he that sanctifies, and those that are sanctified, are all of one (Heb. ii.
11); and he owns them, and loves them, as his sisters.
Come with me from Lebanon, v. 8. as a faithful bride, forget her own people and leave all
to cleave to him. (2.. 10, 13), in holy obedience to him.
Being joined to him, we must walk with him.
This is his command to us daily: "Come with me, my spouse; come with me to God Father;
This is Christ's call to his spouse to come off from the world, though they enjoy the highest
satisfactions at Amana / Shenir, . Come from those mountains of enjoyments, to go along
with Christ to the holy mountain of myrrh, v. 6.
Lift up our eyes to the hills our help comes from the Lord,
Some hills i are pleasant enough, but in them lions' dens; mountains of prey, where
Satan, lies in wait to devour. On these mountains ..dangerous temptations :. Set not our
hearts upon the things of this world, come and be you separate..
V 9f A spouse so dearly bought and paid for could not but be dearly loved. Such a costly
love in which he gave himself for us and gives himself to us.
Thou hast ravished my heart; "Never was love like unto the love of Christ, which made him
even mindless of himself, when he emptied himself of his glory, and despised all shame
and pain, for our sakes. The wound of love towards us, which he had from eternity in
himself, made him neglect all the wounds and reproaches of the cross;"
Thus let us love him. What it is that thus affects him with delight. [1.] The regard she
has to him: Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thy eyes, those doves' eyes, clear
chaste 4. 1), with one glance of those eyes. Christ is wonderfully pleased with those that
look unto him as their Saviour, and whose eyes are ever towards him; he is soon aware of
the first look of a soul towards him [2.] The ornaments she has from him, i.e. the
obedience she yields to him, >chain of her neck, > graces that enrich her soul, >entire
submission to the his love. Having shaken off the yoke of our transgressions, by which we
were tied to this world and we are bound with the cords of love, as chains of gold, to
Jesus Christ, ..his sweet easy yoke, [3.] The affection she has for him:How fair is thy
love! How well does it become a believer thus to love Christ, and..what a pleasure does
Christ take in it!.. How much better is thy love than wine, than all the wine that was poured
out to the Lord in the drink-offerings!
[4.]The ointments, >gifts and graces of the Spirit. Love and
The smell of her garments > visible profession she makes of her allegiance to Christ,
before men, . Christ having put upon his spouse the white raiment of his own
righteousness (Rev. iii. 18), and the righteousness of saints (Rev.19 8), [5.] Her words,
both in her devotion and her discourses with men (v. 11): Thy lips O my spouse! drop as
the honeycomb, Sweet is thy voice. . Christ is well-pleased with those that are full of his
word.
V12-14 God’s delight in garden set it apart for himself; Christ walks in his garden
unseen... The garden is enclosed for safety.. wall of fire; which all powers of darkness
cannot enter
v. 14. plenty of fruits. His spouse is blessingto others, and rich graces to share
v 15 These seem words of the spouse, in answer. She owns her dependence upon Christ
himself to make this garden fruitful
V 16 She implores the blessed Spirit to make this garden fragrant (Awake, O wind... that
there may be a plentiful effusion of the Spirit and then wilderness becomes fruitful field
Sanctified souls are as gardens of the Lord, enclosed for him. (2.) Graces in the soul are
as spices in these gardens,. (3.) It is very desirable that the spices of grace should flow
forth in devout affections and in gracious actions, to men. (The Spirit stirs up will to do
good;.
She begs he would visit it, and accept of what it produced. The believer can take little
pleasure in his garden, unless they redound to the glory of Christ
4.12,. “A garden locked is my sister, my bride, , a spring sealed up.”23
v13.Holy Spirit runs through you and therefore you are fruitful. You are fruitful because he flows
through you
The garden of your own soul, the garden of your own Christ likeness, the garden of your own
conformity to his image, that is where the joy of God comes.
You have nothing more important to do than cultivate a garden of Christ likeness. That is what
brings pleasure to God.

“Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its
spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!” 26
Her one desire is that the fragrance of her life, be carried by the wind to her lover and that that
would draw him to her. The only thing you wanted was to bepleasing to him and that you would
have communion with him. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful life one has when that is the desire of
their heart.

+ Canticle 5 +++
“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, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” (5:1)
5.1 This king has no need of her garden. He has very kind of garden He’s the king.But humble
king..gives her the very desire of her heart. Her greatest desire, her hearts desire is that he simply
take from her what she offers; and he does. “I’ve come into my garden,” “my sister, my bride.”
We’re always saying, “I want to be His.” He says, “You’re mine.”I want to give Him this.” He says,
“I’ll take it.”A bruised reed He’ll not break.
“I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice, my beloved was knocking, ‘Open to me, my sister, my
darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head drenched with dew, my locks damp of the night.” Here
comes this wonderful lover, He comes unannounced; he comes at a time not expected.

I searched for him but did not find him.”Jesus is always the God who is passing by. You’re out
there struggling in a storm, He walks on the water; He walks as though He’s passing by. You must
call to Him. Emmaus, He’s going to keep going. You have to call Him back. “Lord, tarry with us
True love is very sensitive, as the Holy Spirit… Love of God will tug, and by grace, tug again, and
by grace maybe tug a few times more. But sooner or later the tug will cease.
you’re crying out the whole time, “O God, give me Your presence, Oh Lord, I want Your presence
and the presence never comes.” then you go to sleep
love can be offended. It will tug tug. to the point ..stop….Later You looked for Him, but you didn’t
find Him. all there was was a lingering fragrance, the person was no longer there.

NO sooner does the spouse say, “Let my Beloved come into his garden”, than her Lord
answers, “I am come into my garden.” “Before they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear.” (Is. 65:24) When we desire our Lord Jesus to come to us,
he has already come in a measure;.
Our “come” is no sooner uttered than it is lost in his “Behold, I come quickly!” Rev. 3:11,
22:7, \12)\

His heart replies, “I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb
with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.”
“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart .”
(Ps. 37:4)

His spouse speaks of “his pleasant fruits”, and he acknowledges them to be his own.—
“my”: my myrrh, my spice, my honeycomb, my honey, my wine, my milk.
He is fond of the notion of joint-heirship, even as in another place he says, “My Father, and
your Father, my God, and your God.” (Jn. 20:17).
All that we are, all grace are the outcome of his own work within our hearts
Within us, certain things are bitter but wholesome; and he says “my myrrh.”.” Our Lord
makes no exception to any whether it is myrrh or milk;
Even what seem imperfect, are not refused by the heavenly bridegroom. He graciously
accepts even which our weakness works towards that desire.
Our Lord puts our tears as well as our sorrows into his bottle (Ps. 56:8), and hears our
groanings as well as our desires

. It is a wonderful thought that the Lord Jesus Christ has joy in us. We cost him anguish,
even to death, and now he finds a reward in us. Our first repentance made him call
together his friends and his neighbours. (Lk. 15:6, 9) “ “my delight is in her.” (Is. 62:4)

Lord Jesus cannot, be happy by himself: he would have us share with him. — “I have
eaten”; “Eat, O friends!” “I have drunk”; “Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”
His union with his people is so close that his joy is in them that their joy may be full. He
cannot be alone in his joy.
He will not be happy anywhere without us\ — “If any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”? (Rev. 3:20) The inter-
communion is complete: the enjoyment is for both.

To make our Lord Jesus happy, we must be happy also. How can the Bridegroom
rejoice if his bride is sad?
At this table of fellowship, his chief concern is that we eat and drink. “Take, eat” said he
(Mat. 26:26; Mk. 14:22; 1 Cor. 11:24); and again, “Drink ye all of it.” (Mat. 26:27)
hear him now say “I have eaten, and I have drunk; and although I will drink no more of the fruit of
the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God (Mk. 14:25), yet eat, O friends:
drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved!”
Christ is made happy by us; and, secondly, that he insists on our sharing his joy with him.

If we have already enjoyed happy fellowship with him, the Lord Jesus calls on us to be
happier still. Though we eaten, he will again say, “Eat, O friends!” He presses us to renew,
and increase our participation with him.
It is true we have drunk out of the chalice of his love; but he invites us again, saying,
“Drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved!”

Though we know the Lord Jesus, we should try to know more of him, yes, to know all that
can be known of that love which passes all understanding? (Phil. 4:7)

Should we not labour to realise more of HIM, by meditation, contemplation,?

Permit the full holy joy in the Lord to carry you away: it will be safe to yield to it. “Rejoice in
the Lord alway: and again, I say, Rejoice.” (Phil. 4:4)

True, we are unworthy, but he invites us. We may not have such another feast just yet, and
possibly, we may have to go for forty days in the wilderness on the strength of this meal.
Therefore, let us keep the feast heartily. Prove yourselves friends by being free at his
Table. “Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved

while we serve like Martha, at the same time we commune like Mary, and shall feel no
fretfulness against others (Lk. 10:40)

5.1 ..three parts. 1-we have the presence of the heavenly Bridegroom — “I am come into
my garden, my sister, my spouse”;
2-, the satisfaction which he finds in his church — “I have gathered my myrrh with my
spice, I eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk”;
3-we have the invitation which he gives to his loving people — “Eat, O friends; drink, yea,
drink abundantly, O beloved.”

The voice of the Master himself calls us to consider HIS PRESENCE: “I am come.”
Is it possible for us to be like Mary Magdalene, seeking Christ while he is standing very near us?
His disciples who, when they saw him walking on the water, were afraid, , “It is I, be not afraid”
(Mat. 14:27)
He may come, and yet we may not recognise him; but here, when he comes, he calls us to
delight in it.
In answer to that prayer, the Beloved replies, “I am come into my garden.” “I am come!”
Prayer is always heard, and the prayer of faithful souls finds an echo in Jesus’ heart. How
quickly the spouse was heard!
!” “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” (Is. 65:24)
He is very near his people, and hence, he very speedily answers their request.
“She had asked for the Holy Spirit; she had said, ‘Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south’; …
and The answer is that the Beloved’s coming
His visit brings both north and south wind;. Spices always flow out from the heart when Christ’s
sweet love flows in; There was a full answer to her prayer, and there was more than an answer, for
she had just said, “Let him come and eat.” But, lo, he gathers myrrh and spice, and drinks of wine
and milk. He does exceeding abundantly above what she had even asked or even thought
(Eph. 3:20). the Son of God, answer us according to his riches in glory, giving us grace
upon grace out of his own inexhaustible fullness.

. We are so apt to overlook the answer to prayer.; it has brought down his presence,
the chief of all blessings,
hear him say I am with you, I have heard your prayers, and I have come to abide with you

Where 2/3 together in his name, there is he in the midst of them. (Mat. 18:20) Brethren, for
us to enjoy his presence as a church when we meet together.

Remember, he had not dealt with us according to our sins

How many have grieved the Holy Spirit by careless living and backsliding!
How most of us followed him afar off instead of keeping step with him in fellowship
but according to your love and mercy, you have blotted out our sins like a cloud, and, like
a thick cloud, our transgressions (Is. 44:22), and still condescend to come into garden.

If you take each word “I am come.” There is the personal presence of Christ who often
said, “I am come.” (Jn. 5:43, 10:10, 12:46)
 “I am truly come Many of his saints can bear testimony that they have seen his face and felt the
kisses of his lips, and have proved even this day that his love is better than wine.

“I am into his garden, , watching each flower, pruning every fruit-bearing plant His delights are
with the sons of men.
“My beloved is gone into his garden, to beds of spices, to feed, and to gather lilies.” 6:2)
“I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night day.” (Is 27:3)

be like the sunflower, which turns its face to the sun to refresh itself with its beams. Oh,
pant and long for his presence!
EVEN 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” to his own blood-bought people, that are his by purchase and
by power, and by the surrendering of themselves to him.,
The great Shepherd, will guard the fold.”, he will not allow even the least plant to perish

2 choice words, “My sister, my spouse.” There is one name for the garden, but there are
two names for her. The work is his work, the garden is his garden; but he wants
communion not so much with the work as with the worker; :.“My sister, my spouse.( dearness)”

“Come, beloved, commune with your Lord; come away from those cares and anxieties
which conceal you from your Lord:
“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy
countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, thy countenance is comely 2:14)

Let none of us be like the disciples in another garden when their Lord was there, and he
was in agony, ..Could you not keep awake and be with me for one hour??
If the midnight cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh” (Mat. 25:6)

It is his own voice; it is not “He cometh”, but “I am come.”

AWAKE , you slumberers; and with heart and soul, seek fellowship with him.
It would be a sad thing if, while Christ is with us, any were slumbering, and then should
wake up to say, “Surely God was in this place and I knew it not.” (Gen. 28:16)
Rather, may you invite him to come into your souls to abide with you until the day break
and the shadows flee away, and you behold him face to face! (Song 2:17, 4:6)

Christ is delighted with the offerings of his people. “I gathered my myrrh with my spice .” the
Beloved gathering myrrh of holy prayer, the bitter myrrh of repenting sighs and cries
You perhaps thought that poor wordless prayer of yours was never heard, but Jesus
gathered it, and called it spice;
Or whenever 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

, “Prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised”? (Ps. 72:15)
And you prayed for him, that his name might be as ointment poured out (Song 1:3), and
that he might gird his sword upon his thigh (Song 3:8) and ride out prosperously.
…he gathered his myrrh with his spice from you. No faithful prayer is ever lost.
Groanings of his people not forgotten; he gathers them as precious products

And may not spice represent our praises? These, as well as prayer, come up as incense
before his throne. Jesus accepts it, and says, “Whoever offers praise glorifies me.”
None of you shall appear before me empty” (Ex. 23:15, 34:20 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 him.. offered in his name, are they not also included in this
word, “I have gathered my myrrh with my spice”?

The Saviour’s satisfaction in his people’s love — “I have eaten my honeycomb” ..this
sweetness refers to Christian love, for this is the richest of all the graces,
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
Jesus Christ, no longer remembering his people’s past, sees in them grace, desires after holiness,
self-denials, communion with God, , this is to him like honey
He takes an intense satisfaction in our sweet fruits, which he himself has caused us to produce ;
despite imperfection, he accepts our love, , “I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey.”

our Lord’s satisfaction is compared with drinking as well as eating, “I have drunk my wine.”
.his joy, which is fulfilled in us when our joy is full?. And the milk —contains all the
constituents of our nourishment,
wine must be pressed from the grape with labour, and preserved with care
This is the wine.. the simple little deeds of love which need no forethought, the everyday
outgoings of their inner life — these are milk, and are equally acceptable to him. ..it is that
Christ finds pleasure is his people, in their various piety, he drinks his wine with his milk.

word “my”. repeated 8-9times. “I am come into my garden “my sister, my spouse.” Does he love her prayers
and praises? He says not, “I have gathered your myrrh with your spice.” Oh, no! “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”.
But Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?”
(Mat. 25:37, 44) Do you find any satisfaction in us? If he has got anything out of us, he must first
have put it in us;

“I have eaten”, , 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: “Which of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say
‘Go and sit down to meat?’ And will not rather say unto him, ‘Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird
thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?’” (Lk. 17:7-8) (1
Kings 17:12), listen to him as he answers, “Fear not, make me thereof a little cake first.” (13) Be assured
that, after you have done that, 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. “
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, saith 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.”
(Mal. 3:10) So you must find food for your Lord, and not till then, there will be food for you.

In the feast, the sweetest food, and the most nourishing and exhilarating drink, rarest perfume ,
Having given himself over to her, he delights in her, 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, selfsame delight. (Heb. 12:2)

INVITATION.The Beloved says, “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” When
you are satiated [filled] with his love, his table will still be loaded. Your cups may run over
, while our Lord is walking in his garden, finding satisfaction in his people, beware that we do not
neglect the duty 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 hearts. What did he say to the twelve when they
came back glorying that even the devils were subject to them?, “Nevertheless rejoice not in this, but
rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven”? (Lk. 10:20

,O taste and see that the Lord is good.”Ps. 34:8) You will tell others what you have tasted
say, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him from all his fears.” (Ps. 34:6)

Don’t forget to commune, or while seek serving others , you may miss personal fellowship with
the Redeemer. (Jn. 15:15)
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 bitterness.
Never seek the friendship of the world, nor allow your love for the creature overshadow
your friendship with Christ.
“Drink abundantly”? “knock, for God says it shall be opened. (Mat. 7:7-8)
My meat and my drink is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work”? And
what was the will of him that sent him? “It is not the will of your Father that is in heaven,
that one of these little ones should perish.” (Mat. 18:14)
The will of God and the will of Christ is this: to save sinners; for this purpose, Jesus born.
He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost..

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mat.
11:28) He never leaves the mercy-seat; he never ceases to intercede for sinners.
come now with a broken and a contrite heart and seek absolution at his hands
May the sweet bridegroom with cords of love draw you,

++++++++ 5:2-16

The bride hears the Bridegroom knocking at her door, but she excuses herself from rising
to admit him and acts as unkindly to him, as alas, we too often have done to our Lord
Jesus..her indolent excuses. How cruel she is to her friend! How selfish! How self-
indulgent! Have we not cause to blush, as in her conduct we see our own?
Although the spouse has been sadly negligent, and so had grieved her Lord, and made
him hide his face from her, yet she still loved him, and therefore was intensely earnest to
find him again. She hoped that perhaps her Lord would listen to others, even if he closed
his ear a while for her, the therefore she begged the daughters of Jerusalem to speak to
him on her behalf. When we are in darkness, the prayers of our brethren may be a great
service to us.

She was the well- beloved of the heavenly Bridegroom, but she was not without her faults.
She was not perfect even in the exhibition of her love for him who had chosen her,…. She
kept him waiting at her door in the chilly night, and grieved him so that he withdrew.
She was not perfect even to the end of the chapter, for she could not hear her Lord’s voice
as clearly as certain of her companions, and she cried in the last chapter of her song,
“Cause me to hear it.” 8:13)

Till the day break, our Lord will have to sanctify and cleanse his spouse “with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot,
or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:46-47
We have had mournfully to cry, “I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he
 gave me no answer” (5:6), while the watchmen have justly smitten us and wounded us for
our neglect of our Lord.
Let us bless God, that, he has saves us from despair by making us to know that
we may accepted, though we fall short, as yet, of the holiness which we pant after with our
whole hearts.

“Follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth” (Rev. 14:4);

I sleep”; but against this, wakefulness is claimed “…but my heart waketh — “it is the voice of
my beloved that knocketh.”
“I sleep”,. When children of God mourn over imperfections, there is evidently a root of
virtue in them; when they perceive the decay of their grace.

:. Be very thankful, when you have a tender conscience. Cultivate a quick perception, of
the slightest thought of sin.
Confess at once to God that you begin to sleep.
If you perceive the least degree backsliding, mourn before God, “Judge yourselves, that
ye be not judged” (Mat. 7:1) Act tenderly to others, but severely towards yourself.

We ought to complain of ourselves if we sleep, because it is a state of danger.

While men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. (Mat. 13:25
I will not give way to slumber, Lord, arouse me.” Sleep is a state of inaction.

You cannot walk the road to heaven asleep, nor preach the gospel as you should, nor
serve God, if you are in a spiritual slumber.

An apparent spiritual slumber may creep over us because the body is very weak and sickly, and here pity is
allowable, yes, justly due. Certain states and conditions of the flesh no doubt will overcome the spirit, as when
even the choicest of the apostles slept in the garden. The Master at first said , “What, could ye not watch
with me one hour?” (Mat. 26:40), but afterwards, he made a generous excuse for them and
said, “The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mat. 26:41; Mk. 14:38) Make
excuses for others, and let your Lord make excuses for you,
“God, be merciful to me a sinner.” May we not lay the blame of our impatience, our
unbelief, or our hastiness, on the body when we ought to take all blame to ourselves.
dangerous to admit an excuse. we should rather use heart-searching if slumber or idle

Are we are redeemed;, does our love decline into slumber? ..then powers of darkness are
on the alert, raging to do evil. Are we sleeping, when t adversary is preparing attack on us?
When men are dying, and are perishing by millions, can it be that we slumber still?

. Now is the time for much prayer: let him wrestle with this deadly foe till he is fully aroused.
Falling into indifference on the road to heaven is dangerous
. Oh, take care, you do not yield to sleep, for your Master is coming, and it may be that
within another hour you may hear the midnight cry.
“Come, wake up! My spirit, you shall not sleep!, I will crucify you to the cross,
.
cry mightily to God, “I sleep, my Saviour; awake me, I pray you!”. Anyhow, this sleep is an
evil which must be overcome. ..not yield to drowsiness. . Lord, lift me out of this frozen state;!

says the Bride, “I sleep, but my heart waketh.” inner life within which can never die,
Jesus said, “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life” (Jn. 4:14); “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Rom. 6:14):
God has the throne still, even when Satan rages most. This inward life shows itself usually
in the uneasiness of the declining heart..
 Give me more grace to love Jesus better and be more like him. Such a pleading heart is
still awake, though the mind may be dull. Desires prove wakefulness — “I sleep, but my
heart waketh.”

The spouse gave another proof of her wakefulness by her discernment. She says, “It is
the voice of my beloved that knocketh.”
Even when half asleep, she knew her Lord’s voice. It is true of all Christ’s sheep —
Resolve I will hear what the Lord will speak.” (Ps. 85:8) “Speak, Lord,thy servant hears”
Blessed is who, in his dullest state, can still discern, “It is the voice of my beloved.”

“Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”
(Ps. 73:25) .. The spouse has “dove’s eyes” (1:15, 4:1), and she sees from afar: and is back
again with all the speed of the chariots of Amminadib.

How does her heart wake up? It is because the voice and knock of her Beloved are heard.
Every child of God has wondrous union with Christ. “Because I live ye shall live also.Jn.
14:19 This is why you cannot sleep as others do, because he does not sleep. “
+He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep,” (Ps. 121:4), and till Christ’s spiritual
life shall altogether slumber out into forgetfulness and inaction, yours never shall.
+The mystic union between yourselves and him secures you from destruction ,
+Whosoever believeth in me shall never die”, and again, “…though he were dead yet shall
he live.” (Jn. 11:25)

But still, Jesus groans over your follies; they cost him wounds, , and death, and they must
cost you something, too, if you indulge them.
That field all tangled with thorns tore the shepherd when he sought you out, and thorns
will tear you also if you wander there.

The reason why you are awake at all is because Jesus calls you. His voice rings in your
ears through his Word both heard and read.
He more than calls; he knocks at your heart by affliction, by mercy, by warning,
He will do more with you yet if you are his; he will put in his hand by the hole of the door,
then you shall open to him and he will come and sup with you and you with himRev. 3:20)

the spouse had been with the Beloved in choice fellowship, and yet was soon drowsy.
He had given her to drink abundantly, and he had feasted with her, but,soon drowsy

Let us be careful whenever we rise to the summit of the hill, be careful to keep up,.
Be careful that nothing grieves him, lest he depart.
High joys may produce slumber; the chosen three upon Mount Tabor were soon overcome
with heaviness. (Lk. 9:7, 35)

do not forget the work of the Spirit in you. “I sleep”but My heart waketh.” Bless God for
any grace you have, even if it is only little.

Know his voice., “Incline your ear,: hear, and your soul shall live.” (Is. 55:3) “
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27), “and I give unto
them eternal life.”
May we be aroused out of all our sleepiness into a holy wakefulness, so as to serve the
Lord our God with all our heart and soul and strength. Come, Holy Spirit, and give us this
privilege, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

++++“I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, ‘Open
to me, my sister, my love, my Love, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks
with the drops of the night.’” (5:2)

she was in the enjoyment of the closest communion with him., “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, friends; drink, yea,
drink abundantly, O beloved.” (Song 5:1) Yet, from the height of this glorious fellowship,
how soon the spouse comes down to the, “I sleep, but my heart waketh”!

when your soul walks in close fellowship with him, BEWARE there is a devil around….
Be careful of your footsteps; even on the top of the mountain, even when Jesus is sitting
by you and whispering in your ear that you are his, watch yourself with greatest, care,.
To be with Christ is but a thing of a moment with you, but to be with your corruption is a
thing of every hour of the day.
Whenever you are in your best frame, be doubly careful, lest you should lose your Beloved,

That is true even of you who live nearest to God;, and enjoy the most holy fellowship with
him, would soon become hosts of Satan if your Lord withdraws his grace.
David’s eyes go astray, .. adulterer who robs Uriah of his wife. Samson slays 1000enemies yet
another day his honour is betrayed, Behold Solomon, the wisest of men, yet the greatest fool
Even Job fails in patience, and Abraham staggers as to his faith.
“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12) We find, at
one moment, that the spouse is so happy that she cries out, “Stay me with flagons, comfort me
with apples; for I am sick of love” (Song 2:5), and, at another moment, she is searching for her
Beloved, and cannot find him, and is mourning because of the darkness, (3:3)

If doing something for God, as routine rather than loving earnestness. You pray; mechanically, as a
man walks who is sound asleep.. sort of spiritual somnambulism. ..lack of vigour You pray; but it is
not that wrestling
You knock at the door, but not with that force which causes it to open.
Once your place of prayer was the witness of groans and tears, now without a single sob. And it is
just the same when you read the Scriptures. Once, the page sparkled with promises; but when you
read it now, it is very dull, and you no longer derive refreshing consolation from it.
5.2, “Oh, here he comes. Oh, he is always coming, always seeking…the constant coming of his presence
with you, always desiring to manifest himself to you, always being there. He comes and he makes great
effort. at night. dew..
“Arise, my love, tarry with me a while. Let’s sup together.”
BUT.. too tired to open your door to him..
To be turned away or shunned by a believer breaksHis heart.
The greater the love, the more exposed to suffering that love can become.
This is a God who loves and a God who calls and a God whose heart can be wounded reply is I am
tired.

