THE LOVE LIFE OF THE LORDby A. B. Simpson

CONTENTS1. The Love-Life of the Lord 2. Waiting Days 3. Wooing Days 4. Wedding Days 5. Testing Days 6. Home Longing 7. Home Coming

CHAPTER ONE THE LOVE LIFE

From many standpoints, the Biblelooks at our spiritual life. Sometimesit is as a life of faith, again as alife of holiness, evermore as a life ofservice, deepest of all as a life ofpatience and victorious suffering; butthe highest and divinest view of it isa life of love. Nor is it love in anyordinary sense, but the tenderest andmost intimate forms, and the mostexquisite figures of human affectionand friendship are used to describe theunspeakable bond which links the heartof God with the souls He calls to beHis own. It is not the love ofcompassion, nor even the stronger loveexpressed by the relationship offatherhood, brotherhood and evenmotherhood, but it is the tie, aboveall others, which links two hearts inthe exclusive affection which no othercan share -- the love <6> of thebridegroom and the bride, the love

which touches all human love with itsinexpressible charm, and transfiguresand glorifies the humblest lot and thehardest circumstances into a heavenlyparadise.

This is the meaning of the Song ofSolomon. This is the Old Testamentclimax of the series of figures thatruns all the way from Eden to theMillennial throne. The opening pictureof the Bible is a love song -- twohearts, the one born out of the other,and then given back to it in perfectunison, the central figures of earth'sfirst Paradise. Next we have the storyof Rebekah's wooing and Isaac'smarriage, the great type of theheavenly Bridegroom sending to thisfar-off land for His chosen andexclusive bride. The beautiful idyll ofRuth and Boaz has the same figurativesignificance. The forty-fifth Psalm isDavid's song of heavenly love and thedivine Lover, and its tender call hasreached many a Christian heart andcalled it to a heavenly betrothal,"Hearken O daughter, and consider!Forget also thy kindred and thyfather's house; so shall the Kinggreatly desire thy beauty, for He isthy Lord and worship thou Him."

This beautiful book is Solomon'slove song. Later prophets re-echo itsheavenly strains. Isaiah tells of ourMaker who is our <7> Husband.

Jeremiah repeats the plaintive appeal,"I remember thee, the kindness of thyyouth, the love of thine espousals,when thou wentest after me in thewilderness, in a land that was notsown." Hosea tells of the higherexperience, when the soul restored fromits backslidings shall call Him Ishi,'my husband,' no longer Baali, 'myLord,' and He shall betroth us unto Himin righteousness, and we shall know theLord." Ezekiel vividly portrays thepicture of the calling of the bride, "Ipassed by thee and thy time was thetime of love, and I spread my skirtover thee and covered thy nakedness;yea, I sware unto thee and entered intoa covenant with thee, saith the LordGod, and thou becamest mine." John theBaptist introduces Christ as theBridegroom, while he himself is onlythe friend of the bridegroom. Jesustakes up the figure Himself, and speaksof His days as the time when thebridegroom is with them, and of thedays when He says that the bridegroomshall be taken away, and the waitingbride shall fast until His return; and,true to the figure, He commences Hismiracles at a marriage feast, turningthe water into wine, as the type of thegreat purpose of His kingdom, totransform the earthly into theheavenly, and give to us not only thewater of life but the wine of love. <8>

His parables are as suggestive as

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His miracles. He tells of the MarriageFeast for the King's son, and the TenVirgins who went forth to meet theBridegroom. Above all other NewTestament writers, the apostle Paulcatches the spirit of this exquisitefigure and interprets the meaning ofearthly affection by the heavenlyreality. Speaking of the love of thehusband and the wife he lifts ourthoughts above the earthly type to ourdeeper union with the Lord, and with adepth and vividness of meaning that canscarcely be expressed in words and canonly be understood by the heart thatlies on the bosom of its Lord he says,"This is a great mystery, but I speakconcerning Christ and the church. Forthe husband is the head of the wife asChrist is the head of the church, andhe is the Savior of the body. For weare members of His body, of His fleshand of His bones. As is the love of thehusband to the wife, even so Christloved the church and gave Himself forit, that He might sanctify and cleanseit by the washing of water through theword; that He might present it untoHimself, a glorious church, not havingspot or wrinkle."

