Now, at this present time, we should walk by faith in the light of that future day. The threefold effect of this truth on the mind of the Apostle, is worthy of our special attention. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” (2 Cor. 5: 11.) 1. Knowing what a terrible thing it must be for a sinner to appear before God in his sins, and under a responsibility entirely his own, the Apostle is stirred up to preach the gospel with great earnestness. “We persuade men.” He seeks to warn — to impress others, with the immediate and unspeakable importance of salvation. What an awful thing it must be, for an unbeliever to answer personally for his rejection of Christ and salvation. Who would not be aroused to deep, soul-stirring earnestness, in the preaching of the gospel, by such a consideration?
2. The Apostle was already in the light — already manifest unto God. “But we are made manifest unto God.” The judgment-seat bore no terror for the Apostle. It only stirred him up to greater seal for the salvation of others.
3. Thus walking in the light, the man of God — the servant of Christ, goes on with his work; his conscience, mean time, reflecting the light and the love of God. He commends himself to the consciences of those amongst whom he labors. “And I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” Oh! that these blessed, precious, and practical results may flow to thee, my soul, and to many others, from thy meditations on the tribunal of Christ.
And to this end may we experience the various operations of the Holy Spirit, as referred to in the following words of the blessed Lord.
“Awake, Ο north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the prices thereof may flow out” The word “wind” is sometimes used in scripture, in reference to the Holy Spirit; and tins verse, is like the Lord praying for the different operations of the Spirit, in the hearts of His beloved people. “Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.” There are spices — “chief spices” in His vineyard, but something is needed to cause them to flow out. He has just been walking in His garden, surveying His pleasant plants, and calling them by their names.
“Like trees of myrrh and spice we stand,
Planted by God the Father’s hand:
And all His springs in Zion flow,
To make the young plantation grow.”
But sometimes a death-like stillness comes over the whole plantation, both old and young are affected by it. The balmy branches yield not to the breath of the Spirit, so that the rich perfume is not collected by, and carried on the breeze. “Awake, Ο north wind; and come, thou south;” is now the patient husbandman’s cry, “blow upon my garden.” A sharp, keen blast from the north; or the genial gales of the south, may be employed, to awaken, quicken, and arouse the Lord’s people from a state of sad supineness. But, Oh! sweet thought! He to whom the garden belongs, and who knows well every plant that is in it, holds in his hand the breath that fans, and the whirlwind that sweeps. And for all His tender, precious plants, He carefully adjusts the due proportion of the north and the south wind.
Happy enclosure! where the piercing gale
Nips but the budding weeds, while, kept secure,
The cultured plants are refuged from all ill,
To flourish in the soft succeeding calm!
“A little while,” and they shall all he transplanted to the more genial clime of the paradise above. There, the piercing north wind of affliction, chastening, and discipline shall no longer be needed. There will be nothing in those cloudless regions to wither the leaf, nip the bud, blight the blossom, or stunt the fruit. Enough, Ο enough, of all this sad and sorrowful work, have we had in this cold world of ours! Come, Ο, come; hail, happy day, when far, far away from the wilderness, where trial often comes like a terrible blast, as if it would up-root the feeble plant; and where sorrow often fills the heart, and shame covers the face, because we have been so fruitless in that which is good, and so fruitful in that which is evil; but then, all evil shall be done away; no grief, no canker, no worm there. Rooted in the pure soil of heaven, and continually drinking in the dews of eternal love, we shall bloom and bear fruit to the ineffable delight of our Father’s heart — the unutterable glories of our blessed Lord, through the abiding presence of God the Holy Spirit with us.
Lord grant, that now, my heart may be entirely inclined to the culture which thou seest to be the best; that my heart may bow to every breath of thy Spirit, and that there may be such fruit and fragrance in my life as shall afford thee pleasure. Oh! to be ever free to say, “Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.” These few, are the only words which we have from the lips of the Bride, in this wonderful chapter. But they are happy, blessed words. “My beloved.” She is at home, and happy in His presence. He, Himself, is hers. She knows it. She enjoys it. He is her own beloved Lord and Savior. “My beloved.” But when she speaks of the garden, she calls it “His garden.” And of the fruit she says, “His pleasant fruit.” This is true ground, as we elsewhere read; “My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein.” And again, speaking of His care of that vineyard, which proved so unfruitful to Him; He says, “I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment, lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isa. 5; 27
In the fifteenth of John, the blessed Lord speaks of Himself as the “True Vine,” His people as the “branches” and His Father as the “husbandman” — the vine-dresser. Oh, what a wondrous sight! The Father looking down from heaven, beholds, all over the habitable world, His own beloved Son, bearing fruit to His glory, through the many branches of this goodly vine! What a wide-spreading vine! It is only through the supply of the rich juices from the parent stock, that the branches bear fruit. What a lovely sight to the Father’s eye! What a constant care for the Father’s heart! But, oh! how rewarded, when He sees the branches, thus vitally connected with His Son, “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.” (Phil. 1:22Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2).) “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” John 15:88Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:8).
No sooner has the loved and beautiful Shelomith invited her Lord to come into His garden, and partake of the refreshing fruits thereof, than He answers, “I am come.” He does not say, “I may, or I will,” but “I am come.” Already, while she is yet inviting Him, He is present. His heart is ever ready — waiting to attend on the cry of His beloved ones. Oh! happy spouse — oh! happy people, that are in such a case as this! To have the King of kings, and Lord of lords, waiting, ready to attend when they call. The fruits of the Spirit are always acceptable to Him. Rich and varied He now finds them, and greatly He is delighted with this banquet of love.