5.4 the Lord that desires to hear us say, “Stay with me.Tarry with me. Turn in here, Lord.
Please.Please
But when he doesn’t hear that he is gone.
Oh, spend many nights awake, spend many days over that one verse that speaks about grieving the
Holy Spirit,
She jumps up. She goes. He speaks about handles and such dripping with myrrh and fragrance. There is,
tradition, when someone came to the door, , if no one was home they would leave their calling card., but it was
a certain fragrance, a myrrh, a perfume that they would pour on the door, that they would put in the door
handle to tell the one that they loved and the one they missed because they were not home, I have come and
you were not here.
And he leaves his fragrance.
But, you no longer heed his voice, , you no longer respond quickly and that presence seems to go. And then
your prayer life becomes one of clinging to a fragrance, but no presence, of going down on your knees and
crying out night after night, “Oh, God, I desire you.
Eg.. every time I get up in the morning and my body hurts it is a reminder of my deep need of grace and of
salvation. Every hair that turns gray and every one that falls from my head reminds me of my deep need of
God
Oh, kiss that hand that strikes you because it is that very hand that awakens you to the fact that you
desperately need God and you desperately need grace And every thing that God does in this
world that seems to be judgment and discipline, , to run to his mercy, , Every trial, is a good.
I have learned to kiss the hand that strikes me much more than kiss the one that feeds me because
it is those wounds that have saved my soul.
With regard to your wife, hold her in your arms frequently andtry to see her as 85 years old of 90, barely breathing, as frail
and tiny as though the wind could pick her up and carry her away, about ready to face the shadow of death. Look at her
that way and then ask yourself: Will there be regrets? Did I not love her as I should have loved her? Did I miss the
opportunity to give myself to this daughter of God?

. In this same sleepy state, we go up to the house of God to listen to his Word; and if our
sleep has got a strong hold on us, we cannot get any comfort. We begin to rail at the
minister because we are not edified as we used to be, and we think that a change has
come over him. but it is owing to ourselves.

Such a state as this is very sinful…, to be trifling with the eternal state, and playing at
prayer? Can you be so dull and heavy about eternal things,
Chosen in Christ, redeemed with his precious blood, quickened by the Divine Spirit, and
made partakers of the divine nature, how can sleep as others do?

Let the world sleep. But you should never sleep, when heaven is before us, and hell behind
us, when there is temptation everywhere surrounding us,?
A man who sleeps in his enemy’s camp is exposed to imminent peril.

I do not like trouble, and pray God to deliver me from it. I cannot well endure bodily pain; I find myself
impatient under tribulation. But be able to say that if I had my choice between the severest
affliction and a state of sinful slumbering, I would prefer to have the affliction.

“The greater our prosperity, the better should we love God; and the more our spirit is at
ease, the more we should serve him with both our hands, and render him hearty thanks
In these smooth waters, we are sure to meet with evil ; and, therefore, may the Lord in his
mercy watch over us when we are in much prosperity!

Is prayer as fervent and refreshing to your souls as it once was?

Do you find that willingness to pray that you once had?
Do offer up your prayers with coldness which once you offered with loving fervour?
You are in a dangerous condition, and
I pray by the agonies of Christ in Gethsemane, , by the blood of him who poured out his
soul to death, that you arouse yourselves from this deadly sleep;
for it is a state that will lead to some great and grievous sin, some black and terrible fall,
unless God prevent it by his grace.
First you sleep> slumber, >then you sin, >then you sin again,> then deeper still in sin> and
so unless God, in his grace, steps in to deliver you from consequences of dreadful sleep.

Yet, though I sleep, “my heart waketh.” a blessed sign that the spouse knows and confess it.
If you are slumbering, and are content to be so; then you are no child of God;

thirdly, REMEDY: the voice of my Beloved.”the only way to return is believe inJesus .
I will listen, then, not to the voice condemnation, but to the voice of my Beloved,
Hear, his Beloved in the gospel; he is your Beloved still, though you are asleep

But he does not sleep; and he calls to you, “Come to my bosom, my beloved; open your
heart to me. Come, my affianced and precious one,
+I have not put you away, though you have grieved me, and opened my wounds afresh.
+I have loved you with an everlasting love. Open heart to me, and let me come into
communion with you.” ..the voice of Jesus speaking to you through your minister,

“Turn from backsliding for I am married to you

“Let the unrighteous forsake his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Is. 55:7)

Hear, your Beloved’s voice; and if you do not hear the voice of your Beloved in the days of
prosperity, you will be likely enough to hear it in affliction.
If nothing else will keep you awake, the rod will.
If you sleep in prosperity, you will have adversity;
BEWARE If, God sees that we cannot stand our present peace and prosperity, he will
send his servant Death into our families; he will take away our possessions; he will place
us in adversity; he will wither all our fair flowers, and break all our idols and dash in pieces
everything that stands between our soul and him. Oh, that we were wise, and would hear
his gentle voice!
“Be not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be
held in with bit and bridle” (Ps. 32:9), but hear what the Lord says to you ..his Word, and
then you shall escape the rod
Bestir yourselves: let us labour for the winning of souls; pray for God will save sinners
and his name shall be glorified forever and ever. Amen.

Have unbroken and intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4) is the loving precept of our ever-loving Lord.
As in this world our bodies are subject to sicknesses, so our souls afflicted, and an evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the Lord..
If we follow Christ afar off, >Spiritual sickness, >yielding to a drowsy temperament.
Away from Jesus =away from joy.

She had no right to be asleep, for her Beloved knew no rest. He was standing outside in
the cold street, with his head wet with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night; so why
should she be at ease? He was anxiously seeking her; how was it that she could be so
cruel as to yield to slumber!
It is shameful for us to sleep because, for a little while, Christ tarries.
The world is perishing. We are sent into the world instrumentally to be its saviours —
let us not, sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober, (1 Thess 5:6).
Everyone who is asleep cannot see the enemy sowing tares among the wheat
Shall the watchmen continue to slumber
.The temptations that assail us every hour demand that we should stand with our loins girt;
and our danger is extreme unless we are always fully equipped in our armour.
(Eph.6:11,13) , Watch.” (Mk. 13:27)

Do not have spirit of indifference …private prayer, alas, it becomes a mere mechanical.
. Shall an agony of bloody sweat be recompensed by heavy eyelids?
Redeemed by blood, yet misspending time which belongs to your Redeemer!
Married to Christ, and yet absent from your Husband, ??

foul temptation of Satan if you say, “I am content to sleep so long as my heart awake.”
My brother, you may be sleeping through great worldly prosperity, for nothing tends to
slumber more surely than a gentle rocking in the cradle of luxury. .. To be surrounded with constant
worldly occupation, to be oppressed with many cares in business
Or sleeping because of overwhelming sorrow, even as 12 fell asleep when our Lord was in garden.
hear the voice of Jesus Christ: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous
therefore, and repent.” (Rev. 3:19) “Repent and do the first works.” (Rev. 2:5)
Turn to your Saviour now, before the sun goes down, exclaim with rejoicing, “I found him
whom my soul loveth: I hear him, and will not let him go.” (3:4)

Asleep as the spouse was, she knew her Husband’s voice, for this is an abiding mark of
God’s people. “My sheep hear my voice.” At first, the Beloved one simply knocked. His
object was to enter into fellowship with his presence

Jesus CRIES, “Open to me! Open to me!” Will you not admit your Saviour? He gave
himself for you, and he pleads for you: let him into your soul and commune with him

When you turn to read his Word, every promise is a knock

. He says, “Come and enjoy this promise with me, for it is yea and amen in me .”

Every threat is a knock. Every precept is a knock. In outward providences, every boon we
receive through our Mediator’s intercession is a gentle knock from his pierced hand,
saying,Take this mercy, but open to me. Every mercy comes through me;open to me!”

Every affliction is a knock at our door: that wasting sickness, that broken bone, that
consumptive daughter, that rebellious child, that burning house, that shipwrecked vessel,
and dishonoured bill — all these are Christ’s knocks, saying, “These things are not your
joys; these worldly things can afford no rest for the sole of your foot; open to me, open to
me! These idols I am breaking, these joys I am removing; open to me, and find in me a
solace for all your woes.”

Alas, Knocking, seems to be of little use.. so ungenerous towards our heavenly bridegroom
that he, the crucified lover of our souls, may stand and knock, and knock, and knock again,;
yet the door of the heart will not yield.

Then the Bridegroom tried his voice. If knocking would not do, he speaks in plain and
plaintive words, “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled.
” The Lord Jesus Christ has a sweet way of making the Word come home to the
conscience; Some have heard soft and sweet whispers in your heart, saying, “You are
saved; my beloved, live in the light of your salvation. Draw near ,enjoy fellowship with me,

Lord Jesus pleads gently saying, “Come with me oftener into secret prayer;
Acquire the habit of walking with me in your daily life ABIDE IN ME, AND I IN YOU”

“Open to me, my sister”, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, My dove”, my gentle one,
As his dove, how can you stay away from dovecote? How can you be satisfied without
your mate? One turtledove pines without the other;
Do deeply pine to have fellowship with the dear Husband of your soul
“My love” — Jesus calls us We say we love him; yet, so often be indifferent to him, ,
“Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.” (Jn. 21:17)
if we love him, let us crave his presence in our souls., mourn over such backsliding, since
it exiles you from your best Beloved’s bosom.

The Bridegroom adds another title, “My undefiled.”

There is a spiritual chastity which every believer must maintain; our heart belongs to no
one but Christ. All other loves must be gone; he fills the throne.
He has bought us; no other has paid a part of the price; so he shall have us altogether.
He has taken us into intimate union with himself;, as chaste virgins to Christ, undefiled
 What if, in the midst of this dark night, our Beloved comes to us ..shall he have to knock
and plead and cry? Yet shall we refuse to arise and give him the fellowship he craves?

notice his sad plea with which the heavenly lover closed his cry?, “My head is filled with
dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” his locks with crimson drops of night of
God’s desertion, when he “sweat as great drops of blood.” (Lk. 22:44)

Can you shut out the Crucified? Behold the Man, thorn-crowned and scourged, with on
his face spittle… can you close the door on him?
Will you despise the One who is “despised and rejected of men”? Will you grieve the
“Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”? (Is. 53:3)
Are you forgetting that he suffered all this for you, for you, After all this, , not even
admission to your loving communing?

some think it a very small thing to live a day without fellowship with God in prayer.
Probably ..sleepy state that read your Bible without enjoyment yet not feel alarmed
it causes him anguish over your indifference; these sorrows are drops bedew his head,.
Oh, will you grieve him? Will you open all his wounds and crucify him afresh, and put him
to an open shame?,
Open your heart to your sorrowful Lover who was smitten of God and afflicted. ..
Don’t keep him standing in the street.
Yet the spouse did not hasten to open the door,
no sorrow. She had put off her garments ..She was taking her ease “I have put off my tunic, I
cannot robe myself again. As for my feet, I have washed them, and to tread the floor to open the
door would defile them.

. Why did she put off her coat? The bridegroom had not come; she should have stood with
her loins girt about, and her lamp trimmed.
Her excuse ..As if : “O Lord, I know that if I am to enter into much fellowship with you, I must pray
very differently from what I have done of late, but it is too much trouble; I cannot stir myself to
so much energy. My time is so taken up with my business, I am so constantly engaged
that I could not afford time for retirement. I have to cut my prayers so short.”

if I were to live nearer to Christ, to give up things which I enjoy.

Excuses:. I have taken to read religious novels. ..you live as if you had a name to live, and were
dead? (Rev. 3:1) Jesus Christ comes and knocks, and reminds you that the happiest life is living
near to him, that the holiest, purest, sweetest hours you ever had were those in which you threw
yourselves on him, and gave up all beside. do not despise your Lord who died for you

Still, although shamefully and cruelly treated, the beloved Husband did not go away.
he “put in his hand by hole of the door”, and then spouse was moved for him.
He “put in his hand to comfort me, to sanctify me. He put in his hand, and she lamented
her unkindness. as she looked at that hand pierced with the nail mark, “

As she arose, searched for the alabaster of precious ointment to anoint his weary feet
No sooner did she reach the door than see the love of God for her! Her “hands dropped
with myrrh, and her fingers with sweet smelling myrrh.” Here is the Holy Spirit come to help
our infirmities. She begins to pray, and the Holy Spirit helps her . when our tears begin to flow
because we are far from Christ, those holy drops have myrrh in them.

An unction from the Holy One descends upon the soul when it is earnestly seeking
But that ought never to satisfy us.. do not rest satisfied with all the graces and gifts of the
Spirit of God, but seek after this most excellent gift, to know Christ, and to be found in him;
“He loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20);, “His left hand is under my head, and
his right hand doth embrace me.” (Song 2:6

The awakened one went to the door and opened it to her Beloved, for though he was gone,
Now she begins to use the means of grace in order to find him. “I sought him”, she says,
“and I found him not. I went up to the house of God; the sermon was sweet, but it was not
sweet to me, for he was not there.
Then she took herself to prayer. She had neglected that before, but now in real earnest: “I
called him; ‘Come, my Beloved, my heart wakes for you

Her prayers were many; day and night. “I called him, but he gave me no answer What did
she do then? Why, she went to his ministers, she went to those who were the watchmen of the
night, and what did they say to her.. they smote her… Sometimes a sharp sentence from a minister
maydiscourage and wound a despairing soul..
But you would have been rejoicing in him, and no watchmen would have smitten you, and
no keepers of the walls would have taken away your veil from you, for Jesus would have
been your Protector and your Friend.

As the poor spouse did not then find Christ, but was repulsed in all ways, she adopted A
LAST EXPEDIENT. She knew that there were some who had daily fellowship with the King,
daughters of Jerusalem who often saw him, and, therefore, she sent a message by them,
“If ye see my Beloved, tell him that I am sick of love.”

Enlist your brother saints to pray for you. Go with them to their gatherings for prayer.
Follow the footsteps of the flock, and you may, by-and-by, discover the Shepherd.

Tell him, “I am sick of love.”. longs for the presence of her Lord,
secondly , when she gets that presence, he is so glorious to her that she is ready to die
with excess of joy, “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.”

. Resolve in your heart, you never will be happy till you win the face of Christ..”
. If you are insatiable after Christ, he will feed you with himself. If you bid goodbye to all
the world, , and must have Christ, and Christ alone, then no hungering soul shall long be
kept without him. He must come to you. There are cords that draw him to you at this hour.
His love draws you to him, but your love draws him close to you. Do not be afraid, for your
soul shall be like the chariots of Amminadib, and you shall go on your way rejoicing. The Lord
grant it may be so for his love’s sake! Amen.

When the love of Christ is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), It does
not matter what outward trial; the Holy Spirit is able to make the heart live above it
Speedily seek him, never rest until once more I am restored to full communion with him.”

why was the beloved gone?

If we begin to fall asleep, we miss the quickening of our Lord’s presence..
Did you neglect prayer or without care for perishing souls, indifferent to the welfare of
Christ’s Church; feeding little upon theWord; and resorting little to assemblies of saints?

After the spouse had fallen asleep, her Beloved came and knocked at the door, saying, “ Open to
me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with
the drops of the night.” 5:2) Yet she refused to open the door to him.
Surely this is another sin which drives Christ away. When admonished for falling into a
drowsy state, we pay no regard to it. extreme peril to a soul that does not accept warning.
it is still more horrible to persevere in sin after gentle, loving dissuasions]
After having seen my fault, do I still persist in it? Have I been lukewarm and indifferent?
Does the Holy Spirit convict me of gradually backsliding, and still unconcerned
 The Beloved will not put up with these rebuffs forever. Out of love for us, he will hide his
face; if we grieve him, he will go; But if we walk disobediently towards him, he will soon
walk obstinately towards us.
it is a defying of his Spirit when you spurn his gentle admonitions.

idle excuses to Beloved knocking ….self-indulgence drives Christ away!

Your spiritual nature ought to keep your mental nature under control, and your mental nature
ought to keep your bodily or animal nature entirely in check. A philosopher will let mere passions govern him,
but a true Christian, having a yet higher spirit within him than the mere mind, should not, , allow his
baser nature to reign.
Don’t ever think “It is enough, my soul; you have much spiritual goods laid up for many years;
take your ease”? Do you think that there is no need for you to watch?
backsliding will soon make Jesus hide his face from us.

“your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face
from you that he will not hear.” (Is. 59:2) He chastises us,.” (Heb. 12:10) But when God
chastens us, it is for our profit. Our good is his aim, and his end in using the rod of
correction. . He nauseates our palate with the bitter fruits of disobedience, that we may
afterwards relish the peaceable fruit of righteousness. (Verse 11)

The presence of Christ can only be preserved with incessant watchfulness The sacred
Dove is soon disturbed. The Beloved is soon woken up and made to stir. Hence it should
be our cry, “I charge you by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor
awake, my love until he please.” (2:7, 3:5)

Backsliders suddenly cease to be followers of Christ, go back into the world, and perish.
But the Lord does not desert his people in this way. He has not cast away his people whom
he foreknew, and he never will. The withdrawal of his conscious presence is not intended
to slay us, though it brings us very low, and gives grace to keep the soul alive in its desertion.
The Holy Spirit no longer comforts the soul. The Word does not enliven The sweetest
sermons fail to cheer the heart
Instead of those delightful walks he had alone, when his soul went up to God in quiet
meditation, he finds his thoughts have all here and there
Alas, he has to cry, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted
within met?” (Ps. 42:5, 11, 43:5)

He is not so far gone but what, at any moment, he can return, and his return can at once
make our souls like the chariots of Aminnadib. He has gone, but not altogether gone
. He has not taken his love from us, nor shall his loving-kindness utterly fail. Still on his
hands, he bears the marks of his passion for our salvation.
He cannot forget us, though he hides himself. He may be asleep, but it is in the same
vessel with us, and near the helm. He may appear to have utterly deserted us, …but
can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of
her womb.” (Is. 49:15)

Oh, my soul, I charge you to be content with nothing till you get your Lord again. But when
he does come back, we must hold him fast and not let him go. Charge your souls to be
more careful in the future, lest you again provoke him to jealousy.
Oh, seek him early, and speedily! If it is sad to lose his presence for a while, what must it
be to live and die without Christ?

5.7 “The watchmen, who make the rounds in the city, found me. They struck me and wounded me
If the King had been walking beside her, They would have trembled.
We are cleaned by the King, dressed by the King, we constantly need His presence. The devil is
not afraid of sheep... He’s afraid of Shepherd standing over them.
When the church leaves her King, when her love towards her King becomes dull and puts herself
in a very precarious position. The high mountains of her pride, filled with lions. The streets are not
safe. She needs presence of her King

5.8 how special Jesus is? It’s hard rebuke, but it opens her heart, it makes her see. Rebuke
causes her to suddenly, she comes to her senses. And repents
Have you forgotten how delightful He is, because you’ve filled your life with so many other things
that it’s dulled your heart?And she comes to her senses and she says, “My beloved is..keps
praising his loveliness
5.10 the revival.. She begins to repeat what she knew.
This is my beloved..She begins to look at the Christ and striving and desiring to find some way to describe
the beauty and the grandeur and the glory and the worth of this one that she loves. When was the last time
you ever talked to a believer and tried to describe to them the glory and the beauty of Jesus.
5.16 “His mouth is full of sweetness and he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved She goes wild
expressing him ..the very glorious presence of His beauty sends her in raptures

++++++“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell

him that I am sick of love.” (5:8)
2-fold love-sickness. 1-when in full enjoyment of Jesus, even as bride elated by by the
tenderness of her Lord, 2.6 , “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.” ,.
2-Another kind of love-sickness in which the soul is sick, not because it has too much of Christ’s
love, but of the longing for it; sick, not because of excess of delight, but because of sorrow
for an absent lover.
It is, first of all, the soul longing for a view of Jesus Christ in grace; and then again, it is the same
soul possessing the view of grace, and longing for a sight of Jesus Christ in glory.

First, a soul longing for the view of Christ in grace.

+It is the sickness of a soul panting after communion with Christ.
+The heart is panting to be brought once more under the apple tree; to feel once again his
“left hand under her head, while his right hand embrace her
+to be brought into his banqueting house, and to see the banner of love waved over her,
and she therefore cries to have love visits renewed. It is a panting after communion.

it is a love sickness which has a blessing attending it: “Blessed are they that do hunger
and thirst after righteousness;”

The spouse had gone to her slothful rest, when her beloved knocked at the door. He said “Open to me, my
beloved; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” She was too slothful to wake
up to let him in. She urged excuses — “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet:
how shall I defile them?” The beloved stood waiting, but since she opened not he put in his hand by the hole
of the lock, and then her heart was moved towards him. She went to the door to open it, and to her surprise,
her hands dropped with myrrh, and her fingers with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock. There
was the token that he had been there, but he was gone. Now she began to bestir herself, and seek after him.
She sought him through the city, but she found him not. Her soul failed her; she called after him, but he
gave her no answer, and the watchman, who ought to have helped her in the search, smote her, and took
away her veil from her. Therefore it is that now she is seeking, because she has lost her beloved. She
should have held him fast, and not have permitted him to go. He is absent, and she is sick till she finds him.
Had not she loved, absence would not have made her sick, nor would her repentance have
made her grieve. Had she not loved, there would have been no pain because of absence,
It is a delightful thing to be able to know when we have lost Christ’s company, that we do love him
— “’Yea, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.
” When you can feel this consciousness that you love will soon work in you a heart-burning, so that
your soul will not be satisfied till you can tell out that love in the Master’s presence, and he shall say
unto you, as a token of forgiveness, “Feed my sheep.”
 She had sought him. In every ordinance, in every means of grace, in secret and in public
prayer, in the Lord’s Supper, and in the reading of the Word, she had looked after him, but
he was not there “
“Perhaps, he loves me still as he loved me then, my groans will constrain him and lead him
to my help.” So she sends the message to him — “Tell him, tell him I am sick of love
this love-sickness springs from union; she is part of himself
Her life is in Christ, it is hid with Christ in God ; her nature is a part of the divine nature;
she is a partaker of the divine nature.

When in union with Jesus, and this piece divided from the body, wriggles, like a worm cut
asunder, and pants to get back to where it came from.

she has done everything; emptied her soul out in prayers. .and so now she goes to her
companions“If ye find my beloved, tell him I am sick of love.” intercession of the saints..
“We will seek him with thee.” 6.1

Blessed your thirst— you shall be filled. Christ longs to give himself to you.
“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I
have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.”

secondly,. This love-sickness in a soul-longing for Jesus in his glory.

..she pants and pines. “Come quickly, even so, come quickly.” See how the spouse puts it
— “O that thou were as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should
find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.”
She longs to get hold of him; she conclude saying, “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou
like to a roe upon the mountains of spices.” There is a longing to be with Christ.
When you long after Christ, you loathe everything else —cannot bear anything besides.

Do I want wealth, and health, and strength? No —I grieve only for My Beloved
+his gifts are good but let me see his face; let me hear his voice. I am sick of love,
Nothing but He, can satisfy me, everything else is distasteful to me.”

Never be satisfied until you rest on Christ--What bliss to talk with God, crucified for me;
+To weep my heart out before him; to tell him how I love him,
+For he loved me and gave himself for me;
+To read my name carved on his hands and on his side
+ And to let him see that his name is written on my heart in indelible lines; to embrace him,
“To be with Christ, which is far better” than all the joys of earth.

If you cannot get to behold Christ face to face, make-shift for the time to see him in the
Scriptures, and to look at him through the glass of the Word.
+Want more, and more, and more, and more of Christ.
There is something very satisfying in Christ’s flesh, you will never hunger except for that,
but the more you eat of it, the more you may;
Let us strive to live near the cross.

++++“What is the beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy
beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?” (5:9)

It is the earnest wish of every Christian to win souls for Christ

The world will not care about my testimony with the lip, unless there is also a testimony in
my daily life for God,
 My life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3), and my conversation is in heaven (Phil. 3:20),
:. Shun worldliness, and sensual pleasure, so that others reckon you as the fairest
among women, and it will enquire anything about your Well-beloved.

WE should charge others concerning christ. “What is thy Beloved more than another
beloved, that thou dost so charge us?”
let your testimony for Christ be given without any flinching, We must so speak up for Christ
that men will be ask: “What is thy Beloved more than another beloved that thou charge us?”

Introduce Christ, , and hold him up as the great cure-all for diseases, problems
He must be able to tell of what he has tasted and handled of the Word of Life (1 Jn. 1:1),;
Nothing wins men like personal witnessing,
each one of us can proclaim Christ according to our ability, and according to the
circumstances in which he has placed us.

All who come in contact with us feel that christ is first and foremost in our lives.
Be rooted and grounded in the faith, and who, when they are asked for a reason of the
hope that is in them (1 Pet. 3:15), , not with fear and hesitation, but with holy determination,

See how the spouse does; she does not pause a minute before she gives her reply., “My
Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among 10000
Do study the Word, that your faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

+++++++“My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.” (5:10)
We must trust him, and we must love him.:
“Can I call the Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on Calvary, but who now reigns at the
right hand of the Father, can I truly call him ‘my Beloved’?”
She is quite sure about this blessed relationship; she raises no doubts, and she has no
fears concerning it
Seek to reach the blessed assurance, “This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend.” 5:16)

Our love for Christ is so sacred a passion that it is not to be talked of in all company. We
must not cast our pearls before swine. (Mat. 7:6)
But, we need never blush to own Him. Don’t be ashamed of loving Christ,

+When you have heard his dear name reviled, did you ever start for fear lest you should be
called on to share his reproach?
+ Did you ever sit silent when you ought to have spoken up because Christ was
being blasphemed?
Did you ever try to shun the conflict when, in very truth, it was cowardice that turned its
back on the Crucified in the hour of his need?

If so, SHAME ! humbly confess it on our knees alone,

What can there be to be ashamed of in loving him whom angels love, whom God loves,
whom all holy spirits love?
Some scarcely ever dare to speak the name of Christ in company.
Don’t be ashamed to avow your Lord!Christ who loved you, and gave himself for you
In the face of a scoffing world, stand to it, declare it before the crowd who mock you to
declare : “This is my Beloved — the Christ that died, the Christ that ever lives at the
right hand of God — this is my Beloved, and I am not ashamed to avow him.”

let us study Christ deep .. think much of his precious blood, Study Christ, o be able to tell
others of him, and do not be not slow in communicating to those of an enquiring mind what
 you have yourself heard, and seen, and handled, of the Word of life,
For so the spouse does in the chapter before us :
his charming complexion.“my Beloved is white.”: immaculate purity, the red, the sacrificial blood-
There is no spot in him; he is the Lamb of God without blemish,
The atonement.. our Saviour, every true heart ought to love him, to be won over to him. adore this
glorious Son of God, the brightness of the Father’s glory

next, the blood-shedding, the sacrificial character of Christ..; the Lamb of God was slain in
their stead, This is the chief reason, after all, why Christ’s people love him, because, in his
precious blood, ..pardon of all their sins, and access unto the Father, “We preach Christ
crucified, (1 Cor. 1:23-24), God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ.” (Gal 6:14)
His glory speaks for itself : despised and crucified Christ for our salvation,
look to Jesus, “white” in his spotless innocence, “ruddy” in his sacrificial suffering.