So again speaking of our personalpurity, the very ground on which heurges it is our physical union with theLord. "Now the Lord is for the body andthe body for the Lord... Know <9> yenot that your bodies are the members of

Christ?"

The climax of all this heavenlyimagery is reached in the book ofRevelation where the universe issummoned to gaze on the crowningspectacle of God's love and power, theparagon of creation, redemption andgrace, the wonder of angels, thedelight of God. "Come hither" theyexclaim as all eyes are turned toyonder vision of ineffable glorydescending from the skies, resplendentwith the light of unearthly jewels andshining with the glory of God, "Comehither and I will show you the Bride,the Lamb's wife. And I heard as it werethe voice of a great multitude, and asthe voice of many waters, and as thevoice of mighty thunderings saying,"Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotentreigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice,and give honor to Him for the marriageof the Lamb is come, and His wife hathmade herself ready. And to her wasgranted that she should be arrayed infine linen clean and white: for thefine linen is the righteousness ofsaints. And he saith unto me, 'Write.Blessed are they which are called tothe marriage supper of the Lamb.' Andhe saith unto me, 'These are the truesayings of God.'"

Surely, beloved, no man can saythat a subject that occupies soprominent and sublime a place in God's

holy Word and in the hopes of <10>the future, is unworthy of ourprofoundest interest and our mostreverent and earnest consideration!

In oriental countries the marriagepageant is the chief event and thestory that lies back of it is of lessimportance, for often indeed thebridegroom and the bride never meetuntil for the first time he approachesher on her wedding day in all thesplendor of her bridal robes, and,lifting the veil from her face, looksinto her eyes. In our Christiancivilization the marriage scene is theleast important part of the entireproceedings. The love story of theheart and the tender and personalinterest associated with the firstacquaintance and ripening affection ofwedded hearts after all the tests andtriumphs of true love are over, this isof paramount importance. It is even soin the love story of the soul.Glorious, indeed, will be the hour whenour love shall be crowned and the brideof the Lamb shall sit down by His sideon His Millennial Throne. But far moreimportant is the simple story of thecall of the bride and the betrothal ofthe soul now to its everlasting Lordand lover.

It is of this we are chiefly tospeak in the consideration of ourfascinating theme, and may it indeed

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prove, through the power of the HolySpirit, in the case of many who <11>shall read these lines, the beginningof an everlasting love story that shallinvest all time and all eternity withthe infinite and heavenly charm.

First, let us endeavor to graspthe structure of this book and the formof this beautiful drama in its simplebeauty. It is a love song of the giftedand glorious king of Israel in the daysof his purity, when his heart was trueto God and true to his single bride.The heroine of Canticles is known asShulamith, or the daughter of Shulemwhich we know in Hebrew is the same asShunem. I have never been able toresist the strong impression that shewas the same maiden as we read of inconnection with the closing days ofDavid's life, the fairest daughter ofIsrael that could be found in all theland, who was especially brought to theaged king to be the companion of hisclosing days, to cheer and cherish byher sweetness and brightness the lastmoments of his feeble and sinking life.We know that she was a daughter ofShunem. We know that she was sobeautiful that she was selected for hersurpassing loveliness. We know alsothat she was beloved of Adonijah,Solomon's faithless brother, andbecause he asked that she might be hisbride, Solomon became strangelyindignant and ordered his execution,

saying that he might as well have askedthe kingdom. One can hardly understandthis indignation, unless, back of it,<12> lay a secret in Solomon's heartof love to the fair Shulamite. Howeverthis may be, it matters comparativelylittle. We are enabled, however, fromthe book itself, to weave a verycomplete thread of romantic and mostsuggestive incidents into one of themost charming of oriental poems. Theplan of the story is very simple andwill be best understood by dividing thebook into six sections, which we maycall respectively:

First, THE WAITING DAYS, fromchapter 1 to 2:7, which represent thebride as waiting in the palace inJerusalem with her maidens whilepreparing for her marriage. This isoccupied with a number of littleincidents comprising a song from hermaidens, a chorus in which she joins,and then her interview and conversationwith her lover as he suddenly appearsand closes the song with mutual wordsof love, in one of the gardens of thepalace.

