Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc24/v25500

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 15KB | 252 lines

25502
 #7,8 Observe the title given to Christ, O Thou whom my soul
 loveth. Those that do so, may come to him boldly, and may humbly
 plead with him. Is it with God's people a noon-time of outward
 troubles, inward conflicts? Christ has rest for them. Those
 whose souls love Jesus Christ, earnestly desire to share in the
 privileges of his flock. Turning aside from Christ is what
 gracious souls dread more than anything else. God is ready to
 answer prayer. Follow the track, ask for the good old way,
 observe the footsteps of the flock, look what has been the
 practice of godly people. Sit under the direction of good
 ministers; beside the tents of the under shepherds. Bring thy
 charge with thee, they shall all be welcome. It will be the
 earnest desire and prayer of the Christian, that God would so
 direct him in his worldly business, and so order his situation
 and employment, that he may have his Lord and Saviour always
 before him.

25504
 #9-17 The Bridegroom gives high praises of his spouse. In the
 sight of Christ believers are the excellent of the earth, fitted
 to be instruments for promoting his glory. The spiritual gifts
 and graces which Christ bestows on every true believer, are
 described by the ornaments then in use, ver. #10,11|. The graces
 of the saints are many, but there is dependence upon each other.
 He who is the Author, will be the Finisher of the good work. The
 grace received from Christ's fulness, springs forth into lively
 exercises of faith, affection, and gratitude. Yet Christ, not
 his gifts, is most precious to them. The word translated
 "camphire," signifies "atonement or propitiation." Christ is
 dear to all believers, because he is the propitiation for their
 sins. No pretender must have his place in the soul. They
 resolved to lodge him in their hearts all the night; during the
 continuance of the troubles of life. Christ takes delight in the
 good work which his grace has wrought on the souls of believers.
 This should engage all who are made holy, to be very thankful
 for that grace which has made those fair, who by nature were
 deformed. The spouse (the believer) has a humble, modest eye,
 discovering simplicity and godly sincerity; eyes enlightened and
 guided by the Holy Spirit, that blessed Dove. The church
 expresses her value for Christ. Thou art the great Original, but
 I am but a faint and imperfect copy. Many are fair to look at,
 yet their temper renders them unpleasant: but Christ is fair,
 yet pleasant. The believer, ver. #16|, speaks with praise of
 those holy ordinances in which true believers have fellowship
 with Christ. Whether the believer is in the courts of the Lord,
 or in retirement; whether following his daily labours, or
 confined on the bed of sickness, or even in a dungeon, a sense
 of the Divine presence will turn the place into a paradise. Thus
 the soul, daily having fellowship with the Father, the Son, and
 the Holy Spirit, enjoys a lively hope of an incorruptible,
 undefiled, and unfading inheritance above.
25513
 * The mutual love of Christ and his church. (1-7) The hope and
 calling of the church. (8-13) Christ's care of the church, Her
 faith and hope. (14-17)

 #1-7 Believers are beautiful, as clothed in the righteousness of
 Christ; and fragrant, as adorned with the graces of his Spirit;
 and they thrive under the refreshing beams of the Sun of
 righteousness. The lily is a very noble plant in the East; it
 grows to a considerable height, but has a weak stem. The church
 is weak in herself, yet is strong in Him that supports her. The
 wicked, the daughters of this world, who have no love to Christ,
 are as thorns, worthless and useless, noxious and hurtful.
 Corruptions are thorns in the flesh; but the lily now among
 thorns, shall be transplanted into that paradise where there is
 no brier or thorn. The world is a barren tree to the soul; but
 Christ is a fruitful one. And when poor souls are parched with
 convictions of sin, with the terrors of the law, or the troubles
 of this world, weary and heavy laden, they may find rest in
 Christ. It is not enough to pass by this shadow, but we must sit
 down under it. Believers have tasted that the Lord Jesus is
 gracious; his fruits are all the precious privileges of the new
 covenant, purchased by his blood, and communicated by his
 Spirit; promises are sweet to a believer, and precepts also.
 Pardons are sweet, and peace of conscience sweet. If our mouths
 are out of taste for the pleasures of sin, Divine consolations
 will be sweet to us. Christ brings the soul to seek and to find
 comforts through his ordinances, which are as a banqueting-house
 where his saints feast with him. The love of Christ, manifested
 by his death, and by his word, is the banner he displays, and
 believers resort to it. How much better is it with the soul when
 sick from love to Christ, than when surfeited with the love of
 this world! And though Christ seemed to have withdrawn, yet he
 was even then a very present help. All his saints are in his
 hand, which tenderly holds their aching heads. Finding Christ
 thus nigh to her, the soul is in great care that her communion
 with him is not interrupted. We easily grieve the Spirit by
 wrong tempers. Let those who have comfort, fear sinning it away.