If Christ is indeed your Beloved, you are married to One who Eternal God
If your heart embraces Christ, and Christ is really yours, ..you have heaven itself

Be joyful in your Lord, let your heart go up to him, and rest in him;

and when you come to the Eucharistic table, let it be with your eye and your heart fixed on
your Beloved, who is “white and ruddy.”
You are black, poor sinner, but then he is white; and his white shall stand in the place of thy
black. You are black, but then he is ruddy, and his crimson blood shall wash away every
speck and stain of your sin
Christ is chiefest among 10000, lovelier, surpassing excellences.

“He is the Standard-bearer among ten thousand.” The “10000” warriors of God, enlisted to fight his battles
against error and sin. For a standard-bearer, there was need of a select man, with good strong arms, ..The
standard-bearer should be a stronger man than all the rest of the host
Lord Jesus Christ has come into this world, and set up a standard because of the truth
When on the cross, all the hosts of hell, , sought to smite him, and to seize the standard, too, but he bore it
still aloft; and this day, though he is now in heaven, with that standard
see this world conquered for Christ if we kept step with the Divine Standard-bearer.
Dare win souls for him? Dare in the streets, by-ways, to tell of salvation, and of Christ’s
finished work that saves from death and hell? The nations of the earth need the gospel; Are
there no men here who will follow Christ’s banner But there is the Standard-bearer; Christ is not in the
background. God give us to be worthy followers of so glorious a Standard-bearer as Jesus our Lord!
Lift up your eyes to heaven, and see him there bearing the standard at the right hand of God, are you
ready to rally, and sing the praises of him? He is coming soon,

+++++His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping
sweet smelling myrrh.” 5:13)

the spouse describes in detail the person of her Beloved. She is not satisfied with saying, “He
is altogether lovely”; but she delights to talk of the charms of each part of his sacred person, , so
that by it, she may, perhaps, win some other heart first to admire and then to love him.

you may look into the deep things of Christ, the hidden things of Christ and his secrets. The
more closely you look, the more you will be amazed, and astonished, and filled with delight.
the spouse to be speaking, and mentioning in detail 10particulars, ..it shows true love to
Christ when we want to speak at length about everything that concerns him.
. True love likes to become familiar with the object of its affection;

Love for Christ thinks of him from morning till night

 True love for Christ seeks to get to him, to live with him, to live upon him, and thus
to know him so intimately that things which were unobserved and passed over at first, stand out in
clear light to the increased joy and delight of the contemplative mind. :. study Christ more and more

1-: “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.”

“His lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.” Christ listened to is very precious:
Considerable difference between Christ looked upon and Christ listened to. There are
some who listen to Christ’s gospel, and they do well; but those who also look with eyes of
love ,contemplate not only what he says but what he is,, these have penetrated yet further
into the mysteries of Christ.

consider first point — Christ looked upon is very lovely.

His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.” But why do they mention his cheeks?
Every part of Christ is inexpressibly delightful. .in proportion as you are able to see him, your
delight will increase.
the cheeks that he gave to the smiters, know him as the suffering Saviour,
See great loveliness in those parts of Christ which have been most despised.
the cheek were exposed to special shame, …
the very words of the Messiah in his agony: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks
to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” (Is. 50:6)

Oh, if we could but gaze on his face as it is in glory, To think that ever the spittle of cruel
mockers ran a-down those blessed cheeks — that infinite loveliness was insulted with
contempt , blows and spittle of brutal men.
sad to think that his face should have been spit upon for your sake,

“It was I, with my vain and idle talk, proud speech, that spat into that dear face.” O glorious
love willing even to stoop to this terrible depth of ignominy that he might lift us up to dwell
with him on high!
every part of Christ is lovely, but that which has been most despised and most subjected to
suffering and shame for us is our delightful contemplation.

Meditate on those parts of Christ ..the blows on his eye , which looks in love on me,
. Do you care only for the lips that speak to you? Have you no love for the cheeks silent?
The cheek is the place of fellowship we exchange love. Yet..kiss of betrayal..

the same Spirit that rested upon him rests also upon us and so again we are one with him.
hear him say, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” (Jer. 31:3)

if you see any spots in the Church, , look at her glorious Husband, and you will only love
his wonderful condescension ..even when seen through imperfections of his redeemed.
Do not get distressed, because of your own imperfections, or the imperfections of others;
Complete sanctification is the lot of every redeemed soul. If we already have something of
his likeness, we shall go on to perfected in that likeness. Let that blessed consummation
be the subject of our constant prayer, and our confident expectation.

“His lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.” ..CHRIST listened to is very precious.
When he is silent, and we only look at him, he is lovely to our eyes; but when he speaks, we can
see “His lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.”

whenever we hear the voice of Jesus Christ, see Christ speaking. The gospel is very
precious; but, , Christ himself is even more precious than his gospel.
 It is delightful to readHis Word, but more delightful to come into communion with Him
Whenever you hear one of the Lord’s promises, think of the lips that spoke it and you will
love the promise all the better because you have thought of the lips that uttered it.
The spouse does not say in our text, “His words are sweet” but she speaks of “his lips like lilies,
dropping sweet smelling myrrh.” believe more in a personal Christ, and see the connection
between the mercy and the hand that gives it, and between the promise and the lips that speak it?

I get a mercy from my Heavenly Father’s love, just as my daily portion as I need it; given
day by day, as the manna fell, with our Heavenly Father’s love every time, a fresh token of
infinite grace and infinite love.
So, the mercy leads you to think of the hand that gives it, and of the Father who sends it,
as in the text it is not the words of the Beloved, but his lips which the spouse says are “like
lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.”

Christ’s lips are delightful ..with lips, he speaks to us, and intercedes with Father for us.
+When he pleads as the Intercessor on my behalf, his lips in God’s sight like lovely lilies.
+The Father looks at his dear Son’s lips,and blesses us because of Christ’s intercession.
+whenever Christ speaks to us, listen with eyes and ears wide open,

Don’t look to the lips of the preacher; but look to the lips of the Master,
Of course, you must hear a man speaking; but go with this view, that those lips which are
as lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh, should be the lips to which you really are
listening, and to whom you are praying all the time, “Lord, speak to me through the
minister, speak to me through the hymn, speak to me through the prayer, speak to me
through any part of the service —— only you speak to me, when those dear lips of yours
drop sweet smelling myrrh into my soul!”
. This blessing seek after day by day, ..the Word from his lips..for we need this myrrh for
the healing of the wounds that sin has made. We need this myrrh in our spiritual worship
that we may offer it up to God. and we shall get it through the Word when it comes fresh
from the lips of Christ

:. prize the Word of God, ..listen to the lips of Christ. ..hear him speak when his lips shall be
not as lilies, but as a flaming fire, and his Word shall be spoken then that shall burn as an oven,
and his enemies shall be consumed by it.
“hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, (Is. 55:3)
May God add his blessing to these words, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

+++++Yea, he is altogether lovely.” (Song of Solomon 5:16)

In these five words, the spouse here gives you her summary. She had delivered a tenfold discourse
concerning her Lord; she had described in detail all his various beauties,
Better have a glimpse of Jesus than see all glory of earth, and all the days of our life
“Lord, reveal yourself to us, that we also may be compelled to say, ‘Yea, he is altogether
lovely.’ Show us your hands and your side, till we exclaim, ‘My Lord and my God.’”
If you do but touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, you shall be made whole; but will this
always satisfy you? Will you not desire to get beyond the hem ,to his heart, and there
forever take up your abode?
KNOW HIM and the power of his resurrection
lack of meditation to be a very serious robber of the wealth of renewed hearts.
To believe a thing is, as it were, to see the cool crystal sparkling in the cup; but to meditate upon it is to drink
it up.. Meditation is of all things the most soul- fattening when combined with prayer
Meditate on his spotless character; the sufferings he endured on Calvary; follow him into
the grave, to the resurrection, to his triumphant throne.
Let your souls dwell on him, as prophet, priest, and king; pore over each one of his
characteristics, pause and consider every phase of him, and, when done this, begin again and again.
It is good to chew the cud by meditation, “Yea, he is altogether lovely
enrich yourselves in solitude, by feeding upon the Person of your ever blessed Lord!. You cannot know these
joyful raptures if meditation is pushed into a corner.

Another reason why little of the Lord’s beauty is discerned is the low state of spiritual life in many a
Christian. Many a believer is just alive, and no more. ..such starving souls? He cannot feed on
Christ for his appetite is gone — a sure sign of terrible decline.
PRAY To be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might (Eph. 6:10), to have the
wings of eagles with which to mount above the clouds of earth (Is. 40:31),
The Lord strengthen us with grace in our inner man, and then shall we drink deeper (Is.
25:6), and we shall see Jesus more clearly
We do not sufficiently delight in the beauty of the Bridegroom when he comes to us.
we grew cold and idle, and then he withdrew his conscious presence; but, alas, we were
not grieved, It is wretched work for a believer to try and live without his Saviour. ..you are
carnal, and worldly, and careless, and quite content to have it so. Jesus hides his face, the
sun is set, and yet it is not night with you. , may God rouse you from this lethargy,
Even if an affliction should be needful to bring you back from your backsliding,
O north wind, with all your cutting force, stir the lethargic heart ! May the Lord grant us grace so
to love Christ FULLY, and we may be ready to die with hungering and thirsting after him.
May we never be able to find a place to build our nest on while our wing wanders away from the
tree of life! Like the dove of Noah, may we drop into the water and be drowned sooner than find rest
for the sole of our foot except on the ark, Christ Jesus, our Saviour.

A second characteristic is undivided affection. “He is altogether lovely.”

“If any man love father or mother more than me, he is not worthy of me”? (Mat. 10:37).
See on his shoulder a hard rough cross; and if I follow him, I must carry that cross for his
sake. He is altogether lovely, cross and all. Whatever it may involve ,count even the
reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.
Jesus “altogether lovely” even in poverty, or when hanging naked on the cross, deserted
and condemned. We see unspeakable beauty in Jesus in the grave,.
His love to us makes him evermore “white and ruddy” to our eye. We adore him who was
naked for our sakes is now arrayed in glory. We know that the “despised and rejected” is
also King of kings, and Lord of lords, the “Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6) “Yea, he is altogether lovely.”

My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God” (Ps. 84:2) — the whole of the man
seeking after the whole of the Saviour; sweet and inexpressibly precious
Oh, to love him only, so that we have no eyes for other beauty, no heart for other
loveliness, since he fills our souls, and is to us “altogether lovely.”

The third characteristic is ardent devotion.

No gift is too great for Christ, though we give him all we have, and consecrate to him all our
time and ability, and sacrifice our very lives for him. No suffering is too great to bear for the
sake of the Crucified, and it is a great joy to be reproached for Christ’s sake.
+nothing hard to which he calls you, nothing sharp which he bids you endure.

Christ still unknown to millions, and His precious blood yet to cleanse nations., shall
Do we withhold our witness, and suffer the Lord to be dishonoured?

The Lord Jesus “is altogether lovely.”, I must be like him

we must share his love to men, his forgiveness of injury, his gentleness of speech, his
truth, his meekness and lowliness, his entire consecration to his Father’s will
He has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Is not that lovely? He has redeemed
our souls with blood. Is not that lovely?. He is pleading before the throne of God for sinners.
Is not this lovely?

THE soul that is familiar with the Lord worships him in the outer court of nature, where it admires
his works. But When that soul enters the inner circle of inspiration, and reads the wonderful words
of God, it is more enraptured, and the consequent love is more intense.
The Word is an inner court to the Creation; but there is yet an innermost sanctuary, and
blessed are those who enter it, and have fellowship with the Lord himself
We come to Christ, and, in coming to him, we come to God; for Jesus says, "He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father." (Jn. 14:9) When we know the Lord Jesus, we stand
before the mercy-seat where the glory of Jehovah shines out. …
stand in the Holy of holies, say, "Yea, He is altogether lovely.".

If we enter this sacred inner circle, we must become witnesses and speak of Christ,
"Yea, He is altogether lovely
If we are to know the full joy of this verse, we must come to our Lord as his intimates
He says, "Henceforth I call you not servants; but I have called you friends." (Jn. 15:15)
He calls on us to eat bread with him; yes, to partake of him by eating his flesh and
drinking his blood. (Jn. 6:54, 56) Oh, that we may pass beyond the outward signs into the
closest intimacy with himself!

he stands by the thorn-crown, and the wounds, and the visage more marred than that of
any man! (Is. 52:14) He suffered all this for us. "altogether lovely."
As for a word against him, it wounds us to the soul. Even an omission of his praise is a
torture to us. If we hear a sermon which has no Christ in it, we weary of it.

Lord in garments red from his sweat of blood, So lovely is Christ in His sacrifice
; yes, so lovely to his Father, that he makes us also lovely to God the Father, and we are
"accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. 1:6)

stand at Calvary and see the Saviour die, and hear him cry, "It is finished!" (Jn. 19:30), "He
is altogether lovely.
Even in heaven, the infinite Jehovah sees nothing which pleases him like his Son. The
Father from eternity loved his Only-begotten, and, again and again, he has said of him,
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
He is lovely, whichever way we look at him. If we view Him as in the past, entering into a
covenant of peace on our behalf; or, in the present, yielding himself to us as Intercessor,
Representative, and Forerunner; or, in the future, coming, reigning, and glorifying his
people; "He is altogether lovely
How lovely he was to my eyes when I was sinking in despair! To see him suffering for my
sin the tree. How lovely he is to us when we are sick, and the hours of the night seem
lengthened into days! "
How blessed, when we lie dying, to hear Him say, "I am the resurrection and the life"Jn.
11:25) he does not say, "I will give you resurrection and life," but, "I am the resurrection and the life."

tell others of him. know nothing ,save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2)
Make him the theme of conversation. People talk about ministers; but we beg you to talk of our Master
"This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!" 5:16)
Since he is so amiable, he must be "my Beloved"; my heart clings to him.. Whoever beholds
Jesus as "altogether lovely "will never rest till he is altogether sure that Jesus is altogether his own
. If you love him, he loves you: be sure of that. No soul ever cries "Yea, He is altogether
lovely" without sooner or later adding, "This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend."
Do not rest, any one of you, till you know of a surety that Jesus is yours.
"My Beloved is mine, and I am His 2:16, 6:3) ..rejoice in the priceless possession

Our delight in our Lord becomes a bond of union between us and others .. Our Lord has
become our centre; we meet in him, and feel that in him we are partakers of one life
"the Unity of the Church of Christ real union already exists. Our Lord prayed for those
whom the Father had given him that they might be one (Jn. 17:21-22), and the Father
granted the prayer: the Lord's own people are one.. Our union may not be in
denominations, but our union is in himself. That union, , we enjoy; and therefore we eat of
one bread, and drink of one cup, and are baptised into one Spirit (1 Cor. 11:14),

the gratitude we owe to him who loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and
sins; the love of Jesus is precious and worthy of daily praise.
.We ought to bless him for what he has done for us as Substitute on the altar of sacrifice
from before the foundation of the world; and for what he is doing for us as Advocate
While we contemplate, , his atonement, resurrection, his glory in heaven, and his second
coming, still, it is Christ himself, superbly beautiful as the Son of man, “He is altogether
lovely.”
Who can ever depict Emmanuel, God-with-us? His beauty was marred with sorrow. Still, his
courage so overshadowed his cares, the mercy he showed so surpassed the misery he shared, and
the grace he dispensed so exceeded the griefs that he carried,... His countenance must still have
been lovely even when surrounded with grief. How can we describe even the marred visage.
Anguish gave him a loveliness which else he would not have reached. His passion and
death put the finishing touch on his unrivalled loveliness.

Christ’s loveliness ..for now, after the flesh, know we him no more. (2 Cor. 5:16) It is his
spiritual beauty, of which the spouse says, “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” The loveliness
which the eye dotes on is mere varnish when compared with that which dwells in virtue
and holiness.
. Each virtue in our Lord is there in a state of absolute perfection: His sympathising
tenderness and love; was ever any so gentle as Jesus?
How he bows before the Father. Even his cross, at which his enemies stumble, is to be daily
proclaimed, and it will be seen to be one of his choicest beauties.
:. Perpetual praise.he is altogether lovely.” he is blessed for ever, Amen!

And he was lovely in his bitter passion, when, darkness overshadowed his soul, he prayed
in an agony of desire, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” (Lk. 22:42)
The bloody sweat did not disfigure, but adorn him. And oh, was he not lovely when he
died? Without resentment, he interceded for his murderers. (Lk. 23:34)
His patience, his self- possession, his piety, .., the hour when he said, “It is finished” and “
bowed his head”. and “cried with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

He is lovely in his resurrection from the dead;. Not a word of accusation did he utter
against his cruel persecutors, though he had risen clothed with all power in heaven
and in earth. (Mat. 28:18)
With such tender sympathy did he make himself known to his sorrowing disciples that,
despite the waywardness of their unbelief, their hearts’ instinct told them it was “the same
Jesus.” (Acts 1:11, 2:36) He is “altogether lovely”.

He will be lovely when he comes with solemn pomp,. 1 Thess. 4:17).” Yes, and he shall he
lovely forever and ever when our eyes shall eternally find their heaven in beholding him.
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever” (worthy of this word of praise —
“altogether lovely
The more we study the four Gospels, the more charmed we are..Lovely, when he talks to a
leper and touches and heals him; lovely, by the bedside when he takes the fever-stricken
patient by the hand and heals her; lovely, by the wayside when he greets the blind beggar,
puts his finger on his eyes and bids him see; lovely, , when he visits the mourners and
goes with the sisters of Bethany to the new-made grave, and weeps, and groans, and
majestically lovely when he bids the dead come out. (Jn. 11:43)

But he was just as lovely when he came from the garden with his face all besmeared with
bloody sweat; just as lovely when they said, “Crucify him, crucify him”; just as lovely, when
down those sacred cheeks there dripped the cursed spittle from the rough soldiers’ mouths;
and loveliest of all, when mangled, wounded, fainting, bruised, dying, when he said, “My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” uttering a plaintive cry of utmost grief

. Oh, happiest sight I ever saw when I beheld my sins rolling into his sepulchre, I beheld
him as my substitute bleeding on the tree. Altogether lovely was he that day
We shall soon lie dying. That seems to be a time when the Well-beloved takes the veil off his face altogether,
and sits by the bedside, and lets his children look into his face and see him as he is. ..when their hearts are
ravished with the loveliness of Christ.

the nearer you get to Christ, the lovelier he is Some things are only beautiful in your eyes for their novelty:
you admire them when you see them once; ..a dozen times, but later you would not care much for them.
But my Master? the more you know him, and the more familiar your fellowship with him,
“He is altogether lovely.”

Christ is altogether lovely, when men reproach him and rail at him, \
The Lord Jesus is more lovely to the soul which can bear reproach for him than he is to
any other. Put the cross on his back if you will, but we love him all the better for that.
Nail up his hands, but we love him all the better for that. Now fasten his feet; yes, but our
soul melts with love for him, and she feels new reasons for loving him when she beholds
the nails. “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, f and
became obedient unto death, of the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8
Beloved, keep on looking at Christ from all these points of view till you get to heaven, and,
each time, you will be more enamoured of him. Christ is altogether lovely
the day will presently dawn, and usher in the everlasting age when Christ shall be better seen, for
every eye shall see him, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. (Phil. 2:11)
Eternity itself too short for the utterance of all his praises.
:. praise praise praise praise praise praise praise Him unceasingly and forever in eternity

I beg you do not deny Christ your love. It is all you can give him. It is a poor thing, but
he values it..
He loves love. Love is his gem, his jewel. He delights to win your love and if he is indeed
altogether lovely, let him have your love.

Ask for grace to …“Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes” (Song 4:9); and
so all life long, love the Lord.
Is Christ altogether lovely? , do I love him as much as I ought? But what a poor, cold, chilly
love it is. How few are the sacrifices I make for him. How few are the offerings that I present
to him. How little is the fellowship I maintain with him.” is there a rival in your heart?
Do you allow anyone to come in between you and the “altogether lovely”?.
Christ must have all your heart;
.
A soul that is altogether given up to the love of Christ lives above care and sorrow. It has
care and sorrow, but the love of Christ kills all the bitterness by its isweetness
. “Abide in me”, says Christ; and if you abide in his love, you shall have his joy fulfilled in
 yourselves that your joy may be full. ..be filled up to the brim by knowing loveliness of
Jesus and surrendering your hearts to it.

Come, let us be married to him afresh ., yield again to his charms;

, surrender yourselves to his affection. Have the love of our espousals renewed.

think of the lips of Christ, of which the spouse had been speaking before she uttered—
“His mouth is most sweet.”
There are 3 things about Christ’s mouth that are very sweet.
1-his word: you have heard that. 2-his breath. Come, Holy Spirit, make m feel that.
3-his kiss. May every believing soul have that sweet token of his eternal love!

. Read the Word to find him. Cry to him in prayer and he will be found by you. He is so
lovely ..should not live without loving him; and don’t live spend another 24hours without
having a sight of his divine face by faith.+++++

Songs 5, Let my beloved come into his garden; here he has come, , how ready Christ is to accept
our invitations Rev 3.20, though we are backward to hear his calls
. When Solomon prayed that God would come and take possession of the house he had built for him, he did come; his
glory filled the house. Those tha throw open the door of their souls to Jesus Christ shall find him ready to
come in to them; and in every place where he records his name he will meet his people, and bless
them, Exod.20. 24. The invitation is very
freeand loving: Eat, O friends! If Christ comes to sup with us, it is we that sup with him, Rev. iii. 20.
He fills the hungry with good things; there is enough for all, be filled with the Spirit, Eph. v. 18.
drink abundantly, drink of the river of God's pleasures and be abundantly satisfied, Ps.65. 4.
V 2 The wise virgins slumbered. She was on her bed (3. 1), but now she sleeps. Spiritual
decline if not striven against at first, are apt to grow upon us. She slept> pious affections
cooled> she neglected her duty >indulged in her ease, was secure and off watch.
St. Paul himself was in danger of being puffed up with abundant revelations, and of saying, Soul, take thy
ease, which made a thorn in the flesh necessary for him, to keep him from sleeping. Christ's disciples, when
he had come into his garden, the garden of his agony, were heavy with sleep, and could not watch with him.
Grace remains still: "My heart wakes; my own conscience reproaches me for it, and ceases
not to rouse me out of my sluggishness. The spirit is willing, and, after the inner man, I
delight in the law of God, and with my mind I serve that. I sleep, but; I strive against it;
(1.) own spiritual slumbers are sorrow and shame that we have fallen asleep when Christ
has been nigh us in his garden. (2.) When we are lamenting what is amiss in us, we must
not overlook the good wrought in us, and preserved alive: "My heart wakes in Christ, who is
dear to me as my own heart, and is my life; when I sleep, he neither slumbers nor sleeps."
The call that Christ gave to her: It is the voice of my beloved; she knew it to be so,
He knocks, to awaken us to come and let him in, knocks by his word and Spirit, knocks by
afflictions and by our own consciences; (Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. Rev. iii.
20), He calls sinners into covenant with him and saints into communion with him.
Those whom he loves he will not let alone in their carelessness, but will find some way or
other to awaken them, to rebuke and chasten them.
When we are unmindful of Christ he thinks of us, and provides that our faith fail not. Peter
denied Christ, but the Lord turned and looked upon him, and so brought him to himself again.
Observe his moving call : Open to me, my sister, my love.. 1. He pleads for entry; he knocks
who could easily knock the door down. 2. He calls her most endearingly: My sister, my love,
my dove, my undefiled; he not only gives her no hard names, nor upbraids her with
unkindness for him, but, on contrary, express his tender affection to her still.
His loving-kindness he will not utterly take away. Those that by faith are espoused to Christ
he looks upon as his sisters, his loves, his doves, and all that is dear; and, being clothed
with his righteousness, they are undefiled.. Can we deny entrance to such a friend
3. He pleads distress, and begs to be admitted as a poor traveller that wants a lodging:
"My head is wet with dew, with cold drops of night; consider what hardships I have
undergone, to merit thee, which surely may merit from thee so small a kindness as this."
When Christ was crowned with thorns, blood from his blessed head, wet with dew . "Consider
what grief if a tender husband to be kept out of doors by his wife in a rainy stormy night."
V3 The excuse I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on again? ; Christ calls to us to
open to him, . We ought to watch for the Lord's coming with their loins girt, if they ungird
themselves and put off their coat, will find it difficult to put it on again;
Making excuses =making light of Christ (par. of wedding invitees)),
V 4 divine grace, made her willing to rise and open to her beloved. When he could not
prevail with her by persuasion he put in his hand by the hole in the door, to unbolt it, as one
weary of waiting, This is work of the Spirit by which she was made willing,
She was moved with compassion ..Tenderness of spirit, , prepare the soul for of Christ
Let us in pity receive him, and, for his sake, those that are his, who are in distress.
her hands dropped with myrrh upon the handles of the lock. Christ leaves a blessed
sweetness to draw us to him.. With this he oiled the lock, to make it go easy.. If we will but
rise up, to open to Christ, we shall find the difficulty we apprehended in it strangely
overcome,.
V6 .. alas! my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone
She still calls him her beloved, . Every desertion is not despair. I will say, Lord, I believe,
though I must say, Lord, help my unbelief. Though he slay me, I love him; he is mine
she continues seeking him;, those with true love for Christ, and yet have not immediate
answers to their prayers; but he strengthens them to continue seeking him,
St. Paul was answered with grace sufficient for him. (
V 10 is answer to v9.. be ready to instruct those that enquiring after ChristHis love to us
renders him lovely... He is white in the spotless innocency of his life, ruddy in the bloody
sufferings at his death,. Every thing else is dung in comparison of him, Phil. iii. 8.
:. Christ should have the innermost and uppermost place in our souls
His tender compassion and affection for his spouse, and the love he has to her even in her
desolate and deserted state.
"He is mine, my Lord and my God (whom I have chosen, and to whom I given up myself.
None but Christ, none but Christ. "Let others be governed by the love of the world,
But, JESUS my beloved. my soul's choice, my soul's rest, my life, my joy, my all;
this is he whom I desire to live and die with."