Second, THE WOOING DAYS, fromchapter 1:8 to 2:5, containing thestory of her wooing, told by her ownlips in a little song to her maidens,in which she describes mostbeautifully, the first visit of herlover to her rustic home under the

shadows of Lebanon, and then closeswith a sad dream which followed hisvisit, in which it seemed to her as ifshe had lost his love, but at lengthshe found him, welcomed him and broughthim to her mother's home with a love<13> which determined never again tolet him go. Each of these beautifulscenes close with the same simplerefrain, "I charge you, O ye daughtersof Jerusalem, by the roes, and by thehinds of the field, that ye stir notup, nor awake love till it please,"which is a strong poetic expressiondenoting the intensity of her love andcalling upon all to be careful how theythoughtlessly awaken the fires thatburn with so intense a fervor.

Third. WEDDING DAYS, from chapter3:6 to 5:1, the scene of the marriageprocession, the words of love from thebridegroom to the bride and the weddingfeast with the welcome to the guests.

Fourth. TESTING DAYS, chapter 5:2to 8:10. This is the story of thetrials which followed this happy union;trials which began with her firstfailure, in her languor, self-indulgence and slowness to respond tothe bridegroom's call; followed bysorrow and bitter repentance, and manyan indignity from the watchmen of thestreet as she sought in vain for herlost bridegroom. But all through theseparation her heart is true to him and

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her testimony unfaltering. She tellsthe daughters of Jerusalem of hisbeauty and loveliness, and stilltestifies without the shadow of adoubt, "I am my beloved's and he ismine." At length her faithfulness is<14> rewarded, her trials are ended,her beloved returns and meets her withwords of unbounded affection,admiration and comfort, and her maidenslook upon her with wondering delight asshe appears before them with newbeauty, "bright as the morning, fair asthe moon, clear as the sun, andterrible as an army with banners," andthe scene closes with a still closerunion and a more complete expression ofher utter surrender to his will in thesimple words, deeper than any she hadyet expressed, "I am my beloved's, andhis desire is toward me" (7:10). It isnot now, "My beloved is mine." Theselfishness even of her love is gone,and her one thought is to be his and tomeet his every wish for her.

Fifth. The thought of this sectionis best expressed by the words "HOMELONGINGS." It is the cry of her heartfor her old home (8:2-4). This is not aselfish desire, nor merely a lonesome,homesick wish to be back in hermother's house once more, nor to beabsent from her beloved, but rather awish to have him more wholly to herselfout of the excitement and confusion ofthe city, and the causes that so often

separate him from her, in the simpleunbroken communion of her own home, andthe days when he used to be ever by herside among the Galilean hills. It isthe cry of a loving heart for constant,unbroken fellowship and separation fromothers unto him alone. <15>

Sixth. Chapter 8:5-14. This isthe HOME COMING, the beautiful pictureof the fulfillment of her longing, thereturn to Galilee, the renewal of theirplighted vows under the old trees andamid the old trysting scenes. Thencomes her artless yet half artfulintercession for her sisters and herbrother, and that all dear to her mayshare in the blessing which she enjoys.The beautiful scene closes with therequest of her bridegroom for a favorfrom her, and that is, that she willsing for him one of the songs whichdoubtless she had often sung in thedays of old; and the poem closes withher last song, a sweet out-breathing ofthe love that longs for his presence,and that asks only for him ininseparable union, pointing forward inits deep spiritual application to theeverlasting song and the undividedfellowship of the home above.

Such is the structure of this lovestory, and it is easy to see how muchmay lie back of it in the higher worldof spiritual realities. Of course thereis boundless room for extravagant and

visionary application, but there isalso abundant cause for sober,scriptural interpretation, and forlessons that touch the whole field ofpersonal experience and dispensationaltruth.