25520
 #8-13 The church pleases herself with thoughts of further
 communion with Christ. None besides can speak to the heart. She
 sees him come. This may be applied to the prospect the Old
 Testament saints had of Christ's coming in the flesh. He comes
 as pleased with his own undertaking. He comes speedily. Even
 when Christ seems to forsake, it is but for a moment; he will
 soon return with everlasting loving-kindness. The saints of old
 saw him, appearing through the sacrifices and ceremonial
 institutions. We see him through a glass darkly, as he manifests
 himself through the lattices. Christ invites the new convert to
 arise from sloth and despondency, and to leave sin and worldly
 vanities, for union and communion with him. The winter may mean
 years passed in ignorance and sin, unfruitful and miserable, or
 storms and tempests that accompanied his conviction of guilt and
 danger. Even the unripe fruits of holiness are pleasant unto Him
 whose grace has produced them. All these encouraging tokens and
 evidences of Divine favour, are motives to the soul to follow
 Christ more fully. Arise then, and come away from the world and
 the flesh, come into fellowship with Christ. This blessed change
 is owing wholly to the approaches and influences of the Sun of
 righteousness.

25526
 #14-17 The church is Christ's dove; she returns to him, as her
 Noah. Christ is the Rock, in whom alone she can think herself
 safe, and find herself easy, as a dove in the hole of a rock,
 when struck at by the birds of prey. Christ calls her to come
 boldly to the throne of grace, having a great High Priest there,
 to tell what her request is. Speak freely, fear not a slight or
 a repulse. The voice of prayer is sweet and acceptable to God;
 those who are sanctified have the best comeliness. The first
 risings of sinful thoughts and desires, the beginnings of
 trifling pursuits which waste the time, trifling visits, small
 departures from truth, whatever would admit some conformity to
 the world; all these, and many more, are little foxes which must
 be removed. This is a charge to believers to mortify their
 sinful appetites and passions, which are as little foxes, that
 destroy their graces and comforts, and crush good beginnings.
 Whatever we find a hinderance to us in that which is good, we
 must put away. He feedeth among the lilies; this shows Christ's
 gracious presence among believers. He is kind to all his people.
 It becomes them to believe this, when under desertion and
 absence, and so to ward off temptations. The shadows of the
 Jewish dispensation were dispelled by the dawning of the gospel
 day. And a day of comfort will come after a night of desertion.
 Come over the mountains of Bether, "the mountains that divide,"
 looking forward to that day of light and love. Christ will come
 over every separating mountain to take us home to himself.
25530
 * The trials of the church by the withdrawing of Christ. (1-5)
 The excellences of the church, The care of Christ for her.
 (6-11)

 #1-5 It was hard to the Old Testament church to find Christ in
 the ceremonial law; the watchmen of that church gave little
 assistance to those who sought after him. The night is a time of
 coldness, darkness, and drowsiness, and of dim apprehensions
 concerning spiritual things. At first, when uneasy, some feeble
 efforts are made to obtain the comfort of communion with Christ.
 This proves in vain; the believer is then roused to increased
 diligence. The streets and broad-ways seem to imply the means of
 grace in which the Lord is to be sought. Application is made to
 those who watch for men's souls. Immediate satisfaction is not
 found. We must not rest in any means, but by faith apply
 directly to Christ. The holding of Christ, and not letting him
 go, denotes earnest cleaving to him. What prevails is a humble,
 ardent suing by prayer, with a lively exercise of faith on his
 promises. So long as the faith of believers keeps hold of
 Christ, he will not be offended at their earnest asking, yea, he
 is well pleased with it. The believer desires to make others
 acquainted with his Saviour. Wherever we find Christ, we must
 take him home with us to our houses, especially to our hearts;
 and we should call upon ourselves and each other, to beware of
 grieving our holy Comforter, and provoking the departure of the
 Beloved.