++++ Canticle 6
6.1 “EarlierShe scorned his love; treated it as common. .she’s been mocked by others. She has
hurt him in every way that she can possibly hurt him.
But ,she repents. V2 “My beloved has gone down to his garden, to pasture his.. He’s gone to
pick flowers so that when his erring, cold hearted bride returns to him, he can give her a gift.
the devil will lie the contrary .BUT A single glance from your eye and his heart beats faster.
You run from Him with excuses and as soon as you depart, He’s looking for gifts to give you…
hard to believe his great love.

6.2. “My beloved has gone down to his garden,, picks flowers and stands there at the door of a
garden with a bouquet of flowers for the one he loves.
how much this God loves you, how crazy and wild this love his, how powerful, stronger than fire is
this love that God has for you.
Can you offend him so much as to turn his love cold? Can you grieve him
Do you need to find God? No. Just go back to where you left. and therehe’ll be..
Get down on your knees. Call out to him Just sit there. Call upon him. And probably if you are
like me before you even get close to fulfilling the prayers you hope to make you will fall asleep,
but you will fall asleep with his arms wrapped around you. You will fall asleep with his arms
wrapped around you. Oh, what a place to be
reason why you can come into the courts of God: the blood of the Lamb. On the cross and His
Father turned all the wrath of Almighty God, that should have fallen down on us, throughout all of
eternity, fell down on the Lamb. And when the Lamb died, He satisfied justice and appeased the
wrath of God. He paid for every one of your sins- past, present and future. They were all
imputed to Him and He took them away. :.He says “You are altogether beautiful, my darling, there
is no blemish in you.” You go to hell if you have one blemish in you, Even on that day when
you commit sins and the dullness of your heart does not even allow you to see those sins, you
are still forgiven and can still come. Yes, you have to repent that sin,.

when someone goes before a judge and the judge acquits him, the judge then doesn’t invite him to go
home with him. God’s not only justified you, He’s adopted you.
He says, , “Come with me, my bride. And Satan is always telling them, “You can’t go. He knows
you’ve sinned.. Don’t go to Him!”But those are the words of the liar and a deceiver.
To keep yourself in the love of God.”Jude
find every verse in the Bible that talks about God’s immeasurable, unconditional love, memorize
it, meditate on it and to believe it., keep believing that God loves you as much as He says He
does.

He looks down at you and sees no spot, no blemish, He sees these beautiful adornments ..the
very things He gave you., He’s dressed you up with His own grace..
His bride is not perfect. But she is being perfected and sanctified and He who began a good work
in her will finish it. And He guards her zealously and the Spirit that is within her guards her
zealously and He disciplines her zealously because He loves her zealously.. She’s not perfect,
but she’s broken and she’s walking and growing and changing and He’s making something of
her.
Your main job is to protect the bride of Jesus Christ and to present her before Him a pure and a
chaste virgin. ..your work of protecting her and feeding her and guarding her and loving her and
presenting her one day before Him.

I am my beloved’s,and my beloved is mine.6:3)

OH for grace to remember each moment of my life, in every breath, every heartbeat
that I am my Beloved’s. and my beloved is mine’
Blessed be the name of my adorable Lord, for he is the beloved of my soul! He is better to
me than all things in the world beside. Father, mother, wife or husband, children and
friends, all these are dear, but Jesus is dearer far than these
How precious is that little word MY: how delightful to repeat it with the confidence
Yes, he is mine, by his own loving gift. “He loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
My beloved is mine, , my strength, , my heaven, and my all. Thou art my beloved, O lovely
Jesus, and my heart cleaves to you.

I am his by his father’s gift, by his own bloody purchase, by his triumphant conquest of my
heart, and by my own surrender to him
Remember, my soul, the solemn dedication which you made, ..confess now how badly you
have fulfilled your promise and covenant.
Adored be the grace which has had patience with an unworthy Renew consecration to Him :
I am to be Christ wholly without any reserve.

All that I am, and all I have, belong only to my Lord Jesus.
I am Christ’s alone. No one else can share with him; he is sole owner of my entire being.
Rivals he will not endure :.beware of any idol in my heart, and let me daily pray that

Let me be preserved as a chaste virgin, neither love any but my espoused Husband,
Emmanuel, my Beloved.
acknowledge this truth in my daily life Yet my dedication must not end here; I must carry it further than my
 Whatever I do, do all to his glory. (1 Cor. 10:31)
chamber and my closet.
Whatever he pleases to do with me, I must not murmur, for I am entirely his ,even if he slay
me (Job 13:15), he has a right to do whatever he wills with his own.

What shall I do for him to prove my love? Surrender to him ,all that belongs to me.
If he is pleased to take away some of my treasures, be resigned
Jesus, I am yours alone and to be yours, entirely yours, forever

+++++++Thou art beautiful, O my love as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army

with banners.” 6:4)
Unsheathe your sword, the Word of God you soldiers of the cross, arise from slumbers,
prepare for the war for his kingdom The Lord has redeemed you by his blood not that you
might sleep, but that you might fight for the glory of his name.
Preach the gospel of Christ, your Commander in Glory “For it is the power of God, and
the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:24). “We are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” (Rom.
1:16) “God forbid that we should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”Gal 6:14

The gospel is the voice of the eternal God, and has in it the same power as that which
brought the world out of nothing, and which will raise the dead from their graves at the
coming of the Son of Man. The gospel, the word of God, can no more return to him void.
Have faith in God’s Word, faith in the presence of the Holy Spirit, in the fulfilment of the
everlasting purposes,.

army with banners may signify constancy and perseverance in holding the truth “They shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make them free.” (Jn. 8:32) The martyrdom of saints is the result of the darkness hating the
light because the light makes manifest its evil deeds. There will be in proportion to holiness, and Christ-
likeness that is terrible to evilone
the great banner of the Christian is the uplifted Saviour. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me.” (Jn. 12:32 As the brazen serpent in the midst of the camp in the
wilderness, so is the Saviour lifted high, our banner. The atoning sacrifice of Christ is the great standard

You are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation (1 Pet. 2:9); and in you, the living God will
gloriously declare his sovereign grace.
. A people who pray can never be overcome because their reserve forces are never
exhausted. Go into battle, my brother; and if you are vanquished with the strength you
have, prayer shall call up legions of angels, If 10000 saints were burned tomorrow, their
dying prayers would make the church rise like a phoenix from its ashes. “The Lord of hosts
is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Ps. 46:7, 11)
We cry to the Lord, and he hears us; he breaks through the ranks of the foe; he gives us
triumph in the day of battle. Therefore, terrible as an army with banners are those who
wield the weapon of all-prayer.
Drawing near to the standard of the cross, the weakest soldier becomes strong
Martyrs are born and nurtured at the cross. It is the blood of Jesus which is life-blood of
self-denial; we can die because our Saviour died.

Jesus must reign; the crucified One must conquer. The hands nailed to the wood must
sway the sceptre of all kingdoms.
Am I a soldier in christ’s army? ? Do I fight? Do I endure hardness?
Are you soldiers who engage i actual fighting for Jesus, under his banner? Is the person of
Jesus dearest of all things to you?

One day before judgement-seat, ..the question: “Did this sinner hear the gospel preached?
If I am asked to provide my witness, I must say, “To the best of my ability, I tried to tell him
the gospel of Jesus Christ.” “Was this sinner prayed for by the church

Whoever believes in him is not condemned; to believe in him> you trust in him, and know
that God has given us eternal life — and this life is in his Son who suffered in the place of
sinners, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. (Jn. 3:16)

++++++Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” 6:5)
the loving heart of Jesus which is readily overcome by the love of his chosen one.

He left heaven to be one with her. He could not bear to see her ruin, but left his Father
that he might share her lot.
He died to redeem her: “found guilty of excess of love.”
His delight is in her now; she is lovely in her sight.
His eternal joy is to spring from her: he will see in her the result of his death-agony:
“he will rest in his love.”

Jesus is so overcome that he still gives all that he is, and his own self, to his beloved.

THE EYES OF HIS CHOSEN STILL OVERCOME THE LORD JESUS.

Because his eyes are full of love. Therefore is he overcome by our eyes when we are :
1. Looking up in deep repentance.
— seeking for pardon.
— when we pine for restoration from backsliding.
— Whenever we are struggling to maintain fellowship, and
mourning our breaches of it.
— Whenever we groan under inbred sin, and would be free from it.

2. Looking at him by faith for salvation.

— In deep distress still hoping on, and never removing our eyes
— day by day gazing at his wounds.

3. Looking for all things to his love alone.

— When in sore trouble, patiently submitting.
— When in humble hope, quietly waiting.
— When under severe tests, firmly believing.
— When in full assurance, joyfully expecting.

4. Looking in prayer.
— In personal trouble, like Jacob, pleading the promise, , “I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me.” The Lord says, “Let me go.”
— In compassion pleading for others, like Moses,Ex. 32:10; Deut. 9:14

5. Looking in rapturous, restful love.

— He is altogether lovely, and all mine: my eyes swim with tears
of delight as they gaze on him, and thus they overcome him.
— My heart burns with love to him, and I adore him; and this
wins everything from him.

6. Looking in sacred longing for his appearing.

— Pining for a personal revelation of himself to me by his Spirit.
— Most of all, sighing for his speedy coming in the glory of Second
Advent. He replies, “Behold, I come quickly!”Rev. 3:11, 22:7, 12)

If the church would but look to her Lord more, she would overcome the world more.
 1. Weeping for dishonour done to him,
2. Depending on him for our strength, our faith would give us victory through Jesu’s love.
3. Obediently following his commands,
4. Confidently expectant of victory,. Faith’s eyes calmly watching,
5. Eagerly pleading for his intervention, our tearful eyes move our gracious God.
Weeping eyes of prayer move the loving heart of Jesus:. Look to Jesus, and overcome

Matthew 15:28, “O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee as thou wilt.” He seems to
surrender at discretion, conquered by that faith which he had himself put into her heart.
Some devout persons find it a profitable exercise to bow the knees, and to look up. Using few words,
commune through a long upward pleading glance. “My God” “God be merciful to me a sinner”

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” (Song6:5)
THIS is the language of the Heavenly Bridegroom towards his spouse. In great
condescension, he speaks to her, and bids her take note that her eyes have overcome
him., there is nothing to be done but just to give a look.
The Heavenly Bridegroom confesses himself to be overcome by the very look of the eyes
of his spouse; she has but to gaze steadily at him, and his heart is vanquished by the
glances of her eyes.

the power that wins the victory in prayer has its real basis in the love of Christ himself. It is
because he loves us so much that he permits our prayers to conquer him.

Ages ago, before the earth was, Christ conceived in his heart the purpose to redeem from
among men a people that would be precious in his sight forever and ever. Through the
divine foreknowledge, he looked at his people, and recognised the person of every one of
them. He saw them all ruined in the Fall, all stained with sin, all contaminated in nature by
our first parents’ disobedience and rebellion. As he looked at them, he had a steady resolve
that he would rescue them, and perfect them, and lift them up to a level with himself, and
make them into a race that would praise God forever in heaven with “hallelujahs” and
“hosannas” beyond all the harmonies of angels.
His heart was so moved towards them that he longed for the time when he should enter
upon the great work of their redemption., “My delights were with the sons of men

His heart was always projecting itself forward in anticipation of that happy yet dreadful
day when he should be called upon to redeem his people. Every time he thought of them,
he was overcome with the very recollection of his great love towards them; and when the
long-expected day did at last come,

He was so overcome by the love he had for his chosen, that he left his Father’s throne of
light to become one flesh with his people, and to be made a man like ourselves,
You know, too, when he lived down here among men, how often his inmost heart was
stirred as he looked on the people whom he loved.
And specially, do recollect the scene on that last night when their redemption-price was
about to be paid. He took the cup that he was to drink, and sipped at it; but his holy soul
revolted from it, and, with the bloody sweat on his face, he cried, “O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me.” (Mat. 26:39)

Then he turned, and looked upon his people. Truly, there was not much to see in them. He
had taken three specially privileged apostles to be the representatives of all his chosen,
and those three were asleep when he was in his terrible agony. Yet somehow, the sight of
them seemed to strengthen him for the fearful ordeal he was enduring. Backward and
forward three times he ran to gaze upon them, and they so overcame him that he turned
back, and said to his Father, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt”, and went through
with that tremendous work of laying down his life for his people, and drinking the cup of
wrath that was their due. They overcome him as he had looked at them.

now that our Lord is risen from the dead, he still feels the power of the sight of his
redeemed. The great joy of Christ at this moment is found in gazing at his redeemed ones .
what does the glorified and exalted Christ think as he looks upon the myriads in heaven,
all of whom would have been in hell but for him? Then he looks down to the saints on
earth and sees the myriads who are all trusting in him, all conquering sin by his might, and
all spared from going down to the pit by the merit of his precious blood.
And he seems again to say, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me”,

What a day will that be when he will descend from heaven when all his people, raised
from the dead, , shall admire him, and he shall be admired in them!
what will be the joy of his heart when the “great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Rev. 7:9), all redeemed by his blood,
shall be gathered to Christ, and be the delight of his heart forever and ever!
That will be a joy sufficient even for the immensity of his infinite heart, as he sees in them
the reward of his awful agonies, for the shedding of his precious blood.
Satisfied as he looks on each one of his redeemed, and sees the fruit of his travail in
every individual child of his grace, in each sinner reclaimed, in each saint preserved and
perfected.
I can well conceive of him saying in that day, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they
have overcome me

THE EYES OF CHRIST’S CHOSEN ONES STILL OVERCOME HIM.

firstly, the eyes of his chosen overcome him when they look up in deep repentance,
glancing at him hopefully through their tears. O Lord! God, be merciful to me a sinner!”
When those tear-filled eyes are turned to the Lord Jesus, and sin is confessed again and
again with deep contrition and childlike repentance, it is not possible for him long to refuse
to grant the pardon we seek. He seems to say to the poor penitent, “Turn away thine eyes
from me, for they have overcome me.” I cannot bear to see you weeping and sorrowing so.
Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven you, for I have loved you with an everlasting
love. Go, and sin no more.” (Jn. 8:11)
There is a wonderful power in the full of every sin before the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember, once repented, we do not leave off repenting, for penitence is a grace that is
as long-lived; for we shall always be sinning.
So, whenever the child of God feels that he has gone astray in any way , even though he
was living near to God, he has gone back and grown cold in heart; he has only to come to
Christ again, and cry after him, and confess his folly in having left him, and his ingratitude in
having been so indifferent to him, and Christ will indeed receive him back again.
Seeing your weeping eyes,He says “Turnaway thine eyes from me, for they overcome me.”

Let our daily prayer be, “O my Lord, keep me from everything that would take me away
from your love”; and, at night, “Cleanse thou me from every secret fault” (Ps. 19:12),

Keep this tender conscience towards Christ, so that weeping for very fear of sin, still look
to him, then we will hold him spellbound, , and he will bestow the blessing which our soul is
seeking.

Another kind of glance that has great power with the Lord Jesus is when the soul looks to
Christ for salvation., “Look unto me, and be saved, (Is. 45:22)
Then he cries, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me”, (6:5) “I have
blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins”. (Is. 44:22)
 Many times we looked to Jesus Christ when a sense of sin has been very heavy on us.. you begin
to ask, “Did my sin really roll from my shoulders and disappear in the tomb of Christ?” When these
questions arise in your heart, stand once more at the foot of the cross, and look at your
suffering Lord.
While the eyes of faith are resting upon Jesus, he says to us, “Turn away thine eyes from
me, for they have overcome me.”

another overcoming glance- when we look to the Lord Jesus Christ for all things.
Jesus is our familiar Friend, we are intimately acquainted with him, taking all our troubles to
him, and asking him for all that we need., when we are in trouble, to lift up our eyes to “the
hills from whence cometh our help”. (Ps. 121:1)
Lord, I believe you will help me. Did you die to save me from hell, and will you not supply
me with bread and water while I am in the wilderness? Have you covered me with the robe
of your perfect righteousness, and will you not find me clothes to cover my nakedness, and
shield me from the weather? Have you done greater.. will you not do the less? Rm 8.32”
When trouble comes, keep on looking to him.,

‘Though thou slay me, yet will I trust in thee.’ (Job 13:15) My inmost soul is assured that
you love me, so I look to you still,
, my heart says, “My Lord, I cannot tell why you have smitten your servant again and
again; yet, if it be your love that makes you smite, smite on. Whatever is most for your
glory, do with me as you will.”

When yours eyes are like that, full of submission, , full of trust, it cannot be long before the
Lord will, somehow or other, deliver you; for he will say,“I cannot hold out against you any
longer. ‘Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.’ ‘I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt glorify me.’ (Ps. 50:15)
I”ll bring you out of furnace, for I only sit there as Refiner till I see my own image in you.
+ And when I see my eyes in your eyes, and my heart in your heart, and my character in
your character, then will I bring you out of the furnace as gold seven times purified.”

Blessed Spirit, give us such eyes as these, which will overcome even the heart of Christ!

when we are praying for ourselves : we overcome the Lord Jesus Christ
“Lord, I am in great straits, through my folly, Now, Lord, you promised that in six troubles
you will deliver us, and in seven there no evil shall touch us. (Job 5:19)
You said, Thy shoes shall be iron,brass; As thy days, so shall thy strength be.Deut. 33:25
You said all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)
You said ‘many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them
all’. (Ps. 34:19) Lord, I look to you to do this for me.” Just believe God, and fully trusts him
for everything. God grants him many mercies in answer to prayer
When a child of God, in deep distress, believes in his Father, and steadily looks to him for
deliverance, those eyes of his have mighty power, and God seems to say to him, “Turn
away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.”
say, “Lord, I am sure about your faithfulness, I am sure about your promise, and I cannot,
and will not, doubt it.” But before long, you shall see the hand of the Lord made bare for
your deliverance,. Thus prayer prevails with God when we present it for ourselves.

when we pray on behalf of others: we overcome the Lord Jesus Christ

Moses, prayed for others and prevailed. ..wrestle with the Lord for the souls of others?
Eg pray: , “O God, you have given me these children; now give them to me according to the
spirit as well as according to the flesh.. “Deny my children what you will, but do save them;
let them all be yours in the day when you make up your jewels.” (Mal. 3:17)

Be it unto you even as you will.” (Mat. 9:29)

when you get inward grief of heart over those with whom you have burden to pray for, ,
+when that grief increases till it comes to be a perfect agony, and you cannot help crying
out in anguish of soul when you feel as if you must have them saved, as if you would give
everything you had if they might be brought to Christ,
+ when you even wake at night to pray for them, and,
+ in the midst of your cares, you get distracted with the thought that some whom you love
are perishing,.. : At such times your powerful eyes in prayer shall move the heart of
Christ, and overcome him, and he shall give you those souls

if we do not pray for sinners,where will they go ?

if we do not plead for the abandoned, if we do not offer supplication for those who are
perverse in heart, we have omitted to pray for the very persons who most need our
intercession.
Let us bring these hardened hearts by prayer,
Let nothing hinder us from praying for all the unsaved, “O God, have mercy

Do not leave off pleading for them. If you have prayed for 20 years , and they are not
converted, pray 20 more; and if they have grown more wicked while you have pleaded, still
pray on; and if heaven and earth and hell seem to combine together to bid you cease your
supplications, still pray on.
As long as you live, make intercession for transgressors; and as long as they live,
let your cries go up to God on their behalf. So shall you “overcome heaven by prayer”
as you plead for the ungodly.

another time when eyes overcome the heart of Christ, : when we have turned r away
from the world, and looked to him alone
Here, he says to us as he said to Mary, “Do not touch me.” (Jn. 20:17) He lets us wait till the veil is
drawn up, and then we shall see him face to face, and be like him. Here, we have to live by faith
rather than by sight,
We have been alone with our Lord, in contemplation of our Lord, he is greatly moved by
our love, and he says “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” And,
he begins to reveal himself more fully to us.

Lastly, eyes overcoming Christ when they long for his appearing. Must I still linger in this
world of pain, and sorrow, and sin, and suffering? Why not let me go?”
.So is it with our dear suffering friends, at times; yet they have learned patiently to wait .
But often, their eyes have been so fixed on their Lord that they have said to him, “How long
Will you tarry?” And, at last, Christ looks so sweetly on his suffering ones, and said, “Your
eyes have overcome me, come up higher”; and they have leaped out of their body into his
bosom, and the pierced hands have received their blood-washed spirits, and they have
been “for ever with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:17
” Keep your hearts always longing for that blest hour! Keep you eyes ever looking upward,
and be ever ready to depart; and, Jesus say to you, as you gaze upon him, “Turn away
thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.”

+++++Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.6:12)

He had been for a while away from his people. They had grieved him, and he had hidden
his face from them. Out of very love and faithfulness, he felt bound to chasten them by
 hiding from them the brightness of his countenance.
But he began to think tenderly of her, he saw such beauties in her that his soul was
melted with her charms. Oh that he should see loveliness in his poor imperfect church
But he saw such loveliness about her that, , “Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my
spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes.” “Turn away thine eyes from
me, for they have overcome me.”
And then, musing upon her still, and coming into her garden, and seeing the various
graces like plants and flowers in their different stages of development, his heart began to
grow warm again towards her and all that concerned her…..and, like Joseph before his
brethren, he could not refrain any longer.
When he saw some of his people budding with desires, others bursting into the realisation
of those desires, when he saw some like ripe and mellow fruit on the bough, ready for
heaven, others just commencing the divine life, He was charmed to be in the garden of
nuts; or ever he was aware, he found he must be with his people; and he must return in
the fullness of his love to his church. ..his own soul began to stir.
Then as swift as the chariots of Amminadib, he sped back to his people to let them see
him again, and let them enjoy fellowship again. ...
he is so willing to blot out their faults once more, and to return to them again with mercies,
that his return is compared with swiftness and irresistibility to chariots of Aminadib

if communion between our souls and Jesus is suspended, it is not because he takes
pleasure in it. His delights are with the sons of men. 1000times he invites his chosen to
abide in him, to continue in his love, and to remain in his company. In this Song, he cries,
“Come with me, my spouse.” (Song 4:8)

:.seek him for renewed love, however serious our departures from him, If he, who is the
aggrieved party, is eager to be reconciled, at once rise to the blessed condition from which
our sin has cast us down. Jesus longs to embrace us, his arms are opened wide
“I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine
flourished and the pomegranates budded. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots
of Amminadib.” So Why we hesitate ?

Worship Him with all your soul.. My heart crieth out for God, for the living God.” (Ps. 84:2)
Only that prayer which comes from our heart can get to God’s heart;.

Prayer is of the Spirit of God himself; and it is when the Spirit comes upon us with divine
force, and makes our soul like the chariots of Amminadib, that we can pray; and at other
times, when that Spirit is not with us, we cannot pray as we did before.
Pray, cry out to Him, with groanings that cannot be uttered. (Rom. 8:26)

our sins are a much more serious hindrance to our devotion. Guilt puts us into such a state
that we cannot be bold in our faith, and childlike in our confidence,
Perhaps we have been angry. How can we come before the Lord calmly when our spirit has been
just now tossed with tempest? Or seeking the world, and going after it. How can we suddenly seek
kingdom of God and his righteousness in a moment? Or worry, as sick child at home, or a wife lying
suffering, or serious losses .Perhaps one has a very heavy heart to bring before the Lord.
Now, God’s grace can help us to overcome all these things, and can even make our souls
like the chariots of Amminadib.. The fact that a believer cannot at all times draw near to
God as his spirit would desire, ( Spirit willing but flesh weak ) So We want grace for such
emergencies

Recall gratefully the seasons when our heart is sweetly moved towards god . “Or ever I was
 aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.”
.We were “strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” (Eph. 6:10. With rapture you embraced
your Lord and said, “I will never let him go.” Stronger is love than death or hell
In private prayer sometimes, you had gracious access, prayer, and the love of Christ has come in
on you like a great flood tide muse his praise,

A little more service and your soul would become like the chariots of Amminadib.
Bring up your grateful memories that you may thank God for what he has done ; for, he will
do again in the future.
Get back to your first love, get forward to a higher love than ever you had ,

Thank God for that ache!. If your soul aches for God, he will come to your relief
If you long for reconciliation with God, he will come to it, and, before long, it will be better
for you than even the chariots of Amminadib,.

the Lord for whom you wait can suddenly appear,say to you, ; I have heard your petition,
and your soul shall have its desire.” Or ever I was aware, while my unbelief led me to think
such a thing impossible, you have made me like the chariots of Amminadib.

Or if you are low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. .. as empty and unworthy , the
Lord is looking down upon you with his infinite love “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no
spot in thee.” (Song 4:7)
Jesus Christ has washed you with his blood, and covered you with his righteousness. You
are united with him. In Christ, you are without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27)

he given his whole heart to me ..by bleeding on the cross? Oh, I must love him,
Shall such a poor worm as I love infinite perfection? Oh, yes, I must, since infinite
perfection deigns to love me

Or ever you are aware, your soul is making you like the chariots of Amminadib. And if you keep on
with those holy contemplations, you will leave off all misgivings about your love for him, so deeply
absorbed will you be in musing on his love for you. You will forget all the while about your sin,
while you recollect the blood that has put that sin away, the perfect righteousness that has
made you accepted in the Beloved, and the everlasting covenant which, through,grace.
..you are aware, your soul will make you like the chariots of Amminadib

+++++“Return, return, , that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As
it were the company of two armies.” 6:13)
THIS verse is not addressed in her doubting state, nor while seeking her absent Lord, but refers to her in her
very best condition, when she has lately come from enjoyment of fellowship with her divine spouse, and when
her soul is like chariots of Aminadib. ..believers who are rejoicing in the Lord look upon this text as their own.