Jewish writers have been very fondof seeing in it the story of theirrace, and much <16> that they haveseen is doubtless true, perhaps all.Most truthfully and vividly does itrecall the beginning of their history;waiting like her in the king's palacein the time of Solomon's magnificenceand splendor, unequaled and apparentlyunlikely to be ever changed. The storyof her wooing is the story of God'sloving call to ancient Israel, as Hesummoned them to come with Him toanother land and accept Him as theirheavenly Husband. The first sad dreamof chapter 2 is applied to the darkdays of the Babylonish captivity; thesecond and more terrible dream, and thelonger separation of chapter 5, withall the wrongs received at thewatchmen's hands, has been more thanfulfilled in the sad story of theMiddle Ages and the sufferings of theJewish nation for nearly eighteenhundred years. The reason of this isnot hard to find in the confession ofthe bride. It was because he hadknocked at Israel's door and beenrejected when He came to them as theirBridegroom in the days of His flesh.

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But He will appear to them once more,as he did to her, and, as in her case,so for them also, there will be therestoration to the old home once more,and amid the hills of Galilee and thescenes of Hebrew history will He renewwith them His everlasting covenant andbetroth them <17> unto Himselfforever, and Israel's last song will be"the song of Moses and the Lamb."

The application of this delightfulallegory to the church of Christ isstill more marked. She, too, had herwaiting and her call to come out fromthe world and follow her Lord accordingto the beautiful imagery of chapter 2verses 8-13, and with His call came anew springtime and an everlastingsummer. She, too, had her first darkdream, perhaps during the sad days ofHis crucifixion and burial. She, too,had her spiritual betrothal andmarriage to her Lord and went forth inpentecostal power and apostolic purityin His name, and with all the fullnessof His gifts and graces, and thefellowship of His love. But she, too,like Israel, has had her second and herlonger sad dream of sorrow andseparation, in the dark ages of errorand corruption, which almost blottedout the church for a thousand yearsfrom existence. And she, too, has hadher restoration and once more has begunto appear in the glory of His spiritualrevealing, "fair as the moon, clear as

the sun, and terrible as an army withbanners"; and above all, like the fairbride, when restored to His spiritualfellowship her great longing andblessed hope is His personal coming andthe restitution of all things whichthat coming is to bring, correspondingto the bride's return to her Galilean<18> home. And her sweetest song andthe song the Bridegroom loves the bestis that which every true heart issinging today, and which is the closingecho of the Bible itself, "Make haste,my beloved," or, as the New Testamenttranslates it, "Come, Lord Jesus, comequickly."

But the song of Solomon has a veryspecial application to the individualChristian.

We see in it the story of ourcall, conversion and justification."Draw me and we will run after thee;the king has brought me into hischambers." This is where we all began."I am black but comely, O ye daughtersof Jerusalem, black as the tents ofKedar, comely as the curtains ofSolomon." This is the striking pictureof the soul's justification. Sinful andunworthy, in ourselves, we yet areclothed in our Savior's spotlessrighteousness, and "beautiful throughHis comeliness." Our righteousness isnot our own; but clothed in His meritsand united to His person we are "even

as He."

We see the soul's desire for adeeper intimacy with Jesus. "Tell me, Othou whom my soul loveth, where thoufeedest, where thou makest thy flock torest at noon, for why should I be asone that wandereth by the flocks of thycompanions." It is the cry of thehungry heart for the living bread, andof the tired spirit for the secretplace of His presence and His rest.<19> And He answers it by therevelation of His love, so that thehappy heart can say, "I sat down underHis shadow with great delight, and Hisfruit was sweet to my taste, He broughtme into His banqueting house and Hisbanner over me was love."

The call to leave all and followHim. This is more. The relation ofJesus to the disciples on the banks ofJordan brought them to His house toabide with Him that whole day. Butthere came another call, a littlelater, to leave all and follow Himforever. This is the call of the secondscene in the Song of Solomon. "Rise upmy love, my fair one and come away."Happy they who promptly answered, "Iwill go."

We see the soul a little reluctantto respond to so abrupt a call, andputting Him off a little while "untilthe day breathe" that is until the

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evening. But also it is followed by abitter disappointment, and a sad andgloomy night, when she seeks her Lordlong in vain, and at last is only tooglad to find Him even on the streets,and bring Him to her home to be partedno more.