Chap. 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; eat, Ο friends, drink, yea drink abundantly, Ο beloved.” These different fruits may represent the different results of the Spirit’s operations in souls by the truth. There may be tears, bitter as myrrh, flowing from one, under a deep sense of past failure. The Spirit of God having applied the truth in power, to the conscience, the heart is broken. Its deep fountains are opened up, and bitterest tears of deepest anguish flow like a river. And now, out comes, in unreserved confession, before God, the whole matter. Second causes are lost sight of, in the searching light of God’s holy presence. “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.” These are close quarters for a soul to be in with God. Though David’s sin had been against his neighbor, and against the well-being of society; yet he says, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.” All sin is against God; and it is a painful thing to have to do with God about our sin. But right into the presence chamber of the Holy One we must go, just as we are, if we would get rid of the awful burden of sin. There, and there only, can we find full relief. The weeping penitent must lay down the multitude of his sins, side by side with the multitude of God’s tender mercies. Only there can he learn what that word meaneth, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The Father meets His child, blessed be His name, in the boundless grace of His heart, on the ground of the precious blood of Jesus. As the rising wave from the fathomless ocean, hastens to meet and embrace the descending stream, and overflow all its limits; so does grace meet the penitent sinner, and obliterate forever all trace of his sin. Its course, like a river, may have been long and deep, but now, its very course and limits are untraceable.
Ο love divine, thou vast abyss!
My sins are swallowed up in thee;
Covered is my unrighteousness;
From condemnation I am free;
While Jesu’s blood, through earth and skies,
Mercy! free, boundless mercy! cries.
Having passed through the experience of the fifty-first psalm, David could praise and worship God with a joyful heart according to the strains of the one hundred and third. “Bless the Lord, Ο my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, Ο my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.” Thus God’s majesty, holiness, and truth have been maintained, sin judged in the light, the conscience cleared, the heart made happy, full communion restored, and the soul established in grace. The tears may have been more bitter than myrrh, but the results are sweeter than honey, and more fragrant, to the heart of Christ, than all spices.
The Lord finds every variety of fruit, in the assemblies of His people. But with all that which is of the Spirit, He has the fullest fellowship and enjoyment. “I have gathered........I have eaten........I have drank.” He partakes of all the variety. He slights none. In the advanced disciple He may find that which indicates the strength and vigor of wine; while in the new born babe there may be the sweet simplicity of milk. An infidel, chafed and annoyed by the beautiful simplicity of a believing child, who was speaking about the joy and happiness of being with Jesus forever, said to her, “but what if Jesus be in hell?” “Ah,” replied the dear child, “but it would not be hell if he were there.” How simple, yet how unanswerable! How honoring to the name — how refreshing, to the heart of Jesus! What hast thou for thy Lord, Ο my soul? What can He gather from thee — what can He eat — what can He drink of thine? What is sweeter than humility? What is more honoring to the Lord than entire dependence on Him? What more grateful to his heart, than a daily, growing desire for the glory of God?
Many will partake of this royal supper, and enter into its joys. Many, very many, are the “friends” of the Bridegroom. And all, in the day of His glory, will enter into His joy. Wondrous, long-looked-for day of heavenly and earthly glory! All hearts will be reached and touched with that joyous invitation. “Eat, Ο friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, Ο beloved.” The “natural branches,” long broken off from the stock of promise, shall, as the apostle says, be grafted in again. “In that day”— the day of Israel’s restoration — “the Lord shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.” (Isa. 27) What a feast shall then be provided through restored Israel, for all nations. The face of the world shall be filled with fruit. “And in that mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people, a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.” (Isa. 25) Again, “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth: and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth.” (Hos. 2) Here the figure is changed from ingrafting to sowing, as if God was going to do an entirely new thing in the earth.
‘Now we know, from the New Testament,’ says a recent writer, that in that day, “the heavens” will be occupied by Christ and his glorified saints. Jehovah will hear the heavens, “and they shall hear the earth.” Christ, in whom all things, both in heaven and earth, will then be gathered, will be the One to whom prayer shall be addressed from all on earth, even as it will be through Him, and His glorified saints, that blessing will be universally administered. “And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil.” No want, no scarcity even then. The voice of complaining will have ceased to be heard in the streets. Creation’s universal groan will have been hushed; yea, it will have given place to universal hymns of gratitude and praise. “And they shall hear Jezreel.” Now Jezreel, as scholars tell us, means, “the seed of God;” and this interpretation of the word is confirmed by what immediately follows, “I will sow her (Israel) unto me in the earth. There shall be one unbroken chain of blessing from the throne of Jehovah, the great source of all, down to the enjoyment, by mankind, of all the blessings of this life: and the place in this wondrous chain filled by restored Israel, is that of Jezreel, the seed of God, sown by Jehovah, and to Him, in the earth, and filling the face of the world with fruit. Jehovah — the heavens, occupied by Christ and the Church in glory — the earth — restored Israel, or Jezreel, the seed of God —universal blessing on the earth, even to the abundance of corn, and wine, and oil, while war and violence are at an end; “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Praise, eternal praise, to Him who alone doeth wondrous things! Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Oh! what a circle of blessing is presented to us here! Mark it well, Ο my soul, and meditate thereon. Look forward to the happy day, when He who has been long absent shall have returned, and shall say in the ears of His waiting people, “I am come” — “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse.” Then shall the promises made to the fathers, be fulfilled to their children, according to the word of the Lord. Jehovah in the highest heavens —Christ and His glorified saints, in the heavens that are connected with the earth — then restored Israel in the holy land, and all nations of the earth, thus linked together in one glorious chain of universal blessing. Oh! what a circle of glory! What a circle of “friends!” What a feast of love! And what a joyous welcome from the heart of Him who is “Lord of all!” “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, Ο beloved.”