She is addressed by a marriage name..This name is appropriate to souls who are united
with Christ, to those whom Christ has betrothed to himself in righteousness, who live in
union with their Lord.

You who abide in the Lord Jesus are, by a mysterious bond, made one with Christ;
and he has conferred on you his own name —:
“This is her name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.” (Jer. 33:16)

So close is the union between Christ and his people that the Holy Spirit actually transfers
that name“The Lord our Righteousness” to his Israel, his beloved.

There is perfection in every child of God, but not perfection in the flesh. We are perfect in Christ
Jesus; complete in him; spotless, by being washed in his blood; glorious, by being robed in
his righteousness. Every child of God arrayed in the wedding dress of the Saviour’s
righteousness.
Every believer stands in Christ perfectly accepted. (Eph. 1:6) name “Solyma”, means also peace
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:1
…repeated four times: “Return, return, O Solyma; return, return, that we may look upon thee.”

They desire to see the life of God in you. These daughters of Jerusalem also desire to look
upon her for their own delight; .. to have fellowship with the pure in heart — to see fruit of the Spirit
therefore 4 times the request to return is made. Saints look on the beauty of others that they may be enabled
to [copy] their excellence. Let us read with affectionate biographies of holy men, that they may
exciting us to exert ourselves in the Redeemer’s cause,.. to stir up own souls example

“in Solyma two armies — a conflict between good and evil?., darkness and light contending.
There is in the Christian, God working in him to will and to do of his own good pleasure,
and the
man himself working out his own salvation with fear and trembling. (2:12-13.. the blessed
confluence of the two armies of sanctified humanity and of God made flesh

Yet, not altogether sanctified . Christ has washed her and made her fair in his sight.
“By night on my bed”, here is her slothfulness; ““I sleep” lethargic; “but my heart
waketh”,Songs 5 . 2-5 The inward principle is still vital, still panting after something
better. ..her beloved has withdrawn: refusing but soon complying; the two natures battling;
the one fast closing the door, and the other opening it

Psalm 42 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him.”
“Nevertheless, I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
.Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee

Romans 7. Gal 5.17 , , “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would.” We are carnal and yet spiritual; lost in self yet saved in Christ; all imperfections and yet perfect;
incomplete in all things and yet complete in everything. Strange contradictions, but yet most strangely true!
If you look around, everywhere contending forces, .. orbs moved by a mysterious impulse, seek to fly off into
space, but the sun holds them by invisible bands. The force of the sun’s attraction would draw them at once
into his heat, but, on the other hand, the centrifugal force would drive them far away into distant space;
between these two they keep the circular orbit which God has at present appointed. So we have a corrupt
nature within us which would drive us to sin, and on the other hand the divine power within would
draw us into perfect conformity and union with Christ.
death and life are contending together. You breathe, but the same lungs which receive the fresh, pure air,
give out the noxious vapour.
The new nature which God implants in his people is directly the opposite of the old one.
the new nature is essentially grace — it is a living and incorruptible seed which lives
and abides forever, a seed which cannot sin, because it is born of God.

When these two, come into conflict, it is as when fire and water meet — either the one or
the other must die. There can be no truce,
; the life of the one is the death of the other; the strength of one the weakness of the other. Now,
the old nature has been there beforehand; it is like a tree well rooted — it has been
20,30,40,60,years, , and it is not easily to tear it up by its roots.

The reigning power of sin falls dead the moment a man is converted, but the struggling
power of sin does not die until the man dies. Satan, will never rest from stirring up our
corruptions, and on the other hand there is the Holy Spirit, who will never pause in the
putting out his divine power till all evil is cast up, root and branch.
If there is in you no conflict, it is because there is no divine power come there to drive the
evil one out. The more of these wars and fightings you feel, the more you have cause to
thank God and take courage. “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chron. 20:15)

You do not go to war on your own You shall overcome, through the blood of the Lamb.

Watch and pray.. Beware.. black things, have stained the character of holy men ,prove to us
how dreadful must be the power of sin, and how mighty must be the power which keeps sin down

. The Spirit of God always dwells in the believer. “My loving- kindness will I not utterly
take from him” (Ps. 89:33);
but yet your faith is often weak, that your love is not always like a flame of fire .
You cannot pray at all times as you would,
Do not any of you say, “I shall never be tempted again.”
Keep on praying..Lord have mercy on me , a sinner Let us be very vigilant there is an
enemy behind every hedge; :. Watch and pray at all times

“But why does God not remove out of the Christian the old nature?”
Sin remaining in the believer drives him humbly to confess his own nothingness, ,
compelling him to trust in his God, to value the precious blood which cleanses him, and
the Holy Spirit who sanctifies him,
and rejoicing in longsuffering of God who still continues to be gracious to him.
How much more glorious the victory because of the warfare! If I could be totally delivered
from sin. that no Christian would glorify God so much in heaven if there were not sin to be
contended with.

This contest, is it forever to continue? Yes, even at the present day, the Christian is
making progress “progressive sanctification.. he does advance in grace
You know that at certain periods in your children’s history they pass through diseases incidental to
childhood. the muscles are being braced and strengthened.
pray the Lord send his irresistible grace, that your soul be filled with all the fullness of God.
Just anticipate for a moment the glory of the victory. You shall be free from sin one day;
you shall be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect (Mat. 5:48);
Put your case into his hands, trust him, and you shall be more than conquerors
through him who loved you. (Rom. 8:37)

“Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and
terrible as an army with banners?” (6:10), “
“I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the
vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.” (6:11)
She did not sit down in the house to admire herself,: she went down into her Lord’s garden
to attend to her proper work, and then it was that they cried, “Return, return.”

But also: The old joys sometimes, in moments of weakness which come upon us, revive at
the memory, and attempt to mislead us…BEWARE
The world may even call us back to our old cares? We used to fret and worry until, by God’s
grace, we were led to try walking by faith, and then the Lord helped us to rest in his love and wait
patiently for him. Now, perhaps, for years we have had no burdens, for we have cast them on the
Lord:
in the morning, we told the Lordthe fears of the day, and at night we bless him for the mercy which
has averted all those fears. We have lived in sweet contentment ..and now, BEWARE the world
says, “You have spent too much of your money on religion; why did you not save it?., how
much richer you might have been! Come now, quit Return, return..
Beware: If you return from generosity to selfishness, from holy zeal to worldliness. Seek
what all the world seek after, ,
if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned.” (Heb. 11:15). BEWARE If we run away from our old master, and
wish to return to his service, his yoke is always ready for our neck. He will never deny us
employment, even though it is to feed swine.. He will come with seven others. Mat 12:45; Lk. 11:26
At times, these voices come from quarters to which our hearts lie open. Many a man has
been wooed from the ways of holiness by her that lay in his bosom. eg Samson. BEWARE

Do not think yourself secure Therefore, watch, and pray evermore.\

.” Get behind me, Satan…and treasures of Egypt, and the pleasures of sin

Solyma’s wise answer to her tempters. She says, “What will you see in Solyma?” Do you ask
me, O world, to come back and show myself to be your friend? What have you and me to do with
them? No, let us walk in the light, and have fellowship with God, and then our life shall be
hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3.
the world is crucified to us, and we are crucified to the world. (Gal. 6:14)

there is a new life in us, which life is the indwelling Spirit of God , “I will dwell in them,
and walk in them.” (2 Cor 6:16
You say, “Return, return, O Solyma; return, return, that we may look upon thee”, and our only
answer must be, “What would ye see in Solyma?” Nothing but that which would rebuke and anger
you: you would see a company of two armies, both fighting against you.

Come, , you who have been tempted to go back, you cannot even tolerate the thought. You
have burned your boats behind you,
To go back to the world. were to give the lie to the Word of God, would be to spit in
your Saviour’s face, to play the Judas, to sell Christ for pieces of money, or for the
filthy lusts of this present evil world
You cannot return; you cannot even look back.
, you will not even deliberate for a moment about it, but, flinging yourself into the
Beloved’s arms, you cry, “Lord, to whom should I go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life.” (Jn. 6:68) God help you so to do, for Jesus’ sake!

That is the first part of our subject.Now : we turn to listen, not with our ears only, but
with our hearts too, to the call of THE HIGHER VOICES which cry, “Return, return.”

to go to Christ, to go towards holiness, is a return to God’s people: for God’s people are
originally his children. Though prodigals, and have gone into a far country (Lk. 15:13),
To come to Christ, and holiness, and hear him, is to return

, as a child of God, I can hear voices out of the yet beyond, ringing out of the glory, and
crying to me, “Return, return.” My Father is in heaven, my Saviour is on the throne, many
brethren have gone before; all my heart is with my treasure, therefore I hear the shining
ones crying to me every day, “Return, return, O Solyma; return, return!” calling us to
come up higher.

To “return”,— come nearer to Christ, nearer to God, nearer to holiness. You are saved;
seek to be like your Saviour.
You enjoyed first love of your espousals: return to them; walk always in the light as God is
in the light.

Once you were in banqueting-house, and the banner over you was love 2:4): return to that
house of fellowship.
Everyday, seek to lose yourself more in Christ, to live more completely in him, by him, for
him, and with him. Return to greater heights of holiness,
Return to deeper self-denial, to braver service,
Return to to intenser love, to more burning zeal,
Return to be more conformed to your Saviour Jesus“

“O my best beloved, return, return, and come to me!” These are the higher voices.
Be always coming to Christ, as living stone (1 Pet. 2:4), and into closer fellowship with him
As he calls four times, is it not a hint that we are slow in coming?

We ought to come to Jesus not only at his first call, but even at the glances of his eyes,
when he looks as though he longed for our love.
It ought to be our rapture to think only of him, and live wholly for him
As we fail to answer first pleas, he cries 4times, Return, return, my beloved return, return.

Come to your own Husband, your own loving Lord.” He never ceases to entreat until we do
return. His incessant calls are his strong desire for us? He cannot be happy without us.

Still he sits down on the well when he is thirsty( for our love pleading “Give me to drink.”
(His people are his fullness; he cannot be filled if they are away.

Jesus must have us, or he is a Bridegroom without a bride, bereaved and barren. Oh, how
he loves us! How he longs for communion with us! Shall he stand and cry, “Return,
return”, and will we not come to him at once
He knocks and cries, “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my
head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” (5:2)

“Let me go; I must be with my Lord; his voice compels me.

Shrink to nothing again in the presence of your God. Come to the cross

Return to your first loving fellowship with Christ, Rev 2.4 ,for then the days were only
bright with his presence, and night watches not weary while you communed with him.

Return to the happy love of your espousals, when you went after him into the wilderness ;
Nothing was too hot or too heavy for you then; you were impetuous in seeking his
redeemed. You have grown lazy now,. Return to your first diligence in joyous service..
Oh, soul, come back to the highest you longed for!
You are married to him whose blood has bought you, and he cannot, will not, be in
heaven without you :. hasten to obey ..he says to you, “Return, return!”

He seems to say, “You have not been much with me alone lately; you have neglected the
reading of the Word, and the hearing of it; I have scarcely seen your face. Therefore
return, that I may look upon you.”

Cover your face and say, “Lord, why should you look upon me? I am full of sin, but draw
near to him, that his look of love may bring you to repent, and cause your sin to pass
away.,
, ‘Look upon me, Lord; search me, try me, and know my ways.’ (Ps. 139:23)
Return to him, that with infinite pity your Beloved may see what ails you, and then, with his
dear pierced hand, make you well again.

“Return, to Jesus, you have cost him so much, and he has loved you even to the death,
and loves you still; you ought to abide with him. Return to him that he may look upon you.
 When Lord looks on his people, he sees the reflection of himself: he can see himself in
our eyes, and therefore those eyes charm him so that he cries, “Thou hast ravished my
heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with thine eyes, 4:9)
he looks until he exclaims, “Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee.” (Song 4:7)
Return to your Lord, for he lovingly urges you to do so.
Let your heart and your flesh, like two armies, welcome him; let all your inward conflict aim
at coming nearer to him.
When shall I come into his presence and behold my God, my exceeding joy? Then will I
praise him with body and soul, with heart and with voice.
May the Lord keep us in his presence, for his love’s sake! Amen++++

Songs 6 those that truly love Christ are desirous that others should love him too, and be
joined to him;. ... the pious zeal of some may provoke many, 2 Cor. ix. 2. 3.
The spouse had bespoken their help in seeking her beloved (ch. v. 8); but now they beg
hers, Drooping Christians find benefit by talking of Christ, as well as do good to others.
We will seek him with thee. Those that would find Christ must seek him, seek him early,
seek him diligently; and it is best to join with those that are seeking him.
We must seek for communion with Christ in communion with saints. We know whither our
beloved has gone; he has gone to heaven, to his Father, and our Father. He took that we
might know how to direct to him, John xx. 17. We must by prayer seek him and with
boldness enter into the holiest,
v. 2, 3...Now she knows very well where he is ("My beloved is not to be found in the
streets of the city, and the crowd and noise ....he has gone down to his garden, a place of
privacy The more we withdraw from the hurry of the world the more likely we will meet
Christ, who took disciples into garden, to be witness of agonies of his love .
Expect to meet with him in his garden the church, for there he records his
name (Ex20.24); in the word, sacraments, prayer, wherein he will be with us always,
even to the end of world It is as if she had said, "What a fool was I to fret and fatigue
myself in seeking him where he was not, when he himself had told me where he was!
(The spouse here refers to what Christ had said (5.1) I have come into my garden. HolySpirit brings them
to our remembrance, and we wonder how we overlooked them.
Christ has told us that he would come into his garden; ..his church assembly..);
the spices and lilies are believers,. When Christ comes down to his church it is,
(1.) To feed among the gardens, to feed his flock,
. He comes to feed himself, with the products of his own grace in his people; for the Lord
takes pleasure in those that fear him. He has many gardens, many churches of different
shapes; but, while they are his, he feeds in them all, manifests himself among them,
(v. 3): "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; the knot is tied, cannot be
loosed; " She had said this before (2. 16); but, (1.) Here she repeats it ..resolved to abide
by. Our communion with God is kept up by the frequent renewing of our covenant with
him and rejoicing in it. (2.) She had to repeat it, for she had acted unkindly to her
beloved, and, he had justly withdrawn :. She had to take fresh hold of the covenant,
which continues firm, notwithstanding their failings, Ps.89. 30-35.
"I have been careless yet I am my beloved's;" for every transgression in the covenant
does not throw us out of covenant. His chastenings are not only consistent with, but they
flow from covenant-love. (3.) When we have not a full assurance of Christ's love we must
live by a faithful adherence to him.
"Though I have not the sensible consolation I used to have, yet I will cleave to this, Christ
is mine and I am his." (4.) Though she had said the same before, yet now she inverts
the order, and asserts her interest in her first: I am my beloved's, entirely devoted and
dedicated to him; and then her interest in him and in his grace: "My beloved is mine, and
I am happy, truly happy in him."
If our own hearts can but witness for us that we are his, there is no room left to question
his being ours; for the covenant never breaks on his side. (5.) It is now her comfort, ,
that he feeds among the lilies, that he takes delight in his people and therefore, though at
present he be withdrawn, "I shall meet with him again. I shall yet praise him who is the
health of my countenance, and my God."
V4 Christ, having forgiven and forgotten all her unkindness, he speaks very tenderly to
her. Thou art beautiful, O my love!.... the heavenly Jerusalem (in it God has his
sanctuary, it is his rest for ever, and therefore it is comely as Jerusalem, and, being so,
is terrible as an army with banners..the word (the weapons of her warfare) casts down
imaginations (2 Cor. 10. 5 The saints by faith overcome the world (1 John v. 4);
V5 He owns himself in love with her, Though, for a small moment, , he had hid his face
from her, yet now he gathers her with everlasting lovingkindness, Isa.54. 8.
Turn away thy eyes from me, forthey have quite overcome me, and I am prevailed with to
overlook all that is past;" as God said to Moses, when he interceded for Israel, "Let me
alone, or I must yield," Exod.32 10.
V 5-7 He repeats, almost word for word, part of the description he had given of her beauty (4.1-3),
her hair, her teeth, her temples (v. 5-7), not because he could not have described it in other words, and by
other similitudes, but to show that he had still the same esteem for her since her unkindness to him, and his
withdrawings from her, that he had before. Lest she should think that, though he would not quite cast her
off, yet he would think the worse of her while he knew her, he says the same of her now that he had done;
for those to whom much is forgiven will love the more, and, will be the more loved,
(v. 8, 9)... but my dove, my undefiled, is but one, a holy one.... the beauty of holiness
is beyond all other beauty: " that makes her excel all queens
V 10 The beauty of the church >awful as an army with banners. .. Believers are soldiers
in this army. It has its banners; the gospel of Christ is an ensign , the love of Christ, 2. 4.
V 11 f Christ having now returned to his spouse, , he gives an account distance and
reconciliation. (1) That when he had withdrawn from his church as his spouse, , yet even
then he had his eye upon it as his garden, which he took care of (v. 11): " observing how
the vine flourished, . Christ observes the first early buddings of devout affections.(2)
irresistible, inclination in his own bosom to return to his his spouse, being moved with her
lamentations after him, and her languishing desire towards him (v. 12): "Or ever I was
aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib; I could not any longer keep at
a distance; and resolved to fly back to the arms of my love, my dove." Thus Joseph made
himself strange to his brethren, for a while, to chastise them for their former unkindnesses, and make trial
of their present temper, till he could no longer refrain himself, but, or ever he was aware, burst out into
tears, and said, I am Joseph..
Christ heard the voice of her supplications, and became like the chariots of Ammi-nadib,
"the chariots of their faith, and hope, and love, their desires, and prayers, and
expectations, which they sent after me, to fetch me back, as chariots of fire with horses of
fire . Ifwe continue seeking Christ and longing after him, even when he seems to
withdraw from them, he will graciously return to them in due time, perhaps sooner than
they think
(3) having returned to her, kindly courted her return to him, ..Let her not
despair ..earnestly pressed: Return, return; and again, "Return, return; recover the peace
thou hast lost; come back to thy cheerfulness; Why art thou cast down, O
my soul?
V13 Having returned, she is desired to show her face: That we may look upon thee. Go
no longer like a mourner. .come boldly to his throne of grace. Christ is pleased with cheer

+++++ Canticle 7
“Come my beloved, let us go into the field, ..villages. ..early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine
flourish, whether the tender grape ..pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The
mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I
have laid up for thee, O my beloved.” 7:1-11)
Cry, and pray for a larger harvest as his reward for the dread sowings of Gethsemane and
Golgotha, in bloody sweat and streams of vital blood.
May God, by his Holy Spirit, inspire you with zeal for the work that awaits you, and cause
you to walk in fellowship with Jesus in all that you do.

the spouse acts with reference to her beloved.

It is for him that she goes out into the field etc
Love is most powerful motive to holy service“..love of Christ constraineth us.2 Cor. 5:14
his pierce hands ,feet, the sacred marks of his passion. stir your souls

the crucified One say, “My brethren, my blood-bought ones, for whom I laid down my life,
there is yet much to be done to extend my kingdom. There are precious souls, your
brothers, who do not know my name, who must be brought in. There are ignorant ones to
be taught and sinful ones to be restored.” And suppose he anoints you to go and save
souls, go with joy. to receive a commission from those dear lips.

Jesus walks among the golden candlesticks, and is in his church now, saying to every one
of his people, “Go and serve me! Seek my blood bought ones! Help my feeble ones! Feed
my sheep and my lambs!”
Let your heart say, “Jesus, my beloved, what you bid me do, my soul shall perform,
because you have said it.

“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is towards me..he is loving you now, and that his heart
is looking out through those dear eyes which once wept over Jerusalem,
I loved you so that I gave myself for you,. I love you still as much as I loved you on
Calvary’s bloody tree.”
This will make you strong in the cause of your beloved.. venture for him.

the love of the spouse is lived in fellowship with the Lord Jesus “Come, my beloved, let us
go, let us lodge, , “There will I give thee my loves.”
True love to Jesus grows stronger and stronger in proportion as it abides in him.
We are cold in our love because we live at a distance from him.

Abide in habitual, continuous fellowship with Jesus; not to have occasional spasms of
delight in God, but one unbroken rest in him.
Continue “looking unto Jesus.” Cling to Him (Heb. 12:2)
Have his praise continually in our mouths, and his love yokes us with the Son of God,

This love leads his beloved to hold all things in joint possession with Christ.
Observe that word “at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits.”
Love for Jesus constrains us to make over all that we hold to him
. Love will not stand to have divided properties. Such was the love of Jesus that he gave all
that he had to us. He could not bear to have anything, not even his throne itself, that should
be altogether his alone. He stripped himself to his last rag to clothe us, and then gave us
his breath to be our life, and his blood to be our health;

we are all Christ’s, that if we have any ability, it is Christ’s ability — to be laid at his feet;
if we have money, it is Christ’s money — to be used in spreading his church.
Oh, to have more and more all things common with our Lord, and no longer to speak of
mine or yours!
Beloved, we are joint-heirs with him; all that we have is his, and all that he has is ours.

Consider once more the love which is the great motive for Christian action, a love which
looks to Jesus for united operation.
It is, “Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us get up early to the vineyard .”
Oh, it is glorious when Christ comes withus, not the servant alone, but the master looking
through his servant’s eyes, and speaking with his servant’s tongue, and pleading with his
servant’s heart.,

Knock at the people’s doors to tell them of the Saviour, when Jesus knocks as well as
you (jointly), and the crucified goes with you among the fallen, and the profane.
All is well when Redeemer leads the way.
Do not be afraid, for you go with Jesus to save souls
Who among us will be afraid to do anything, or go anywhere, when Jesus says, “I will go
with you”? “Lo, I am with you alway”. (Mat. 28:20)
Such was the prayer the spouse sent up, and doubtless she was led to pray for that which
God will grant. Let us pray with her as she prayed.

Come, Saviour, come up with us , as we go to save souls for you! If there are any
brethren here who are working away for you in dark places, dear Saviour, be their light!

. Come with us, Lord. This is the fellowship we desire of you, the fellowship of labour and
of soul-winning.
+We would not only sit at your feet to learn, but + take up our cross and follow you.
+We would go with you wherever you go; we would fight, or labour, or suffer, or live, or
die, at your bidding. Be this the fellowship you will bestow upon us!

,LOVE leads us to go afield in service of Jesus. “Come, my beloved, let us go f into field.”
She has a large heart towards her Lord, and longs to see him reign over all mankind.
She does not wait to hear again and again the Macedonian’s cry, “Come over and help us”
She does not tarry till she is forced by persecution to go abroad, preaching the Word
everywhere,
“What more can I do for him?” When she looks over the plot of ground she has been tilling,
she says, “It is not large enough: the harvest I can get out of this will not be sufficient for my
dear Lord”; and she says to him, “Let me go to the regions beyond, to break up the fallow
ground, and cause the wilderness to blossom.” (2 Cor. 10:16)

“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mk. 16:15)
:. by the love you bear to your crucified Master, by his wounds and death for you,
and by his living love to you, seek out the lost and gather together the outcasts .
Tell them; thus saith the Lord “Come ..though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.”Is. 1:18)

the spouse is prepared for any discomfort that may come as the result of her labour.
She must necessarily leave palaces of her royal husband and lodge in rustic cottages.

if you serve the Lord Christ in breaking up fresh ground, you may have to meet difficulties
and sacrifices, but they will be as nothing to you; you will welcome them for his dear sake.,
“Lord, I am your spouse; I will go out with you into the field, and I will lodge with you in the
villages, if there I may but glorify your name.”
Win souls for the Redeemer. ..seeking after Christ’s blood-bought souls,

spouse says, “There will I give thee my loves.” It is as much as to say, if Jesus will go with
us into active service, then we will reveal to him the love of our hearts.

Men are perishing; can we let them perish? Would we suffer a soul to be lost even though it
was given to us in exchange to enjoy the highest fellowship with Christ?, I entered into the
joy of the Lord when he rejoices over one sinner that repents (Lk. 15:7-9

Laziness has no communion with Christ. Those who walk with Christ must walk swiftly.
Don’t while away the hours with chat.

Jesus has no fellowship with you who do not care for souls that are perishing
. He is incessantly active, and so must you be if you would know his love.
Missionary are toiling hard for souls , and Jesus must not be served by slothful hearts.
+get up early, and go afield with him to work with him. Your joy shall be in spending and
being spent for him.

LOVE LABOURS ALSO AT HOME. Nearer the palace there were vineyards, and the
spouse said, “Let us get up early to the vineyards.”
Also look well to the Church. “Let us see if the vine flourish.” The Church is Christ’s vine; let
us take stock of it. Each must look after his brother Watch and pray over one another,
, show your love for Jesus in the Church itself,
measure your love for Jesus, not in the way we talk, or criticise other workers, but by the
way in which we shall henceforth labour for the Lord.

love in a church brings out all its stores for the beloved…There are all manner of pleasant
fruits among us. ..old fruits, the experience of believers, . Every good thing in a church is meant to
be stored up, not to be despised and forgotten; and ought to be laid up for our Beloved.
+each one of you should bring out his pleasant fruits, whether new or old. .., All we have
belongs to him, and to him alone, and at his feet we would lay the whole.
Eg.if you have any love, pour it out on him; if you have any faith, exercise it for him; if you
have any courage, be bold for him; if you have any endurance, endure hardness for him; if
you have any grace, any virtue, any gift of his Spirit, , use it for him.

Put out of your substance,what you give into the pierced hand; make that your treasury.
Jesus is your Master.
No one else has bought you, no one else has died for you, no one else will receive you
until his fond embrace at the last, no one else is preparing heaven for you, no one else can
say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” (Mat. 25:21, 23) Serve him, then, with both
your hands, with all your heart, with every drop of blood in your veins, and every
breath in your lungs. Give him yourself, your whole self, from the sole of your foot to
the crown of your head,

+++++++“Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get
up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the
pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our
gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my
beloved.”Song 7:11-13)
THE daughters of Jerusalem had been praising as the fairest among women. They spoke
of her with admiring appreciation,. She wisely perceived that it was not easy to bear praise;
and therefore she turned aside from the virgins to her Lord, making her boast not of her
own comeliness, but of being affianced to her beloved: “I am my beloved’s, and his desire
is toward me.” 6:3, 7:10)

spouse abruptly break off from listening to song of t virgins, and turns to her own husband -
Lord, communion with whom is ever blessed says to him, “Come, my beloved, let us go
forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.”.