Next we see the soul's marriage tothe Lord, in the imagery of the thirdand fourth chapters.

This is the great spiritualmystery of grace, the union of theheart with Christ in the happy <20>hour, when all has been yielded and theHoly Spirit comes to say "Thou shallcall thy name Hephzibah and thy landBeulah, for the Lord delighteth in theeand thy land shall be married."

Then come the testing days of theheart when faith and love are tried andeven failures come to teach us deeperlessons and establish us in a place ofstrength that we never knew before.First He leaves His bride for a little,but it is only till the evening, andsoon He returns with tenderest love.Next He comes at night to her door, butshe is asleep and waits so long to openthe door that He goes away again. Thencomes the darkest of her trials. Sheseeks Him but she finds Him not. Thewatchmen of the street insult and mockher. But she is steadfastly faithful toher Lord. She declares to all His glory

and His grace. She declares her ownlove to Him. At last he appears to her,and with words of tenderest affectionrewards her constancy and love. Andthen she appears in a loveliness andglory she had never known before. Hertrials have only deepened her life, andnow she "looketh forth as the morning,fair as the moon, clear as the sun, andterrible as an army with banners." Andso wholly His has she become that herone testimony is, "I am by beloved's,and His desire is toward me." <21>Such is the soul's experience ofteneven after it has come into full unionwith its Lord. A very slightunfaithfulness will often bring a long,sad separation and many a sorrow. It isa much more serious thing to disobeyChrist after we have come into fullunion with Him than before. But eventhis sad failure is not irremediable.Out of these testings we come with anexperience worth all it cost, and aconsecration that can say withoutreserve, "I am my beloved's, and wantto meet His desire and satisfy His loveto me."

The later experiences of Shulamithhave their counterpart in every truespiritual life. The longing to dwellapart with Him, the cry for His closerpresence, the longing for home,especially for His blessed comingagain, all these things are theripening of the love-life of the heart

and the preparation for His coming. Themore we know Him spiritually, the morewill we long to see Him face to face,and to be with Him where distancedivides not, and temptation, sin andsorrow come no more.

CHAPTER TWO WAITING DAYS

"The King hath brought me into Hischambers. He brought me into Hisbanqueting house, and His banner overme was love."

As we have already seen, the bookof Canticles opens with the picture ofthe bride waiting in the palace of theking for her wedding day. She has comefrom her Galilean home, and issurrounded by her attendants, thedaughters of Jerusalem. The poem openswith a song by her, and a chorus inwhich her maidens join, occupying thefirst eight verses. This is followed byanother solo, in which she calls uponher lover to tell her where she mayfind him, followed by a response by hermaidens, who bid her go forth andsearch by the footsteps of the flocks.Then her Beloved himself appears, and<23> the rest of the scene is aconversation between them in one of thearbors of the king's gardens, followedby a repast in the banqueting house ofthe palace. The whole scene is full ofspiritual parallels, reminding everyone of us of our own most precious

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experience.

We have her heavenly call. "Drawme and we will run after thee. The Kinghath brought me into His chambers." Sherecognizes even her love as theresponse of her heart to another lovethat first drew her. How true of us!"We love Him because He first lovedus." "By the grace of God I am what Iam." With loving kindness hath Hedrawn us because He hath loved us withan everlasting love. Our highestlongings after God were first inspiredin us by God Himself, and we never canmore than apprehend that for which weare apprehended of Christ Jesus. Wellmay we say of that great love that hasanticipated long ago all that it hasbrought us, and much more that is tofollow, "How precious are thy thoughtsto me, O God! They are more in numberthan the sands of the sea." "God, whois rich in mercy, for His great lovewherewith He loved us, even when wewere dead in sins, hath quickened ustogether with Christ, and and hathraised us up together, and made us sittogether in heavenly places in ChristJesus."

Her heavenly robes. "I am blackbut <24> comely, as the tents ofKedar, as the curtains of Solomon."That is, "I am black as the tents ofKedar, comely as the curtains ofSolomon."