25535
 #6-11 A wilderness is an emblem of the world; the believer comes
 out of it when he is delivered from the love of its sinful
 pleasures and pursuits, and refuses to comply with its customs
 and fashions, to seek happiness in communion with the Saviour. A
 poor soul shall come up, at last, under the conduct of the
 Comforter; like a cloud of incense ascending from the altar, or
 the smoke of the burnt-offerings. This signifies pious and
 devout affections, and the mounting of the soul heaven-ward. The
 believer is filled with the graces of God's Spirit; his
 devotions now are very lively. These graces and comforts are
 from the heavenly Canaan. He, who is the Peace of his people,
 the King of the heavenly Zion, has provided for the safe
 conveyance of his redeemed through the wilderness of this world.
 The bed, or palanquin, was contrived for rest and easy
 conveyance, but its beauty and magnificence showed the quality
 of its owner. The church is well guarded; more are with her than
 are against her: believers, when they repose in Christ, and with
 him, though they have their fears in the night, are yet safe.
 The chariot here denotes the covenant of redemption, the way of
 our salvation. This is that work of Christ, which makes him
 loved and admired in the eyes of believers. It is framed and
 contrived, both for the glory of Christ, and for the comfort of
 believers; it is well ordered in all things and sure. The blood
 of the covenant, that rich purple, is the cover of this chariot,
 by which believers are sheltered from the wind and storms of
 Divine wrath, and the troubles of this world; but the midst of
 it is that love of Christ which passes knowledge, this is for
 believers to repose upon. Christ, in his gospel, manifests
 himself. Take special notice of his crown. Applying this to
 Christ, it speaks the honour put upon him, and his power and
 dominion.
25541
 * Christ sets forth the graces of the church. (1-7) Christ's
 love to the church. (8-15) The church desires further influences
 of Divine grace. (16)

 #1-7 If each of these comparisons has a meaning applicable to
 the graces of the church, or of the faithful Christian, they are
 not clearly known; and great mistakes are made by fanciful
 guesses. The mountain of myrrh appears to mean the mountain
 Moriah, on which the temple was built, where the incense was
 burned, and the people worshipped the Lord. This was his
 residence till the shadows of the law given to Moses were
 dispersed by the breaking of the gospel day, and the rising of
 the Sun of righteousness. And though, in respect of his human
 nature, Christ is absent from his church on earth, and will
 continue to be so till the heavenly day break, yet he is
 spiritually present in his ordinances, and with his people. How
 fair and comely are believers, when justified in Christ's
 righteousness, and adorned with spiritual graces! when their
 thoughts, words, and deeds, though imperfect, are pure,
 manifesting a heart nourished by the gospel!

25548
 #8-15 Observe the gracious call Christ gives to the church. It
 is, 1. A precept; so this is Christ's call to his church to come
 off from the world. These hills seem pleasant, but there are in
 them lions' dens; they are mountains of the leopards. 2. As a
 promise; many shall be brought as members of the church, from
 every point. The church shall be delivered from her persecutors
 in due time, though now she dwells among lions, #Ps 57:4|.
 Christ's heart is upon his church; his treasure is therein; and
 he delights in the affection she has for him; its working in the
 heart, and its works in the life. The odours wherewith the
 spouse is perfumed, are as the gifts and graces of the Spirit.
 Love and obedience to God are more pleasing to Christ than
 sacrifice or incense. Christ having put upon his spouse the
 white raiment of his own righteousness, and the righteousness of
 saints, and perfumed it with holy joy and comfort, he is well
 pleased with it. And Christ walks in his garden unseen. A hedge
 of protection is made around, which all the powers of darkness
 cannot break through. The souls of believers are as gardens
 enclosed, where is a well of living water, #Joh 4:14; 7:38|, the
 influences of the Holy Spirit. The world knows not these wells
 of salvation, nor can any opposer corrupt this fountain. Saints
 in the church, and graces in the saints, are fitly compared to
 fruits and spices. They are planted, and do not grow of
 themselves. They are precious; they are the blessings of this
 earth. They will be kept to good purpose when flowers are
 withered. Grace, when ended in glory, will last for ever. Christ
 is the source which makes these gardens fruitful; even a well of
 living waters.