Live near to Jesus, Don’t bother if you live on mountain of honour, or valley of humiliation.
Live near to Jesus, and the glowing coals of the furnace cannot consume you,
Living near to Jesus, you are covered with the wings of God, and underneath you are the
everlasting arms. (Deut. 33:27) If you read the 3 verses before us with attention, you will
see that the Church all through anxiously desires fellowship with her Lord.
 It is “Come with me” — “let us”. She will do nothing unless she is near to her beloved

she desire 3 things: 1- self- examination; to go and see whether vine flourishes, and
whether the tender grape appears; but it is self-examination with him.
2-She desires next to go into active service: that she would lodge in the villages and go
among the tender plants, that she may labour there, but it is with him — “Let us go!”
3-she has a store of fruit laid up for him., old and new, but they are all for him “They are
laid up for thee, O my beloved.”
SELF-EXAMINATION.
This is important to have communion with Christ Search whether we are in faith 2Cor13:5
and whether, being in the faith, our graces are growing, and our love deepening.
she seee whether the vine flourished, whether he tender grape appeared, and the
pomegranates budded forth; for our spiritual vineyard needs perpetual watchfulness. While
you attend routine duties, keep up your communion with Christ,

See him fastened to the accursed tree, Look at his griefs, Behold his awful agonies,
+gaze into that visage more marred than that of any man,
+listen to the heart rending shriek, “Eloi! Eloi! Lama sabachthani?”
Christ suffer all this that souls might be saved
Am I, one with Christ, and a partaker of his passion?: search myself …
I have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin (Heb. 12:4); but if it must be, , then
let it be, so that I may but be found one with you, washed in you blood and covered with
your righteousness.
7.12 “Let us get up early. The dew of the morning, is a choice for all holy work. must give
her best hour to this necessary work; and as the work might be long, she gets up early that
she may have a long day before her; that before the sun goes down, she may have
examined every vine, and looked to every pomegranate, and examined all the mandrakes
of the garden. So we must set to work earnestly with self-examination.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there
be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps139:
“Lord, come with me.While I examine myself, abide with me to help me in the work.”
I cannot be careless when Christ say,“My food is to do will of him that sent me.Jn. 4:34
I cannot be careless when I see him pleading for my soul with never-ceasing intercession,
I cannot be sluggish. Wake up, be stirred up, examine yourselves

“Have I been washed in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness?” (Zech. 12:1)
Am I accepted in the beloved?” “never shall I be condemned; for many waters cannot
quench his love, and, loving me as he does, he will never condemn me, nor cast me away.”

never look at sin apart from the Saviour. If you gaze at the disease and forget the remedy, you
will be driven to despair.. If you see your own emptiness, and forget his fullness, you will
never glorify his name. If you are lost in a sense of your sin, and forget that in Christ, you
are raised up together, and “sit together in heavenly places in him”. (Eph. 2:6)
Examine yourselves, but let it be in the light of Calvary
+Are your wounds my hiding place? +Have your nails nailed me to your cross?
+Has spear which pierced your heart, pierce too my heart, and broken it with grief for sin;
+Am I crucified with you to the world, buried with you as to the power of sin, risen with you
to newness of life,

Come, let us look to the vines and the pomegranates, but let us make sure that our
 crucified Lord accompanies us;. It appears, from the words of the spouse, that the work of self-
examination should be carried on in detail, , “Let us see if the vine flourish, the tender grape
appear and the pomegranates bud forth.” Is it an active living faith? Does it work by love ?
watch that we do not let small sins grow

If you wish to be exact in prying into every part and corner, take Jesus with you. “Tempted
in all points like as we are” (Heb. 4:15), he will know all the points in which we are
tempted; and, while we are earnestly examining, his gracious finger will point out the spots
where our weakness lie, and we shall thus fulfil the prayer we have often prayed: “Search
me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps. 139:
You have to pass through the fiery furnace: do not enter it unless, there is a fourth with you,
like unto the Son of Man. (Dan. 3:24-
Oh, keep close to him, , and then there shall be no fear but that you shall be found by him
at the last, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. (Eph. 5:27)

Some people imagine that one cannot serve Christ actively and yet have fellowship with him., “The keeper of
the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” 1:6). Mary was not praised for sitting still; no,
but for sitting still at Jesus’ feet.
Those who have most fellowship with Christ are not the ones who are hermits, who have
much time to spend with themselves, but are the useful who are toiling for Jesus, and who,
in their toil, have him side by side with them, so that they are workers together with God.

We worship God better when we hear his Word, reverently receive it, and are moved by it
to love and gratitude.
, “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” (Ps. 84:2) May I feed on him
the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few

Crucified Jesus stripped off his very garments, and in all the nakedness of self-denial, gives
himself up that he may save others while himself he cannot save.
.”
winfor God souls. pray for one soul every day
You tried to talk to that one person the other day: you burst into tears when you heard the answer
you received. You have been praying for months, but instead of seeing any answer to your prayer,
the person prayed for is growing worse.. Satan s whisper to you, “Give it up!” But never do so.
never to give up praying for that soul,

. Oh, for a vision of the Saviour’s face covered with the spittle! ..marred and bruised by the
rough soldiers! Behold him as his back beneath thongs of the cruel whips! See as Pilate
brings him out, (Behold, the man!) Mark him as he treads Via Dolorosa!
they lift him up on high and dislocate his bones! ..feel grief ..sipping at the cup which the
Saviour drained to the dregs.
some denied themselves all the comforts of life, and have lived in suffering and poverty out
of love for Jesus, and from a sincere desire to benefit their fellow-men. ..
whose passionate love no labour or persecution could extinguish, who have fed the poor
and nourished the sick. ..gone into the hospitals, among diseases the most contagious,
andhave risked life and lost life for the sake of nursing the sick

the Saviour in all his agonies doing so much for us, but we do next to nothing for him!.
May wedo more for him, by keeping close to Jesus, we shall produce better fruit,

desires to give to christ all that she produces. She has “all manner of pleasant fruits”, both
“new and old”, and they are laid up for her beloved.
 We have some new fruit new life, new joy, new gratitude: we wish to make new resolves and
carry them out by new labours. Our heart goes up in new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself
to new efforts. But we have some old things too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that one, and
Christ, delights in it! There is our first faith: that simple faith by which, having nothing, we became
possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we knew the Lord; let us revive it
How faithful God has been! In sickness of ours..In flaming furnace, he delivered us, so
that not even the smell of fire passed upon us. Old fruits, indeed! We have many of them,
for his mercies ..Old sins we most regret, but then we have had repentances which he has
given us, by which we have wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of his blood.
We have fruit, new and old;— they are all to be for Christ.++++++

Songs 7 The title Christ gives: O prince's daughter! agreeing with Ps. 45.13, . She is so
in respect of her new birth, born from above, , bearing image of King of kings, and guided
by his Spirit. She is so by marriage; Christ, by betrothing her to himself If children, then
heirs.
A copious description of beauty of spouse, .. to express his love to her and delight in her,
as before 4.1, & 6.5,6. the beauty of holiness is such as nothing in nature can reach.
That commendation of spouse, ch. iv., was immediately upon the espousals (3. 11), this
upon her return from a by-path ( 6. 13);, to show constancy of Christ's love .he loves
them to the end,
Her feet praised; the feet of Christ's ministers are beautiful., feet sho to the rule of the
gospel d with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and walk steadily against troubles
The nose , the forehead set like a flint undaunted against the devil.. v. 5. The head of a
believer is lifted up above his enemies . The more we get above this world, and the
nearer to heaven, and the more secure.
V6 Holiness is a beauty beyond expression;.
mouth : prayer is his delight. And, when we speak of the Lordto one to another the Lord
hears with pleasure, Mal.3. 16.
The presence of Christ by his Spirit makes the lips even of those that are asleep , to
speak. , and out of the abundance of the heart that is thus filledthe
mouth will speak. filled with the Spirit, speak to themselves in psalms and hymns, Eph. v.
18, 19.
(v. 10), "I am my beloved's, not my own, but entirely devoted to him and owned by him."
Christ's desire was strongly towards his chosen ones, .., he was even straitened till the
baptism of blood he was to pass through for them was accomplished, Luke12. 50.
Christ longs to have his spouser with him, John17. 24; 14. 3.
She humbly and earnestly desires communion with him (v. 11, 12): "Come, my
beloved, let us take a walk together, that I may receive instruction, and comfort from thee,
and may make known my wants and grievances to thee,
As blessed Paul, who desired yet more and more of the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus, Phil. iii. 8., ..still more and more of him.
the spouse covets togo to villages, to get out of the noise of the town. Let us go forth to
him without the camp, Heb. xiv. 13. Solitude befriend communion with God;.. Isaac went
out into the field to meditate and pray. Enter into thy closet,..commune with your Beloved
Jesus.
, Wherever we are, we may keep up our communion with God, for he is always at
ourside , his eye always upon us, and both his word and his ear always nigh us.
In our routine life, take Christ along with us whererever we go.
She is willing to rise early to go with her Beloved to the vineyards. .. lose no time, but,
as the woman went very early, to a sepulchre, Begin every day with him, seek him early
She content to take up her lodging in the villages huts ..mean ,cold dwellings, she will
gladly reside, if she may but have her beloved with her A gracious soul can reconcile
itself to the poorest accommodations, if it may have communion with God in them.
She desires to know state of her own soul (v. 12): Let us see if the vine flourish. .
We are made keepers of vineyards, ..to look into them, to examine state of our own
souls, to seek whether vine flourishes, 1-whether our graces growand 2-whether fruitful,
and 3-whether our fruit abound. it will be good to take Christ along with us, because his
presence will make the vine flourish and the tender grape appear, . we must beg of him
to search and try us,
he will come in to us, and sup with us, Rev. iii. 20. 1. She promises him her entire heart
for him: "There therefore will I give thee my love;
She promises him her best provision, v. 13. " The fruits of grace are pleasant to the Lord
we must have all sorts of, grace for all occasions, new and old, , for the service of Christ,
which we have heard, learned, experienced lately, but must retain that which we have
formerly gathered; nor must we content ourselves only with what we have laid up in store
in the days of old, but, as long as we live, must be still adding something new to it, that
our stock may increase, and we may be thoroughly furnished for every good work
. It is all from him, and therefore it is fit it should be all for him.

++++Canticle 8
Songs 8 The affections between Christ and his spouse are as strong and lively in this closing chapter
The spouse continues her importunity for more intimate communion and fellowship with
him, ver. 1-3. II. ..not to interrupt her communion with her beloved (ver. 4); and they,
thereupon, admire her dependence on him, ver. 5. III. She begs of her beloved, whom
she raises up by her prayers (ver. 5), that he would by his grace confirm that blessed
union with him to which she was admitted, ver. 6, 7. IV. She makes intercession for
others also, that care might be taken of them (ver. 8, 9), and pleases herself with the
thoughts of her own interest in Christ and his affection to her, ver. 10. Christ charges his
spouse that she should often let him hear from her (ver. 13), and she begs of him that he
would hasten his return to her, ver. 14).
The spouse wishes for a constant intimacy with the Lord Jesus.
She was already betrothed to him, but, the nuptials being yet not solemnized (the bride,
the Lamb's wife, will not be completely ready till his second coming), she was obliged to
be shy and to keep at some distance; she therefore wishes she may be taken for his
sister, and that she might have the same chaste familiarity with him that a sister has with
a brother, an own brother, that sucked the breasts of the same mother with her, who
would therefore be exceedingly tender of her, ... for a more intimate communion with
him, that they might receive the Spirit of sanctification, and so Christ must be as their
brother, ..by grace made partakers of a divine nature, and he that sanctifies, and those
that are sanctified, are both of one, Heb. ii. 11, &c. It becomes brethren of the same
parents, that have been nursed at the same breast, to be very loving to and tender of one
another; such a love the spouse desires might be between her and her beloved, that she
might call him brother.
Be ready to confess Christ and our sole, intimate affection for him before men, and not
fear being despised for it, as David boldly danced before the ark.
Wherever we find the image of Christ, among those that do not follow him with us, we
must love it, and testify that love, and we shall not be despised for it, ... She promises to
openly profess her love for Christ (v. 2): "I would lead thee, as my brother, by the arm,
Those that are pleased with Christ must study to be pleasing to him; and they will not find
him hard to be pleased.
Experience his tender care of her and affection to her (v. 3), that she should be supported
by his power and kept from fainting in the hardest services and sufferings (His left hand
shall be under my head) and that be comforted with his love--His right hand should
embrace me.
His left hand is under my head .. it expresses an immediate answer to her prayer; she
was answered with strength in her soul, Ps. 138.3. While we are following hard after
Christ his right hand sustains us, Ps.63. 8. Underneath are the everlasting arms.
Take heed of doing any thing to interrupt the communion with beloved or grieve the Spirit
V 5 the believer raised up from a low and desolate condition by the grace of Christ ,
brought up from the wilderness, leaning upon Jesus Christ their beloved.
. A sinful state is a wilderness, remote from God, barren and dry, a wandering wanting
state. Out of this wilderness, by true repentance, in the strength of the grace of Christ,
supported by our beloved and carried in his arms.
A soul truly humbled ,coming out of this wilderness but leaning on Christ our beloved,
, nor trusting to any righteousness of our own but, in the strength of the Lord God,
"v5 I raised thee up under the apple tree, .. many a time wrestled with thee by prayer and have
prevailed. When I was alone in devotion, retired under the apple-tree"... "meditating and praying,
then I raised thee up, to help me and comfort me," as the disciples raised him up in the storm,
saying, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
Christ's readiness to yield to the importunities of our faith and prayer should encourage
us to continue instant in our addresses to him, to strive more earnestly, and not to faint. I
sought the Lord, and he heard me,
believing souls, in whom Christ was formed, Gal. iv. 15. They travailed in pain with great sorrow );
but they brought thee forth; ... After the bitter pangs of repentance many a one has had the
blessed birth of comfort;

V6 She begs him that her union with him might be confirmed, and her communion with him
continued and made more intimate Set me as seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm 1"Let
me have a place in thy heart.. in thy love." happiness bound up in the love of Christ . Let me
never lose the room I have in thy heart; let thy love to me be ensured, .
Let nothing separate me from thy love,
Let me be always near and dear to thee, , engraven upon the palms of thy hands Is 49. 14
let me be not only a seal upon thy heart, but a seal upon thy arm; "Let thy power be engaged for
me, let me be ever borne up in thy arms,

Christ should set us as a seal on his heart, surely we set him as a seal on ours.

To enforce this petition, she pleads the power of love, of her love to him, which constrained her to
be thus pressing for the tokens of his love to her.
Love is strong as death. He loved us, and gave himself for us.
Our Christ is strong as death, for it makes us dead to every thing else; it even parts between soul
and body, while the soul, upon the wings of devout affections, soars upward to heaven, crucified
to the world.

those that truly love Christ are jealous of every thing that would draw them from him, and
especially jealous of self itself , lest they should do any thing to provoke him to withdraw
We, rather would pluck out a right eye and cut off a right hand,

V 7 Holy love is constant and firm, and will not be drawn off by life or death, Rom. 8/38. Death,
and all its terrors, will not frighten a believer from loving Christ: Many
waters, though they will quench fire, cannot quench this love,
The overflowing of these waters will strike no damp but enable to rejoice in tribulation .

Though he slay me, I will love him and trust in him. No waters could quench Christ's love to us,
nor any floods drown it
Love will enable us to repel and triumph over temptations from the smiles of the world, as much
as from its frowns. If a man would give all the substance of his house to Christ, as an equivalent instead
of love, to excuse it, it would be contemned. He seeks not ours, but us, the heart, not the wealth. If I give
all my goods to feed the poor, and have not love, it is nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 1. the gifts of his
providence cannot satisfy them without communion in his love.
V 8 Yoke-fellows, having laid their hearts together, contrive about their relations and about their
estates; and, accordingly, this happy pair are here advising with one another about a sister, and a
vineyard....her compassionate concern (v. 8): We have a little sister and she has no breasts (she
has not grown up to maturity); what shall we do for this little sister of ours ... what shall become
of the poor Gentiles,(unbelievers) the barren that has not borne, and the desolate? they have no
breasts, no divine revelation, no scriptures, no ministers, no breasts of consolation drawn out to
them, when they might suck, being strangers to the covenants of promise, no breasts of instruction
themselves to draw out to their children, to nourish them, 1 Pet. ii. 2. What shall we do
for them? We can but pity them, and pray for them. Lord, what wilt thou do for them? God had
mercy in store for them, and begged it be hastened to them

It may be applied to any other that belong to the election of grace, but are yet uncalled.
.. other sheep that are not of this fold, The day will come when they shall be spoken for, when the
chosen shall be called, shall be courted for Christ, by the ministers, the friends of the bridegroom.
A blessed day it will be, a day of visitation.
What shall we do, in that day, to persuade them to consent to Christ?, Those that through grace are
brought to Christ themselves should contrive what they may do to help others to him, to espouse
souls to Christ and convert sinners.

V 9 If she will but receive the word, and build herself upon Christ the foundation,.. we will build
upon her a palace of silver, .. we will carry on the good work that is begun,
This little sister, when once she is joined to the Lord, shall be made to grow into a holy temple, a
habitation of God through the Spirit, Eph. ii. 21, 22.
We will do it; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all concur in carrying on, the blessed work. The
church is in care concerning those that are yet uncalled.

. She is very willing to trust him with her little sister, for she herself had had great experience of
his grace,.. He who had made her what she was, who had built her to maturity, would do the
same kindness for those whose case she bore upon her heart.
How she ascribes the good work of God in her: "He has made me a wall and my breasts as towers,

V 11,12 his vineyard and entrusted with it. He comes, seeking fruit,
My vineyard, which is mine, is before me;so dear is his church to him, it is his own Jn13.1 and he
will always have it under his protection; it is his own, and he will look after it . The
keeping of the vineyard requires constant care and diligence. They are rather the words of the
spouse: My vineyard, which is mine, is before me. She has lamented her fault and folly in not
keeping her own vineyard (ch. i. 6), but now she resolves to reform.
Our hearts are our vineyards, which we must keep with all diligence;
. Our great care must be to pay our rent for what we hold of Christ's vineyard, and to see that we do not go
behind-hand, nor disappoint the messengers he sends to receive the fruits (Matt.21. 34).
The main of the profits belong to Christ; to him and his praise all our fruits must be dedicated.
. If we be careful to give Christ the praise of our privileges, we may then take to ourselves benefit
of them.... If the owner of the vineyard have had his due, the keepers of it shall be well paid for their cares and pains;
they shall have 200

V 13 Christ and his spouse are here parting for a while; she must stay below in the gardens on
earth, where she has work to do for him; he must remove to the mountains of spices in heaven,
where he has business to attend for her, as an advocate with the Father

. Now observe with what mutual endearments they part. He desires to hear often from her. the
companions are so happy as to hear thy voice, cause me to hear it too."
Christ's friends should, speak often to one another and hearken to one another's voice; they should
edify, encourage, one another... communion of saints
Hearken to the voice of the church,
 In midst of fellowship with one another, we must not neglect our communion with Christ, Thou
complaints to them when any thing grieves thee; why does thou not bring them to me, and let me
hear them?
Thou art free with them; be as free with me; pour out thy heart to me."
Ask, and you shall receive. . He loves to be pressingly importuned, , "

let me be the subject of thy discourse with others ." "One word of Christ before you part."

She desires his speedy return to her (v. 14): Make haste, my beloved, to come again, and receive
me to thyself; it is pleasant dwelling here in the gardens, but to depart, and be with thee, is far
better; . Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
. The spouse, after an endearing time with her beloved, finding it must break off, concludes with
this affectionate request for perpetuating of this happiness in the future state.
It is good to conclude every contemplation with the Lord, with thoughts of the everlasting feast,
when we shall sit down with Christ at his table in his kingdom.
Come Lord Jesus Come ..Maranatha++++

+++++++

“I would cause Thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranates."8:2)

THE communion between Christ and his elect,..., But they were incapable of enjoying his
fellowship, having fallen into a state so base .dead to him, and careless concerning him.

It was therefore needful that something should be done for them and in them before they
could hold converse with Jesus,
Jesus determined that, even in preparation for communion, there should be communion.
If they must be washed before they could fully commune with him, he would commune
with them in the washing; and they must be enriched by gifts before they could have full
access to him,. He has therefore established a fellowship in imparting his grace, and in the
partaking of it :
The Lord's Supper is the divinely-ordained communion…..the free gift of the Saviour's
body and blood to us; :. feed upon his Person, ..commune with Him. (8.2)

"Looking unto Jesus" (Heb 12:2), who has delivered us, and brought us into fellowship
with him, we also pray for the rich assistance of the Holy Spirit, to draw more from the rich
treasures of Christ Jesus the Lord.

"And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." …so is it constantly
sustained by him., as Jesus communes with us in the bestowing of mercies
difference between Christ and ourselves, : he never gives without manifesting fellowship, but we
receive in so poor a way that communion is not reciprocated, and we receive grace insensibly;
We may also be the partakers of many mercies but through our dullness, we do not
perceive to be mercies at all
"O my Lord, it is not enough to be a partaker of your bounties, I must have you also
O let me experience your smile on me, when you bless me,

Make every time of need a time of embracing your Lord.

Do not leave the mercy-seat until you have clasped him in your arms.
In every mercy or kindness you receive from Him,, do dwell in sweet fellowship with him
Our ungrateful hearts and unthankful tongues mar our fellowship
Let no mercy come into your house unsung.
don’t let Lord's mercies be buried in forgetfulness

Never let an hour pass without drawing on his grace and mercies.. If all your needs seem
satisfied, look steadfastly till the next moment brings another need,
You have a constant need of him. You need his intercession, his upholding, and his
sanctification. You need him to preserve you up to the day of his appearing. There is not
one moment of your life in which you can do without Christ.
Rejoice in the infirmity that makes room for grace to rest upon you,

Pant after more of Jesus.. a quenchless thirst, for communion with Jesus
Lo, I embrace you in the arms of joy and gratitude, and my soul drawn to you! This is a
blessed method of fellowship. It
Imitate the chicken, which, every time it drinks from the brook, lifts up its head to heaven, as if it would return
thanks for every drop.

Never try to live on the old manna, nor seek to find help in Egypt. All must come from Jesus
Old anointings will not suffice; your head must have fresh oil ,
Oh, how rich the grace which supplies us so continually, and does not refrain itself because
of our ingratitude!
He knows the value of the blessings he brings you, for he paid for them out of his heart's
richest blood; so do not be so ungenerous.. Ought not you former poverty teach you the
preciousness of the grace that Jesus gives you? For remember, there was a time when you would have given
a thousand worlds, if they had been yours, in order to procure the very least of his abundant mercies.
Remember how impossible it would have been for you to receive a single spiritual blessing unless you had
been in Jesus.. Christ Jesus is the only salvation for sinner My soul, give him continual praise,

Meditate upon the gracious acts which procured your blessings.

Look upon Gethsemane, and behold the bloody sweat which stained the soil!
Gabbatha,Jesus pursued. spitting, and the plucking of the hair
Golgotha, …death consummated his tortures;
If, by the Holy Spirit, a, you are enabled to enter, into the depths of your Lord's sufferings,
you will fellowship with him .

As you receive his gifts, never forget that the chief gift is himself, , his gifts are but himself.
He clothes you, but it is with himself, with his own spotless righteousness and character.
He washes you, but his innermost self, his own heart's blood, is the stream with which the
fountain overflows.
He feeds you with the bread of heaven, but the bread is himself, his own body, Never be
satisfied with a less communion than a whole Christ. So feast on Jesus,
.
Be careful to eat his flesh and drink his blood, and so receive him into yourself in a
real way! …this is eternal life in your soul

O Holy Spirit, while we enjoy the grace of Jesus, lead us into the secret abode of our
Lord that we may sup with him, and he with us! (Rev. 3:20)
And grant to us hourly grace that we may continue in the company of our Lord from the
rising to the setting of the sun! Amen.

++++“Who is this that come up from wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” 8:5)

in the verses which precede, the spouse was particularly anxious that her communion with
her Lord might not be disturbed.: “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not
up, nor awake my love until he please.”
She valued much the fellowship with which her beloved solaced her; she was jealously
alarmed lest she should endanger the continuance of it, lest any sin on her part, or on the
part of her companions, should cause the Beloved to withdraw himself in anger.

So full of solicitous care concerning the maintenance of communion

 She who comes up from the wilderness, herself leaning upon him; ..shows a most intimate
connection between communion with Christ
:. the more careful we are to maintain fellowship with our Lord,

To live near Christ is the one thing needful; to keep up that nearness, and never to suffer
our fellowship to be interrupted,. We shall come up from wilderness when anxious that our
beloved’s fellowship with us shall not be disturbed.
ABIDE IN CHRIST CONTINIOUSLY

“Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved”?
Every soul that journeys towards heaven has Christ with him.
Jesus has trodden every step of the way before us. Whatever our temptations, he has
been so tempted; whatever our afflictions, he has been so afflicted. He is touched with the
feeling of our infirmities, having been tempted in all points like as we are. (Heb. 4:15)
When we least perceive him, he is often closest to us.
When the tempest drowns his voice, and the darkness of the night hides his Person, he is
still there, and we need not be afraid. “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: he not dismayed; for I am thy God” (Is. 41:10)
reply, “Through floods, or flames, if you lead, we will follow you wherever you go. O
Crucified, and we will follow you.