We have here a beautiful blendingof perfect humility and perfectconfidence. This is the spirit whichshould run through our entire Christianlife. True first of the sinner'sjustification, it will ever be as trueof the saint's holiness. It ispractically Paul's own confession, "thechief of sinners, but I obtainedmercy." "I am not sufficient even tothink anything as of myself, but mysufficiency is of God." It is thelowliness that prostrates itself in thedust, evermore conscious even after thelongest experience of Christ's grace,that we still are nothing but worthlessempty vessels, and that all ourrighteousness is not selfconstitutedbut constantly dependent on Christalone. It is just because ourrighteousness is not our own that wecan speak of it in such high terms, anddare to say, I am comely; I am clothedwith the righteousness of Jesus; I amkept by the power of God; I can do allthings through Christ who strengthenethme. He hath clothed me with thegarments of salvation, He hath coveredme with the robes of His righteousness.I am sanctified by Christ Jesus andfilled with the Holy Spirit, andenabled to walk with Him in Holyobedience unto all pleasing, and yet Iam nothing by myself, <25> but "bythe grace of God I am what I am, andHis grace towards me was exceeding

abundant with faith and love which isin Christ Jesus our Lord." There is nomodesty in sitting down in the kitchenif we are the sons of God and thebeloved of our Father's family. Heexpects us, with becoming dignity, totake the place His love has given us,and to feel at howe in the heavenlyrobes in which His grace has arrayedus, daring to say, as He says of us,"The blood of Jesus Christ cleansesfrom all sin."

Her higher longings for her LordHimself. It was not enough for her tobe in His palace and arrayed in Hisrobes of loveliness and honor, but shewanted her Lover Himself. "Tell me,"she cries, "Thou whom my soul lovest,where thou feedest, where thou makestthy flock to rest at noon; for whyshould I be as one that turneth asideby the flocks of thy companions?" Shecannot be content with the society ofothers, nor can any of them be hershepherd. Three things she wants inHim. She wants Him to feed her; shewants Him to rest her; and she wantsHim to be her companion and give herHis sweet society.

This expresses the soul's deeplonging for a closer fellowship withJesus. Its first cry is for His love tominister to its deep need, <26> "Tellme where thou feedest." The spirit hasits own peculiar capacities and needs,

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and Christ alone can satisfy them. Heis our living bread. "He that eateth meshall live by me." "My flesh is meatindeed, and my blood is drink indeed.He that eateth my flesh and drinketh myblood dwelleth in me and I in him.Except ye eat the flesh of the Son ofMan and drink His blood ye have no lifein you." This is the source ofspiritual freshness, gladness andgrowth. This is the spring of physicalhealing and victorious life in everysense. Without this, Christian workwill soon exhaust us. We are asdependent upon Him as the babe upon itsmother's breast. The restlessnesses,frets and failures of most Christiansarise from the lack of spiritualnourishment and not knowing "where Hefeeds His flock." But nobody can tellyou the secret but Him. The daughtersof Jerusalem could not answer thequestion any more than John the Baptistcould tell Andrew and Simon where theMaster dwelt. He Himself had to takethem home to His own abode and welcomethem to His inner fellowship. If youwant to know the secret of abiding inJesus and feeding upon His life, go toHim and tell Him, like Shulamith, yourdesire, and, although you may not seeHim at the time nor feel His presence,although He may be absent from yourconsciousness as He was from <27>hers, still you can stretch out yourhands in the darkness and breathe outyour cry in His ear, as she did, "Tell

me where thou makest thy flock to restat noon," and lo! He will be by yourside, as He was by hers, answeringHimself the longing of her heart. Theonly way to Jesus is Jesus Himself. Theanswerer of your hard questions, thelight of the blind as well as the lifefrom the dead is He, who is the Alphaand the Omega, the First and the Last.