. He was the Beloved of his Father “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”.
Jesus is the Beloved of every angel,. He is the Beloved of every being of pure heart. The
hosts triumphant, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb (Rev. 7:14), sing that word “Beloved”
The sweetest phrase of the text is “leaning on her beloved.”
Realise the fact : Jesus is as actually and truly yours as your husband, your wife,
your child, your mother, or your own self,

The spouse could not have leaned on Jesus as the Beloved; she could only find rest in
him as her beloved. Till you get a sense of his being yours you do not dare to lean;
+There can be no leaning unless we believe in His presence and nearness
:. seek to be conscious of the presence of Christ.

It is true your senses cannot perceive him, but your senses are less to be relied on than
your faith, for senses may be mistaken, but the faith of God’s elect does not err.
God makes that which faith depends on to be more real than anything that the senses can
perceive.
Christ Jesus is with you; though you don’t hear his voice or see his face, he is with you.

Leaning also implies nearness

+Christ is one who lives, alive for evermore, a practical friend, who is actually, entering
into our sorrows, sharing in our crosses, and taking a part with us in all the battle of life.
+ Christ is nearer to you than friend or kinsman can be,

So near that when your heart’s inmost recesses must necessarily be locked up to all other
sympathy, those recesses are all open to his tenderness;
+ So near to you that you live IN him, and he abides IN you, and you abide IN him .
+ A sacred unity exists between you and him, so that you may drink of his cup, and be
baptised with his baptism, and, in all your sorrows and afflictions, he himself takes his
share.
 These two things being attended to, leaning now becomes easy.
To lean implies throwing of one’s weight from oneself on to another,
The first act was when the whole weight of his sin was laid on Christ.
By faith, sinner ceased to carry his own burden, but laid it on Substitute Jesus’ shoulder

In proportion as he learns this lesson of casting all his burden upon his Lord (Ps. 55:22
he will be completely unloaded himself, , and live in the power of God and
then attain to the fullness of the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 4:13)

Leave everything that troubles me with him who loves me better than I love myself ;

My BelovedJesus Lord Christ is the leaning place of my whole soul, casting every burden
upon him who is able to bear it.

leaning upon the whole Person of “her beloved.” ..leans on Christ in his personality and
completeness, not merely on the arm of his strength.
The leaning , first of all, on Christ’s Person, as Our dependence on Almighty God,
incarnate in human form, by whom all things were created, and in whom all things consist.
We lean also on Christ as man; we depend upon his generous human sympathies.. he
enters into our sicknesses and infirmities with a pitiful compassion

We lean upon him as priest, ..our offerings ,our praises prayers presented through him.
We also lean on him as our prophet as we sit at his feet, listening to him.
We lean on him as our King. He will fight our battles for us,

The stronger the believer becomes, the more conscious he is of his personal weaknesses;
:. the more fully does he cast himself on his Lord, and lean with greater force on him.

Oh, it is blessed praying when you lean on the Beloved; you cannot be denied;
you have come into the King’s court, withyour Advocate with you, and you lay your prayer
at the foot of the throne, the Prince himself putting his seal and stamp of love on your
desires. This is the sweet way to endure and suffer with content.
Who would not suffer when Jesus makes the bed of our sickness, and stays us up, and
gives us tokens of his love?

Bring to Jesus, your DAILY cares, troubles, family sicknesses, personal infirmities, your
and your crosses
But our strength is not in ourselves but in that dear bosom which bears us up!

The Lord has said, “As thy days so shall thy strength be.” (Deut. 33:25)
He has promised “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5)
He has told birds of the air neither sow ..yet are fed. Be assured he care for you

She leaned on her beloved because she was weak…, as long as we have a grain of self-
sufficiency, we never trust in the All- sufficient. While there is anything of self left, we prefer to
feed on it; and only when at last the mouldy bread becomes too sour for eating, and even the
husks that the swine eat are such as cannot fill our belly, it is only then that we humbly ask for the
bread of heaven to satisfy us

Don’t have self-sufficiency., Don’t be tempted to think in days of prosperity.., especially if

free from trials, BEWARE to think, “Now, really I am better than a great many. I have now
escaped the power of ordinary temptations, and have become so advanced in grace that there is
no likelihood of my sinning in those directions where new converts show their weakness.” It is
 your weak point, Hold me up, and I shall be safe, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12)Set double guard where you think you are strongest.

But rather say “Oh, that I might be kept from such a sin —then you are less likely to sin.
Your weakness is your strength, and your strength is your weakness :. Be poor in spirit,
The spouse leaned because she was weak.

She leaned,on her beloved, also because the way was long. ..through the wilderness.
There is a long time to go , in which to be tempted and tried, for sin lurks and flesh weak.
If one good spurt would win the race, most of us would strain every nerve; but to tug on in
weariness year after year.., fresh temptations, new allurements which we did not know
about before, O soul, to win the crown by pressing on, and on
.But Faith, casting herself upon the power of her Lord, never grows exhausted. She is like
the eagle when it renews its youth.. She leaned because the road was long.

She leaned also because the road was perilous. wilderness! not safe
There is no safety for us except in close communion with Christ.
Every step you get away from Jesus, your danger doubles; and when you have lost the
sense of his sacred presence, your peril is at its maximum.
Come back, wanderer, and get close to Jesus, —Be safe ,leans on Christ.

The fretful are not safe, the anxious are not safe; they are tossed to and fro;
but those who leave their cares to Jesus, and cast their anxieties upon him who never
forgets, these are always safe. “
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed.”
(Ps.37:3) “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing.” (Ps. 34:10)

But blessed is he that trusteth in the Lord, for neither shall his city be destroyed, nor shall
famine come to his land; or, if so it be, in famine he shall be fed, and, in the days of peril,
the angels shall keep watch and ward about him.
Lean, then, on the Beloved because the way is perilous., in this age of temptation,

she leaned on the Beloved also because her route was ascending..“Coming up.”
The Christian’s way is up — never content with past attainments, but up; not satisfied with
graces to which he has reached, but up..
The tendency of man’s nature is downward. How soon we descend, and how prone is our soul,
from her most elevated condition to sink back into the dull dead level of her natural estate!
If we are to go up, lean on Christ, He is higher than we are; if we lean, we shall rise more
readily to his elevation. He comes down to us that we, leaning on him, may go up to him.

The more we lean, the more we cast the weight of our spiritual struggling, on him,
Depend as much for growth in grace on Christ as for the pardon of sin.
He is made of God unto you sanctification as well as redemption. (1 Cor. 1:30)
Look for sanctification through the blood, for it is a purifier as well as a pardoner.

The same blood which puts away the guilt of sin is, by the Holy Spirit, applied as
the blood of sprinkling to put away from us the reigning power of sin.

She leaned on her beloved also because her walk was daily separating her more and more
from her companions.
the nearer you get to Christ, the lonelier you must necessarily be in certain respects.
The sinner is in the broad way where thousands walk, the Christian is in the narrow way —
+but if the believer keeps to the centre of the narrow way, be ready to lose companions

If he continues in rapid advance, he will, at last, get to such a position that he will see no
one except Jesus only, Heb 12.1 and then he will be sure to lean more heavily than ever

She leaned upon her beloved because she felt sure that he was strong enough to bear
her weight.
She leaned because HE WAS HER BELOVED.
So is it; the more you love the more you trust, and the more you trust the more you love.
These twin graces of faith and hope live and flourish together.
+ In proportion as that dear crucified Saviour reigns in your soul, and his beauties ravish
your heart, in that proportion you feel that all is safe because everything is in his hands,
+then, on the other hand, in proportion as you trust all to him, and have not a suspicion or
a doubt, in that proportion your soul will be knit to him in affection.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man; Wait only on God , and let your
expectations be from him, and he will bring out your judgement as the light, and your
righteousness as the noonday (Ps. 37:6);. (Mat. 14:43)

The text says, “Who is this?” What made them enquire,” Who is this?” It was because they were so
astonished to see her looking so happy and so little wearied. Nothing amazes worldlings more than genuine
Christian joy. When they hear the righteous sing:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear,
though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the
holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be
moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” (Ps. 46:1-4)

Who is this?” For then might we have an opportunity of telling them concerning our beloved,
“Who then is this that leans on her beloved? I will tell you”. We were afar off from God and brought to trust in
Christ, because of grace
In a word, the soul that leans on Christ habitually every day, and casts her care on him, is
one of a princely race; she has been begotten into the family of God;

++++“Love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave.” 8:6)

Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn. 15:13)
The saints are sanctified by love. It is the love of Jesus Christ which constrains them to
hate sin, leading them forward in the path of holiness.
The saints have received, by the Holy Spirit, a love for Christ which is “strong as death.”
Behold the love of our Lord Jesus Christ! Mark you, it is as strong as death!
It can, and it does, overcome all adversaries; yes, even death itself.
Some have “resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” (Heb. 12:4) They have met with death
in the cruellest forms. They were stoned, sawn, burned, And yet these people who thus met death
with no voice of friendship to comfort them, never wavered in their attachment to their Master.

They suffered persecution, and nakedness, and peril, and the sword; but nothing could
separate them from the love of God, which was in Christ Jesus the Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)
Some of them met with death in the gloomiest forms, as well as in the cruellest shapes.
They were cast into lonely. Not that they desired to escape, or sought liberty at the
expense of conscience; rather, they counted it a joy that they had fallen into different trials
for the sake of Christ. With none to cheer them, with no hymn to chant them on their
way to public martyrdom, without an eye to look upon them except the eye of their Master,
their love truly proved itself to have been “strong as death”.
 Still worse, some of them met death in the most lingering manner. .for the martyrdom to
extend years — how could this be endured? The supernatural grace of God has made a
bed of spikes into a bed of roses to some of the martyrs. Amid the flames, they even
leaped and sung for very joy
+Death has thus come piecemeal; ..to “die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31
+ the love Christ flames the more when more troubles they have to endure.

Have you, , been subjected to, a little jeering and sneering, or to a little harsh treatment at home?
Maybe you are beginning to falter and flag.. What part do you have in that love which is strong as
death if it cannot bear this? I
If tempted to do an unholy thing., where is the love which is strong in death, and will you
dare to stoop? you do not have spirit of Christ, you are none of his. (Rom 8:9)

we shall have an opportunity of testing this love, nor yet in the desolate prison. The
average trials and troubles of life, temptations that pertain to a child of God
.
Our faith must be firm, and our fellowship unwavering; then our love will be tenacious, yes,
as strong as death. You should not lose your confidence when you lose your health.
The animal spirits may sink, but The spirit that sustains you is divine. With decay comes
depression; as resut disease or of infirmity. But love can triumph over both.

If you rest in his love, you shall find that that love is strong as death.
My Master calls to serve him, not timidly,but bold in his service.
Love for Jesus should be dearer to the heart than light to the eye;
..stronger than the love of the husband to the wife, of the mother to her child;

Your love for Christ is not genuine if it is never roused to jealousy by the malice of foes,
and the faithlessness of professed friends of our Lord . Many Christians, have kind of love
which is too fond of ease, and too full of compromise

If you love Christ, you will be jealous of his atonement, and you will not allow anything else
to cleanse from sin but that blood he shed for our remission.

THE SAVIOUR’S LOVE AND JEALOUSY TOWARDS US.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, has a love for us that passes all understanding
+he has a jealousy over his people which watches them with incessant care.
+he tasted death in all its bitterness — forsaken by all , even forsaken of his God. “
+Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani” was the concentration of all griefs.
+Death never made him flinch. He faced and felt its agonies extremely, and loved us then
as he loved us before, and as he loves us still with infinite tenderness and kindness

In some cases who were holding to “idols” in persons., he had to be “cruel as the grave”
before he got rid of the object of his jealousy.
+Better to be maimed, than having health, wealth, friends and be cast into hell
+Better to suffer from cruel providences than pleasure down to everlasting ruin.

many times we cherished tastes which we preferred before Christ, .But that won’t do, for
God will have us all love and serve him with all our heart soul, strength
Lord Jesus will never tolerate idolatry i any heart that belongs to him.
If he did not love you, you might do as you liked; but if he loves you, and has chosen you,
 and your heart then goes after idols, he will chasten you, with the rod. What would it matter to me
what your children did, in comparison with the responsibility I feel for my own? Whatever mischief they might do in the
street, I might not feel called on to interfere. You and I alike feel that we are each accountable to punish our own
children when they are naughty. And so is it with God. If not his children, you live as you wish,
But if you are his people, you are not your own, and you will have a cross, if not a curse,
come into your house. The spell of the idol will spoil your blessing. “Jealousy is cruel as the grave.”
Eg amputation will save life; child’s leg must be taken off, it is festering; ..surgeon cut through the flesh and
bone, ..Ah, which is the more profitable, that love of yours that would let the child die rather than do violence
to cut off its leg, in spite of all entreaties, to save its life?
Oh, thank God His deep incisions are tender mercies

Let our jealousy towards Christ now be cruel as the grave. Is there anything which keeps
our heart from perfectly loving Christ? Let us have done with it at once. Have you any habit
which keeps you from living near to Jesus? Anything mars your communion with him?
Give it all up.

Lord Jesus Christ deserves to have, absolute, obedience “Then yield it to him, and ask
grace, not to allow even thought of anything between you and your Lord and Master.
Yours will be a path of separation. ..a rough road.Yet, let your love be strong as death, and
you will enjoy a communion with Christ dearer than life,
In loving him, you will be jealous of any thing that comes in the way to divide you from him.

++++++“Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death;
jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most
vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.” 8:6-7)

THIS is the prayer of one who has the present enjoyment of fellowship with Christ, but,
being apprehensive lest this communion should be interrupted, she avails herself of the
opportunity now afforded her to plead for something which shall act as the abiding token of
a covenant between her and her beloved, when his visible presence is withdrawn.
You will notice that this is not the cry of a soul that is longing for fellowship, for that cry is
“Tell me O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest.” 1:7) It is not even the cry of the soul that has
some fellowship and needs more, for then it would say, “Oh that thou wert as my brother!” 8:1) Nor is it the
cry of a soul that has had fellowship, but has lost it for that is, “Saw ye him, whom my soul loveth?” 3:3) And
she goes “about the streets and in the broad ways” saying, “I will seek him.” 3:2)
But this is the prayer of the spouse when she has been coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon his bosom.
The thought strikes her that he that has sustained her is about to depart and leave her for a
season, because it is expedient and more useful for her;
and she prays that, since he is no more in the earth, but has entered into the ivory palaces
where her God dwells, that he would be pleased to make a covenant with her never to
forget her, and that he would give here some sign and mark by which she might be well
assured that she is very near to his heart, and still written on his arm.

She would know once for all that Christ’s heart is entirely hers, and that he loved her with
the intensity and the very vitality of his being; that his inmost heart, the life-spring of his
soul, belonged to her. And she would also know that that love moved his arm. She longed
to see herself as supported, sustained, strengthened, defended, preserved, and kept
She longed to know the love of his heart, and she may experience power of his arm.

Oh, Lord, let me know that my name is engraved on your heart; not only let it be there, but
let me know it! Write my name not only in your heart, but may it be as a signet on your
heart that I may see it.

. Christ has loved his chosen ones from all eternity. His heart has been set on them from
everlasting, but as yet they have never seen the signet.
+They have never had the seal of the Spirit to witness within that they are born of God.
+While their names may be in his heart, they not seen them there as seal on his heart.
+there are multitudes for whom Christ has fought and conquered, and whom he daily keeps
and preserves, who have never seen their names written as a seal on his arm.
+Their prayer is that they may experience Christ’s love.., that his hand and his heart are
engaged for their eternal salvation.
I repeat it, you can all join in this prayer; it is a cry that you till it is fully answered.
Oh, let me know, my Lord, that I am yours, bound to your heart, and let me know
that I am yours, protected and preserved by your arm.

The spouse argues with her Lord like this: It is to my advantage that you should thus write my name on your
hand and heart, for I know this concerning your love, that it is strong, that it is firm, that it maintains a
wonderful intensity, and that it has a sure and unquenchable eternity.With these 4 pleas, she prays:

1. She pleads that he would show her his love because of the strength of it. “Thy love is
strong as death.”
+the strength of Christ’s love. “He sweat as it were, great drops of blood falling to the
ground.” (the Saviour’s back ploughed, his hands pierced, and his side opened Strong as
Death indeed was Jesu’s love, for he swallowed up Death in victory;
+ And is not Christ’s love as strong as this? He shall keep his own. Those who are his, he
never will let go., “Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am.” (Jn. 17:24)
. Lord Jesus, let me experience that love; let me see your arm nerved with it, and your
heart affected by this strong love, which all my enemies cannot defeat, which all my sins
cannot overturn, which all my weakness cannot defy.

2. the second plea — “Jealousy is cruel as the grave.”

You may sooner rob death of its prey than Jesus of his purchased ones.
Christ has decreed it: his chosen ones shall be his,; nor will he turn one of them away.
He said it, and he will do it. He commanded his covenant forever, and it shall stand fast.
Your name on Christ and on his arm — once there, it is there forever.
Christ is jealous of his people; he will not let another have his spouse.

3. ,“it is an attribute of Christ’s love that its coals are coals of fire which have a most vehement
flame.” “Lo, this hath touched thy lips.” (Is. 6:7) The love of Christ is like coals on altar which
never went out.Its vehemence never decreases; always burning to its utmost intensity.”

Why did Christ love the spouse? What lit the fire at first? He kindled it himself. There was
no reason whatever why Christ should love any of us, except the love of his own heart.
And what is the fuel that feeds the fire? Your works and mine? No..All the fuel comes from
the same place; it is all from his heart.

Christ loves you, , not even as a mother may love her child, for she may forget herinfant
He loves you with the highest degree of love that is possible; infinite,
But to be loved by God, to an intense degree —a mystery that the soul cannot fathom —
,Jesus, take me into this sea of your love, and let me be ravished by a sweet contentment,
in a sure confidence that you have loved me, and given yourself for me.”

4. It is the unquenchable eternity of this love. “Many waters cannot quench love, neither
can the floods drown it.”
Christ has endured many waters already ..it pleased the Father to bruise him. he was
betrayed by his friends, and he was hunted by his foes. But the many waters could no
more destroy his love..Jesus’ love Fixed and resolved to bring his ransomed home,
 What floods Christ’s love endured ..floods of our sins, of our backslidings, and floods of
our unbelief.
+Yet he has never failed us. “By the grace of God, we are what we are.
+And we are persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”
+Even if we be tried in circumstances? “Neither famine, nor persecution, nor nakedness,
nor peril, nor sword, shall be able to separate from the love of Christ.” (Rom. 8:39)

+What if we backslide and wander from his ways? “Though we believe not, he abideth
faithful.” (2 Tim. 2:13)
+what if in the last black hour we should have bitter sufferings on the dying bed? Still he
hall be with us in the last moment, for it is written, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26)
Death is to be destroyed, and we are to be victors over him.
let us set to our seal tonight our own solemn “Yea and Amen” to this most precious
declaration “Many waters cannot quench love neither can the floods drown it.”
Then, Lord, write my name on your heart, engrave my name as a signet on tour arm that I
may have a share in this unfailing and undying affection, and be yours forever

PRAY: set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. Love me, Lord. Help me,
+Let your heart move towards me; let your arm move for me, too.
+ Think of me, Lord, and set me on your heart.
+Work for me, Lord; set me on your arm. Lord
+ I long to have your love, for it is as strong as death, Come and deliver me from all evil
+Come with your strong love, and set me free. your love is firm too, as hell itself.

+Lord, Though I know I wander from you, come and love me with a love that is firm and
everlasting. O Lord, I feel there is nothing in me that can make you love me.
+ Love me with those coals of fire which have a ‘vehement flame’.
+ And since many waters cannot quench your love,; for there are many waters of sin in
me, but Lord, help me to believe that your love is not quenched by them; there are many
corruptions in me, but, Lord, love me with that love which my corruptions cannot quench.
+Here, Lord, I give myself away; take me; make me what you would have me to be; and
keep and preserve me even to the end.”Amen

++++++++ If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly
be contemned.” 8:7)
the Spirit of God has renewed the heart, and shed abroad the love of God within the soul.
(Rom. 5:5) you cannot purchase true love. Eg Who could purchase a mother’s love?
Neither Christ’s love for us nor our love for him can be purchased;. If a man should offer to give all the
substance of his house for love, it would be utterly despised.
.He loves us because he pities us,
There was a joy that was set before him, for which he endured the cross, despising the
shame (Heb. 12:2);

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might.”. “Ye are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19), and yet you talk about giving yourself to him. You
belong to him now,. You, believer, cannot say, “Now I am going to do for Christ something more
than; I think, something that might absolutely be claimed by him.”
Why, , you are his already, body, soul, and spirit! All your time, all your money, all your faculties, all
the possibilities that are in you, are all his now; and therefore, how can you come to purchase his
love? No, it cannot be purchased
He loved us long before we were born. When his foreknowledge sketched us in his mind’s
eye, he beheld us in love. ..it was practical love, for he died for us before we knew
anything about him,
His love is of such a wonderful kind that he always will love us even when heaven and
earth have pass away,
If Christ has loved us, , the one thing needful and essential is that we have true love for
him. God’s demand of each, “My son, give me thine heart.” (Prov. 23:26)

If you do not give God your heart, you have given him nothing
. If you do not surrender to him your inner self, , you have truly done nothing
The substance of your house is utterly contemned if you offer it to the Lord in the place of
the love of your heart.

. We love our Lord, and we love him all the more because of the many gifts he bestows on
us; but his gifts do not win our love.
Oh, it is “Jesus Christ himself” who wins the love of our hearts! “He loved me, and gave
himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
“My Beloved is mine, and I am his”
I am very thankful, for health and strength. I have lost these sometimes, but I did not love my Lord any the
less then; neither do I love Christ this day because I am free from pain. If I were not free from pain, I would
still love him. If he were to take all this away, I know that you would love him in your poverty.
The devil was a liar when he said of Job,
Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all
that he hath on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the
land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.”

We do not love God altogether for what he gives us in this world;

We love him because he first loved us,
. We must always be grateful to him, and love him for that reason; but still, temporal things
never win our heart’s love to God. There are numbers of you who have health and wealth,
and many other things that so many desire, but they will never make you love God; they
never will. You love them, and make idols of them very readily, but they do not lead you
to love the Lord.
BUT if he takes them away , still love him all the same.
“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.Job 1:21)
Do not love him simply because he caresses them, for if he chastens you , love him still,
and kiss the rod with which he smites you .

Our beloved, Saviour frequently favours us with manifestations of his presence.

We are overjoyed when he comes very near to us, and permits us to put our fingers into the
prints of the nails. We have our high days when the Bridegroom is with us ,.. He takes out the clouds, and
gives us the sun; or he opens the lattices, and shows us himself in a way only second to that in which we
shall see him when we behold him face to face. And oh, how we love him then!
But, thank God, when he draws the lattice back again, and hides his face, we do not leave
off loving him because of that. Our love for our Lord should not depend on the weather.

“Though he slay me” — he who loves me, though he turn to be my enemy, and slay me —
“yet will I trust in him.”
There are times when we are half inclined to say with the elder brother, “These many years have I been with
thee, privileged to serve thee, and yet thou hast not given me so much as a kid that I might make merry with
my friends.” (Lk. 15:29) Perhaps we have been long without the light of his countenance, and have had no
love-tokens from him; but, for all that, we remain in his service, and abide in his house; and
even if our Father should answer us roughly, we will tell him that he is still our Father.

We do not love him merely for substance of his house, but for himself, and because his
Spirit has made love for him to be an instinct of our new nature:.we cannot help loving him.

Even if we should be called to pass through terrible trials and adversities, and darkness, yet
still would we love him and rejoice in him

Our love for Jesus cannot be bought off at any price.

Mat. 4:9-10, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’”
All the substance of the devil’s house could not win the love of anyone who has set his
affection on Jesus. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
May the Lord so clothe us with the whole armour of righteousness that no temptation may
ever be able to wound our love for Jesus!

Give me but a vision of the Crucified, let me see that thorn- crowned brow, let me but
gaze into his dear languid eyes, so full of love for me, and I will then say, “My
Master, through floods or flames, if you lead, I’ll follow where you go.

Even if tempted by the world or persecuted, I will still cling to you, and witness that you
have the living Word, and that there is none on earth that I desire beside you .
Bind me to your altar, for I am but flesh and blood, and may start aside in the trial-hour.
Cast the links of thy love about me; chain me to yourself; yes, crucify me; nail me to your
cross, and let me be dead to the world,
Lord we will stand firm in the evil day. God grant for Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

++++++++“My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a 1000
and those that keep the fruit thereof 200.” (Song 8:12)

The first sentence ..Christ who says, “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me”, or it may be his Church
which is saying, “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me.”
2nd part of the verse, addressed by the spouse, , to her Divine Bridegroom, to whom she say; “Thou,, must
have a thousand.”

this vineyard is Christ’s Church. She is not compared to trees — even of fruit-bearing trees — because there
are many trees valuable, not only for their fruit, but also for timber; and should they produce no fruit, they
would still be of some value.
Not so with Church; they are like vine, for the vine, if it produces no fruit, is fit for nothing,

It must bear fruits of holiness and of gratitude to her Lord, her Divine Husbandman.
He has special care for her: “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me
1-Jesus claims the Church as his own by his Father’s gift.. She is the Father’s property by
election; she is the Son’s property by donation, passing from the hand of the Father to that
of the Mediator; and, then, the Church is the Spirit’s by his indwelling and inhabitation;
So Christ looks on his people as being dear, for the sake of him who gave them to his
Son, to be his forever and ever.
since the Father gave them to him, they are very, very precious in his sight.

2-Christ’s Church is his by purchase.. Christ loved his Church, and gave himself for it.
He bought his own people with his blood.
He purchased, not the world’s wide wilderness, but the “spot enclosed by grace”, the
vineyard which his own right hand has planted.

Lord Jesus will never part with his vineyard, which is not only his by inheritance from his
Father, but also his by purchase, with his own most precious blood 1 Pt 1.19
 3- the Church is Christ’s byeverlasting bond, which, perhaps, makes it dearer still to him.
She is his bride, his spouse.
Jesus looks into the eyes of his spouse, when he has redeemed her out of the hand of the
enemy, and taken her to himself — when he placed the jewels of his grace about her
neck, and in her ears, and on her hands, when he adorned her with the robe of his own
righteousness, and made her beautiful in his beauty.
He looks at her and says, “You are mine; you are mine; and no one else can claim you.
My spouse, you shall not be adulteress with many lovers, for you are mine, and no one but
myself can claim you.
None but myself shall partake of your embraces, none but myself shall receive of the love
of your heart.”