The next cry is for rest. This isthe deep need of the heart in thisworld of change, and in the midst ofconstant irritation, opposition, toiland sorrow. The human spirit finds norest in earthly things, and has aninstinctive longing for the deep reposewhich only God can give. This is thesweet blessing Christ has purchased forus. It was the legacy which Heespecially mentioned when leaving Hisbeloved ones. "Peace I leave with you,my peace I give unto you"; and thispeace must ever come to us on Hisbosom. Our only resting place is Hisheart. It is He "who causeth His flockto rest at noon." It is beautiful thatthe rest comes at the hottest, hardesthour of the day. It is when the sun isbeating most fiercely from the tropicalsky and all life is languishing underits fiery breath that He holds His ownupon His breast at noon <28> as underthe "shadow of a great rock in a wearyland." Oh, the peace Jesus gives! Itpasseth all understanding. They whocome to Him indeed find rest unto their

souls.

Beloved, do you not long for God'squiet, the inner chambers, the shadowof the Almighty, the secret of Hispresence? Your life perhaps has beenall driving and doing, or perhapsstraining, struggling, longing and notobtaining. Oh, for rest! to lie downupon His bosom and know that you haveall in Him, that every question isanswered, every doubt settled, everyinterest safe, every prayer answered,every desire satisfied. It is God'severlasting rest. You may have it. Liftup the cry, "Tell me, O thou whom mysoul loveth, where Thou feedest, whereThou makest Thy flock to rest at noon!"

And the last longing of the heartis for His companionship and His love.The cry is addressed to Him whom hersoul loved, and her appeal is for thelove that will make her His exclusiveobject, and separate her from Hiscompanions. It is not their society shewants but His. Oh, how we need to beseparated from people, even the best,and have such direct contact with Himthat they will be dear to us onlythrough Him, and in His blessed societywe shall not even need any other,should He so order it, but Himself; andif He does link us, as <29> He sosweetly does, with His own, they shallbe reckoned as part of Him, and shallminister to us not in their human love,

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but the love and life of Jesus.

Blessed be His name! He has thisfor us, His exclusive love, a lovewhich each individual somehow feels isall for himself, in which he can liealone upon His breast and have a placewhich none other can dispute; and yetHis heart is so great that He can holda thousand million just as near, andeach heart seem to possess Him asexclusively for its own; even as thethousand little pools of water upon thebeach can reflect the sun, and eachlittle pool seem to have a whole sunembosomed in its beautiful depths. AndChrist only can teach us this secret ofHis inmost love. It is an old storythat nobody else can make love for youbut yourself. Marriages are made inChina by middlemen but true hearts arenot thus wedded, nor can you learn itout of a book; it has to be thespontaneous prompting of a lovingheart. So Christ alone can unlock thesecret door of love and wholly possessthe heart as His shrine.

Her happy experience and thesatisfaction of all her heart's desire.

Her cry is not in vain. The echoeshave scarcely died away when lo! herbeloved is by her side with words ofaffection and admiration <30> and theunbroken fellowship of His love, andher own glad testimony tells the story

of the completeness of the answer whichHe brings to all her heart's desire.Had she longed for rest? "I sad down,"she says, "under his shadow with greatdelight." For His heavenly feeding,"His fruit was sweet to my taste; Hetook me into His banqueting house." ForHis more precious love, "His bannerover me was love."

So He wants to give us rest, tocover us with His shadow, to make us nosit down under it with great delight.But we must sit down if we would knowHis rest. We must cease from our ownactivity and we must be willing to gointo the shadow, lost to the sight ofourselves, lost to the sight of others,overshadowed by what they might callgloom, or even shadow. But it is theshadow of the Almighty, and oh! thedelight of those who there sit down andtrust where they cannot see! The mostthat we need to do to get rest issimply to rest, to cease from what weare thinking, questioning, planning,fearing, to suppress ourselves, to stopthinking, to stop trying, to stoplistening, to stop answering thetempter, to hide our heads on the bosomof Jesus and let Him think and love andkeep, seeing nothing but the shadow ofour Beloved which hides everythingelse, even the light of our way, fromour view.

And He has for us the heavenly

fruit and <31> the house of wine."His fruit was sweet unto my taste."Not the fruit He gives but the fruit Hebears; He is the apple-tree and we feedon Him. The banqueting house literallymeans the house of wine, and wine isthe scriptural symbol of life, ofblood, of the richest form of life. Hefeeds us upon His very life. He givesus, not only the sacramental cup butevery other, and says of it, "Drink yeall of it."