Jesus sees on you, O beloved of God, the mark of his Father’s love-gift!
He sees, too, the evidence of his own loving purchase, and his espousal of you to himself,
to be his forever and ever.

But notice, in the first sentence, not only Christ’s special right to his Church, but also about his special care
and observation of her: “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me.”

The Church is “before” Christ in the sense that, he so loves her, that he never has her out
of his presence.
+The vineyard is so dear to the Husbandman that he never leaves it.
+He may sometimes hide himself among the vines, but he is always close at hand,
watching how they progress, and delighting himself with their fragrance and fruitfulness.
+The Bridegroom is never absent from his spouse, for he loves her too much to be
separated from her.
+Is it not a sweet thought that believers are ever under the eye of Christ?
+ He will not be happy unless he had them continually before him.

+We may be willing to endure his absence for a while, but he loves her so much that he
cannot bear to be away from her.
+She may grow so cold towards him that his absence may seem to her to be but a small
matter; but the decay of her love is not a little matter to him.
+ His love is as strong as death, and his jealousy is cruel as the grave;
+ so Jesus cannot bear to have his bride out of his sight even for a minute.
+He will always pour upon her the beams of his love, and ever fix on her the affection of
his whole heart.

The expression, “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me” may also mean that Jesus is
always caring for it, as well as always loving it.
There is never a moment when Christ ceases to care for his vineyard.
He himself said, “I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will
keep it night and day.” (Is. 27:3)
Water it every moment? Keep it night and day? Yes, he will never neglect it.
, “Lo, I am with you alway” (Mat 28:20) —even unto the end of the world.”

Jesus still walks among the golden candlesticks (Rev. 2:1); he does not light the candles
and then leave them to burn by themselves, but he walks among them, and keeps them
from going out. “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me.”
Christ is always in his Church, upholding her in her hours of trial, leading her into all truth,
and making all her members “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Col. 1:12

There is also, in this expression, not only a sense of love and care, but also of knowledge:
 “My vineyard, which is mine, is before me.” Christ knows every vine in the vineyard, and
knows all the fruit that is on each vine, and how much there was last year and how much
there will be in years to come.
Before there was a vine in that vineyard, Christ knew how many plants would be planted,
where they would be put, of what sort they would be, and how much fruit they would
produce. He did not find out by degrees what his inheritance was to be; he knew all about
it long before the worlds were formed. ..he foreknew, and foresaw, and foreordained every
every vine every leaf, yes, and every particle of blight or mildew that falls upon a leaf. All
was settled and ordained, or foreknown,

I tell you soul, that he sees you as much as if there were no others for his eye to look at;
He cares for you as infinitely, and with as undivided a heart, as if you were the only soul
that he ever bought with his blood.
If you were his only elect one, his only redeemed one, his only loved one, he could not
deal with you more tenderly and more lovingly than he is dealing with you now.
When the eye of your faith is dim, the eye of his care is not.

Even When your heart seems dead and cold, his heart is still hot with infinite affection;.
He may have changed the manifestation of his purpose of love and mercy; but his purpose
is the same as ever — to drench you with floods of mercy, to wash you with streams of
grace, .

8.11 “Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers. Every one for the fruit
thereof was to bring 1000 pieces of silver.
So, everyone of us whom the Lord has brought to himself, has a part of his vineyard to
keep for him.
After our souls are saved, then we have a charge to keep, to preach His name to the
utmost of our power, and seek to bring othersto Christ , and tell them what they must do to
be saved.

Let the Spirit of God within him set about the work which he is called to do
If I see any prospering more than I am myself, I will bless God for it; but I will still say, “My
vineyard, which is mine, is before me.”

Thou, O Solomon, must have1000”

Whatever others have, our Lord must have Solomon’s portion; “and those that keep the fruit thereof200.” So,
then, in the first place, the fruit of the vineyard belongs to Christ; but, in the second place, both Christ and his
Church agree to reward the keepers of the vineyard, and to let them have their 200

First, all the fruit of the vineyard belongs to Christ, and he must have it.
Dwell on that word “must”, and let each one of you feel its blessed necessity.
Some if they have any fruit, they keep it to themselves.
The vineyard is Christ’s, he purchased it with his own life’s blood; so the fruit is all his,
, O Lord, make us the more fruitful!
Let not the Spirit of God have to say, “Thou hast left thy first love.” (Rev, 2:4)
Seek to go “from strength to strength” (Ps. 84:7)
O beloved spouse of Christ, by the undivided love of your Lord, that you love him no less
than you did in the day of your espousal to him!

Preach the Word, , love the souls of men, you must, love him more, and serve him better. May
the Spirit of God enable you so to do!

Some of you have been converted for years, yet you do not bring a soul to Jesus.
You say that you love the Saviour, but what are you doing for him? (Jam. 2:20, 26
love which should show itself in practical piety
Serve him to the very last; ..of praising him even on our dying bed.

Let it be your joy to know that the vineyard is Christ’s vineyard, and that it ever lies before
him; and let each one of you seek to give to Jesus his1000..souls —

++++++Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice:
cause me to hear it.” 8:13)

The bride and bridegroom utter their adieux, and the bridegroom says to his beloved, “Thou that
dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.”
In other words, when I am far away from you, fill this garden with my name, and let your
heart commune with me.

She promptly replies — and it is her last word till he comes — “Make haste, my beloved,
and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”
These farewell words of the Well-beloved are very precious to his chosen bride.

.The last words of the Lord in this canticle remind me of the commission the Master gave,
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mk. 16:15)
Then, scattering benedictions with both his hands, he ascended into the glory, and “a cloud received him out
of their sight.” (Acts 1:9) striking likeness between t commission at the ascension and the present adieu,

An appointed residence. The bridegroom, speaking of his bride, says, “Thou that dwellest in the
gardens.”

the word of the Bridegroom to his bride. . He calls her an inhabiter of the gardens
+He has gone up to his Father’s throne, and has left these gardens down below.
+He came down awhile that he might look upon his garden, that he might see how vines
flourished, and gather lilies, but he has returned to his Father and our Father. (Jn. 20:17)
+He watered the soil of his garden with his bloody sweat in Gethsemane, and made it bear
fruit to life by being himself laid to sleep in the

+Jesus has ascended,; ..he leaves us among the growing plants to do the King’s work until
he comes. Having finished the work which his Father gave him: our life- work is not
finished, and hence we must tarry awhile below, as inhabitants of the gardens.

It is expedient that we should be here,. God’s glory is to come of our sojourn here else he
would have taken us away long ago.
He said to his Father, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” (Jn. 17:15)
. Here she must abide awhile until all the will of the Lord shall be accomplished in her and
by her, and then she also shall be taken up, and dwell with her Lord above. The title is
given by way of distinction,..marks difference between her condition and that of her Lord.

Next, it is given by way of enjoyment. She dwells in the gardens, places of delight.
The Lord that bought you, and brought you into the gardens of his love, where he satisfied
you with the river of the water of life, and filled you with the fruit of his Spirit

Your portion is with the Lord’s saints, yes, with himself; and what can be a better portion?
You dwell where the great Husbandman lavishes his care on you, and pleasure in you..
Be thankful, it is a place of enjoyment for you: awake and sing, for the lines have fallen
unto you in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. (Ps.16:6)
“I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and
day”? (Is. 27:3) …you are made partakers of his joy,

We are set in the garden of the church because there is work for us to do,
If we didn’t have our daily tasks to fulfil, we would corrode into rust,
“I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory” (Jn. 17:24),
We would long ago have drawn all the blood-bought up to himself above, had it not been
the fact that it is in infinite wisdom seen to be better that they should abide in the flesh.
You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world Shall the salt and the light be at
once withdrawn? You are to be as dew from the Lord in this dry and thirsty land (Ps. 63:1);
Rouse yourselves, and do not let a moment pass till you have discovered your duty
Lord Show me what you would have me do. where I may serve you.
Don’t be wicked and slothful servant? (Mat. 25:26)
”Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.” (Ps. 84:4)

RECORDED CONVERSE Thou that dwell in gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice.”
God gave us tongues on purpose that they should be used.
As he made birds to sing, and stars to shine, and rivers to flow, so has he made us to
converse with one another, to his glory.
Our tongue is the glory of our frame, and there would be no glory in its being forever dumb.

Heaven will consist largely in the communion of saints,. Some people sit still in their pews till the
time to go, and then walk down the aisle in majestic isolation
Share with one another your trials, deliverances; one telling how God has answered
prayer, and another recording how the Word of God has come to him with power

Give your Lord a share of your sweet utterances; let your Saviour’s ear be charmed as well
as your companions’ ears. Come, speak to him as well as to your brethren, The converse
of the bride in garden was constant, and it was greatly esteemed by those who enjoyed it.
May our communications be such that, if Jesus himself were near, we might not be
ashamed for him to hear our voices

To have such talk with one another, that, at last, we perceive that truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ? We thought that we only communed with our
brethren; but, lo,we see that Lord himself is here: do not our hearts burn within usLk. 24:32)
We two are talking of him, and now we see that he himself is here, opening to us the
Scriptures, and opening our hearts to receive those Scriptures in the power of them.
Work together in one common vineyard, in our fellowship with each other
. Let us so talk that we may expect to meet Jesus while we are talking.

INVITED FELLOWSHIP — “The companions hear thy voice: cause me to hear it.”
It is beautiful to hear the Beloved say, in effect, “I am going away from you, and you see
me no more; but I shall see you: do not forget me. Though you will not hear my voice with
your bodily ears, I shall hear your voices: therefore speak to me.

Unseen, I shall feed among the lilies; unperceived, I shall walk the garden in the cool of
the day: when you are talking to others, do not forget me.

when you have shut the door in personal prayer, and no eye can see, or ear can hear,
then let me hear your voice: it has music in it for my heart, for I died to give you life.
Let me hear the voice of your prayer, and praise, and love.”
This invitation, is very loving to us that the Lord should wish to hear our voice.
. Come to confess some new faults, or ask fresh favours.” But instead of being tired of us,
our Lord says, “Let me hear thy voice
He begs, “Let me hear thy voice. Thy companions hearken”: let me take a share in their
fellowship, for they find your voice pleasant, and let it be a pleasure also to me.
Come; do not deny me, your heart’s best beloved!
Do not be silent to me! Come; speak to me with your own sweet mouth.”
, Love ever seeks the company of that which it loves.

Will you let the Lord Jesus, , with tears in his eye, say to you, “You talk to everybody but to
me; you lay yourself out to please everybody but me:
you are charming companion to all but me”? Oh, Beloved, how badly we have treated you
I have spoken all day long to others, BUT scarcely a word for him whom my soul loves.

Often during your busy day, to stop a bit and let Jesus hear you.
The apostles would give themselves to the word of God and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
Yes, we must put those two things together. We shall never totally handle the Word of God without prayer.
When we pray, we are taught how to speak the Word to others.
Salvation and supplication make a blessed pair. Put the two together, so that when you speak to
others about salvation, you do it after having baptised your own soul into supplication. “The
companions hear thy voice: cause me to hear it 8:13):

Before you speak with them, speak to me: while you are still speaking with them, still
speak with me; and when your speaking to men is over, return to your rest, and again
speak with me.

This invitation is a many-sided one; for when the bridegroom says, “Cause me to hear it”,
he means that she should speak to him in all sorts of ways. Frequently, we should be
heard in praise.
If you have been praising the Lord in the audience, stop..and praise him to his face.
Sing your song to your Beloved himself. Get into a quiet place and sing where only he can
hear.. The blessed Virgin had none with her but Elizabeth when she sang, “My soul doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour.” (Lk. 1:46)
Oh, let the Lord hear your voice! Get up early to be alone with him.
Too often, we tell others sad tale , our cares etc . Let all your complaints ,petitions, and let
them be for Jesus only. Why not tell the Lord instead of murmuring..tell Jesus.

Speak with Jesus Christ, even if it be by way of frequent ejaculation. When, in the middle of
business, you can whisper, “My Lord and my God!” you can dart a glance upward, heave a
sigh, or let fall a tear, and know that Jesus will hear your voice!
When nobody observes the motion of your lips, sayi, “My Beloved, be near me now!”
This is the kind of fellowship which your Saviour asks of you:, “The companions hear thy
voice: cause me to hear it . When you speak with others, you also speak with me.

The best Beloved asks us to speak with him, what shall we say at once?
“Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a upon the mountains of spices.” “
“Come quickly; even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
Often and often, when busy, say, “Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!

invite Christ to come; and whenever you cannot do so let it be a WARNING to you that you
are in dangerous waters
eg how is he to discern the danger? Let him ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come while he is doing it. “Oh dear
no”, cries one, “I had rather he should not come until that matter had been finished and forgotten.” Then be
you sure that you are moving in the wrong direction.

Suppose you think of going to a certain place of amusement about which you have to decide thus: When you
take your seat your first thing ..bow your head and ask for a blessing, and then say, “Lord, here I sit waiting
for thine appearing.” “Oh,” say you, “I should not want the Lord to come there.” Of course you would not. Then
do not go where you could not wish your Lord to find you.
This text may thus be a monitor to you, to keep you from the paths of the destroyer.
Jesus says, “Let me hear thy voice,” and let thy voice utter these desires — “Even so,
come quickly; come, Lord Jesus!”

Requested testimony.the Hebrew runs thus — “Cause to hear me.” Now, that may mean what I
have said, “Cause me to hear”; but it may also mean, “Cause them to hear me.”:
make those who dwell in that garden with you to hear from you much about HIM.
In garden,let Him be sweetly spoken of. Let his name be as ointment poured forth 1:3

You have the gift of speech: use it for Christ crucified.

If you do not speak about Christ to strangers, speak to your companions. They will listen to
you; therefore let them hearken to the word of the Lord.
Some of us never spoke to their workpeople about Jesus and his love. This is to murder
souls. If tongues can bless and do not, then they, in effect, curse men by their silence.

If you have a voice, make the name of Jesus to be sounded out all around you.
Many are the voices that strike the ear: the world is full of din, even to distraction, yet the
name which is above all other names is scarcely heard.
. As with a clear call, trumpet the saving name of Jesus till the deaf hear its sound.
Whatever is left out of your testimony, be sure that Christ crucified is first and last in it.

Love Christ and live Christ; think of Christ and speak of Christ.
Oh, my brethren, cause Christ to be heard. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, crucified
.
+++++Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me
to hear it. Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the
mountains of spices.” 8:13-14)

The two petitions are reciprocal. Christ seeks communion with his Church, ,with each of
of his redeemed family. His love then kindles her affection, and constrains her to pine
and pant for his presence.
So she desires to have communion with him, a desire echoed in the breast of every
faithful disciple of Jesus.

“let companions hear your voice. None God's children are born dumb;they all have voice,
“Cause me to hear it.” Christ himself would taste of your honey and eat of your
honeycomb (Song 4:11, 5:1); he would come into the garden and not only talk with your
companions and with you, but he wants to hear you talk to him.

Whenever we lift up our voice in the sanctuary, let Christ to hear our voice.
Don’t be totally oblivious of the worship that we are supposed to be offering to the
Redeemer of our souls? be chiefly intent on adoring Christ .Lay all our praises at his feet

.Cause me to hear thy voice. “Come, my child, come away from all the other ,for they can
only give you cold pity; come to my bosom, come to my heart, come and tell your troubles
to me, Your companions hear your voice; cause me to hear it.”
 Jesus saying to you, “Cause me to hear your moaning.” What a potent spell there is in the cry of
a child when it breaks on a mother's ear! She sleeps with one ear open when her child is so sadly afflicted.
Thus, it is with Jesus, if our heart says, “My voice, I will make him to hear; I will not rest till
he listens to my groans!
. Jesus likes to hear his people's voice; to him their sighs and tears never come amiss. For
him, there is music in a groan and beauty in a tear; so tender are his sympathies.
Jesus would that his joy should remain in us, and that our joy might be full. (Jn. 15:11)
. Whenever your heart is full of gratitude for preservation from harm, or deliverance from
danger, tell it all to Jesus.

Get into a more intimate fellowship with him. He is a real Person, we can have a deep
communion.
We can talk with him as a man speaks to his friend, and
we believe, and are sure, that we can as certainly cause him to hear our voice

. “Cause me to hear it.” Can you deny your Saviour the sweet satisfaction he seeks?
He is your Husband; He bought you with his precious blood;

, he pleads, and uses his voice for you; will you not use your voice for him?
He stands at the door of your heart, , and knocks (Rev. 3:20); will you be so slothful as
not to open it to him?

If you have been for weeks without his company, and he says to you, “My head is wet with
dew, and my locks with the drops of the night; open to me, my beloved, open to me.” 5:2)
‘Tis the voice of your Beloved who speaks; shall not your heart open at once?
Do you say, “My voice is so hoarse, so hoarse with sorrow, that it cannot please him”? No,
but it is music to his ear,

Is not your heart all aglow at the thought of fellowship with him? Do you not feel so
hungry and so thirsty after him..: “Make haste, my Beloved”
”.
Every true lover of Jesus is eager, anxious, and can not delay for communion.
“
Make haste” is her perpetual moan. “Even so, come Lord Jesus”, is the last prayer in
Rev 22:20) Well enough it is the last prayer of the Canticles! It is always the first and the
last prayer of the true believer. “Come quickly, and make no tarrying, O my Lord!”

“Come at once, gracious Jesus; come like the hart leaps from peak to peak It is a prayer
that Christ would come at one bound into you right now.
“Oh”, but you say, “I am at a distance from God!” Just as those poor mariners on the Sea of Galilee came
immediately to land when Christ came into the ship (Mk. 7:47-51 ), so will you be, in an instant, close
to Jesus if he but speaks the word.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
Trust your soul into Christ's hands, and he will save you Your sins shall be forgiven you
(Mat. 9:2; Mk. 2:5), and the Saviour's voice shall bid you to be of good cheer, and go in
peace, [Hosea 6:1-3:]

8:14)The last word of the lover to the beloved one is in effect, “Speed your return;
make haste and come back.”
He which testifieth these things saith, ‘Surely I come quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus.” The Song of love, and the Bible has, in same way, a strong desire for Christ’s speedy return.
The Song of Solomon is the central Book of the Bible; it is the innermost shrine of divine revelation, the holy
of holies of Scripture; and if you are living in communion with God, you will love that Book, you will catch its
spirit, and you will be inclined to cry as His spouse, “Make haste, my beloved.”

If you have no longing for Christ’s appearance, no desire for his speedy return, surely your
heart is sick, and your love is faint. …a lukewarm state BEWARE

Our relationship to the Second Advent of Christ may be used as a thermometer with which
to tell the degree of our spiritual heat. If we have strong desires, longing desires, burning
desires, for the coming of the Lord, we may hope that it is well with us ; but if we have no
such desires, , we are sadly declining in grace.

the spouse first calls her Lord, “Beloved,” and then, “My Beloved.”
Christ is our Beloved. This is a word of affection; If you read New Testament, and study the life of Christ,
and yet only admire it, and say, “Jesus Christ was a wonderful being”, you do not know him yet. If, after
reading that life, you sit down, and dissect it, and say to yourself, coolly, calmly, deliberately, “So far as is
practicable, I will try and imitate Christ”, you do not yet know him; you have not come near t real Christ as yet.
But when you really come to see Jesus, and say, “I love him; my heart yearns toward him;
my delight is in him; he has won my love, and holds it in his own heart”, then you begin to
know him.
Jesus must reign in your heart, or else, though you may give him what place you like in
your head, you have not really received him..
The more you see him, the more you know him, the more you live with him the more
reason you have for loving him.

the 2words together mean affection and appropriation:

“MY BELOVED.
” If nobody else loves him, I do.
This is a distinguishing affection; and I love him because he belongs to me; he is mine,
he has given himself to me; and I have chosen him because he first chose me;
he is “my Beloved.”
I am not ashamed to put him in front of all others; and when men say, “What is thy Beloved
more than another beloved? (Song 5:9), “I can tell them that “My Beloved” is more than all
the earthly beloveds put together.

It is a delightful thing to get hold of Christ with both hands, as Thomas did when he said, “
My Lord and my God.” (Jn. 20:28) a double-handed grip, and would not let him go.

Oh, to take him up in your arms, to hold him with both hands, and say, “This Christ is mine;
by a daring faith, warranted by the Word of God,
I take this Christ to be mine, to have and to hold, for better or worse
And neither life nor death shall ever part me from him who is ‘my Beloved.’”
By the Spirit of God, say ., “My Beloved! My Beloved!”

Do you all really know what saving faith is? It is the appropriation to one’s own self of
Christ in his true and proper character, as God has revealed him. make this appropriation
I take Christ and I will never lose him.
So long as you take him to yourself, he will never withdraw himself from your grasp.
“Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” (Jn. 6:37)

— “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe upon the

from where she calls him
mountains of spices.”from “the mountains of spices.”

There are 4 mountains spoken of in the Song.

>mountains of division:2.17 “Until the day break, .., turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe upon
mountains of Bether”, ..the divided cliffs. Well, this was Christ’s first coming. There were mountains of
division; our sins and God’s justice, divided us. How could God’s love ever come to us, or how could we get
to it? “They are impassable; awful precipices,.. ..separate a guilty soul from a holy God; and, there was no
way over those hills till Jesus came like a roe ..who can stand on cliffs where menturn giddy, and they fall;
and our Divine Master was able to stand where we could not . He came leaping over the mountains of
our sins, and over the hills of divine justice, and came even to us, and opened up a way
over the mountains of Bether, the mountains of division, by which God comes to us and we
come to God; and now, instead of division, there is a sacred union.

> mountains of the leopards, the dens of the lions. 4.8 “ Come with me from Lebanon, my
spouse,: look from the top of Amana.., from the mountains of the leopards.” When Christ came the first time,
he met with fierce opposition from sin and death and hell. These were the lions; these were the leopards;
how he fought them and though he fell in the death-struggle, he tore that lion asunder “O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory? .., more than conqueror through the greatness of his love . In spite of
all opposition, Jesus finished the work of our redemption. So he came to us, over the
mountains of separation, and over the mountains of the leopards.

>3rd mountain 6.2,6 “My beloved is gone into his garden, to the beds of spices,..” It is
called a garden, but in 4.6 it is called a mountain — “Until the day break, ..I will get me to
the mountain of myrrh, ..After Jesus had come over the mountains of our sins, after he
had killed the lions and leopards that stood in our way, he gave up his soul into his
Father’s hands, and loving friends took his body and wrapped it in white linen, myrrh and
aloes.. laid him in a new tomb, .the garden or mountain of myrrh.

A bitter thing was that grave where he buried all our sin, that grave out of which he came
victorious over death, that grave out of which he rose that he might justify his people.
That was the mountain of myrrh to which he went for a very brief season. 3 days; His Church standing at the
tomb, saying, “Make haste, my beloved! Be thou like a roe, ..come quickly ..By the
resurrection of Christ, the tomb was opened, never to be closed again.

The “mountain of myrrh” is the third .refers to “the mountains of spices.” ..are those places where Jesus
dwells at this very moment at the right hand of God. It is from there that we now call him with the spouse
when she said, “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of
spices.

What are these spices? ..Christ’s infinite merits, which perfume heaven and earth The foul
corruption of our sins is not perceptible because of spices. One single sin would pollute a
universe;..But these mountains of spices nullify the foulness of our sins. Christ’s merit is
perpetually before the eye of his Father, so that no longer does he perceive our sins.

these mountains of spices ..our Lord’s perpetual and prevailing prayers He intercedes for
the people before the throne of God.. These are the mountains of spices, Christ’s infinite
merits, and his ceaseless prayers, supplications to the great Father on our behalf.

the praises of his glorified people, cleansed by his atoning blood, are as sweet spices
before God. Yes, all heaven is perfumed with everything that is precious and acceptable,
full of a sweet savour to God, and a delightful fragrance to all his people.
Now, this is where Jesus is now; ..as he rests in the mountains of spices; and the prayer
of his Church continually is: “Come, my Beloved! Make haste, my Beloved! Be thou like to
a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”

That brings to the main point, the arrowhead “Make haste, my Beloved, make haste.”
Why is it that all the Church of God, and each individual Christian, is anxious for the speedy
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? surely, that this is the result of true love. Does not love
always wish to see the object on which its heart is fixed?
The parting is painful; it is bitter indeed if you did not expect to meet again soon.
Where there is great love, there gets to be great longing; “Make haste, my Beloved, and
return to me”? If we love our Lord, we will long for his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8)

, when you see the oppression of the poor, when you hear the cry of the needy ground
down to bitter poverty, and yet are struggling hard to earn a bare pittance, you say, “Lord,
will this state of things always exist? Oh, that he would come, who will judge the people
righteously, and vindicate cause of the poor and oppressed Lk 18.7-8

how often the church that ought to honour Christ insults him, and he is wounded in the
house of his friends. (Zech. 13:6) We say, “Will not this evil soon be at an end? Will not
the conflict speedily be over? “Come, Lord! Make haste, my Beloved! Come to the rescue
of your weak and feeble servants; come, come, come, we beseech you!” Put yourself into
this great fight for the faith; and if you have to bear the brunt of the battle, you will soon be
as eager as I am that Jesus should make haste, and come to your relief.

What will Christ do at his coming? He will raise the dead. My eye shall see him in that day.
“I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth,
and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another”. (Job 19:25-27)
Come, Lord! Come, Lord, make no tarrying, we beseech you!

And when he shall come, then shall be the time of the glory of his people: “Then shall the
righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.Mt. 13:43)
we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1
Jn. 3:2)
Still, another reason why we say, “Make haste, my Beloved.” It is this. We desire to share in
Christ’s glory; but our chief desire is that our Lord may be glorified.
To every loyal soldier of King Jesus, in his Second Adventwhen he comes, it will be to be
admired in his saints, and glorified in all those that believe. Oh, do trust him, you shall live
with him forever and ever.God grant it! Amen+++