And finally, He is for us thesatisfaction of our love. "His bannerover me was love." This means, ofcourse, that His love for us is thepledge and guarantee of our safety andprotection. What can harm us if God befor us? His love defies every foe andsecures every resource. But the wordshave a deeper meaning.

They suggest that our banner, too,is love; the power that will guard us,the defence that will save us from allevils and keep us in perfect victory isthat which is the spirit and theme ofall this song, the love-life of theLord. Therefore we have given to thetheme of this book this name. Itsdesign is to teach us that love-lifewhich is above every other life. It iswhen we are baptized into its perfectlove, when our beings are penetratedand filled with this heavenly principlethat we are bannered against all our

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foes and armed for perfect victory.Love is the weapon, even more thanfaith, that will <32> disarm all ourenemies and melt their fiery darts intoharmless weakness as they strike ourglowing breastplate of love.Archimedes, it was, who proposed todestroy the ships of the enemy by asimple burning glass, through which heconverged upon them the rays of the sunand set them on fire. The love of theLord, burning in our hearts, willconsume everything that harms us. Satancannot live against it a moment. Itconsumes all our enemies and turnstheir hatred into love. It is theantidote to every temptation that cancome to us in disobedience andunfaithfulness. It is the charm whichinspires and sustains every sacrificeand service for the Lord, and makesevery burden light. It is the balmwhich brings even healing to our fleshand mortal frame. It is the joy of theearth and light of heaven.

CHAPTER THREE WOOING DAYS

"Rise up my love, my fair one andcome away." Song of Solomon 2:8 to 3:5.

This is the story of the callingof the Bride. It is recited as a sortof song or soliloquy. Perhaps it wastold to the attendant maiden as shewaited in the palace for her weddingday. Her home had been amid the

beautiful scenes of Northern Galilee,somewhere among the foothills ofLebanon. There in her simple rustichome, with her mother and her brothers,for her father is not mentioned and shewas probably an orphan girl, she hadlived in seclusion, having even tolabor with her hands in taking care ofher brothers' vineyards. Her beauty,however, had attracted the notice ofSolomon, and he had found her out inher quiet home and the story <34> ofhis coming is here described with greatvividness and beauty.

Appearing at her lattice-windowone day in the spring time, doubtlessafter his first acquaintance had givenhim the right to make such a visit, hewhispered the starling call to her toleave her lowly home and come away withhim into a sweeter spring-time of love.

"For, lo, the winter is past, therain is over, and gone. "The flowers appear on the earth;the time of the singing of birds iscome, and the voice of the turtle isheard in our land. "The fig tree putteth forth hergreen figs, and the vines with thetender grape give a good smell. Arise,my love, my fair one, and come away."

And as she coyly hid away hepleaded, "O my dove that art in the clefts

of the rock, in the secret places of thestairs, let me see thy countenance."

The words that follow seem to be arequest to her to sing for him one ofher simple country songs, which shedoes in the playful strains of thefifteenth verse.

"Take us the little foxes thatspoil the vines, for our vines havetender grapes."

Perhaps she meant in her littlesong to put him off in half playfulmood or invite him <35> to come andhelp her in the care of the garden, asher duties were more practical than heseemed to imagine, and instead of goingwith him it would be more fitting forhim to come and help her in the care ofher vineyard and catch for her thelittle foxes that eluded her ability;but at the same time she sings softlyto herself in an undertone, perhaps notmeant altogether for him,

"My Beloved is mine and I am his."

And then she resumes her little songagain in the seventeenth verse, gentlyhinting to him to withdraw for a littleuntil the day cool and the shadows fleeaway, that is, until the eventide, andthen to swiftly come from the mountainsof division which are to separate themfor a little while. In a word it is a

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quiet hint to him to come back atanother time when perhaps they shall beless exposed to curious eyes and sheless busy with her practical duties.

Then follows the sad dream of thethird chapter. That night was a verylonely and gloomy one and in her sleepshe thought she had lost her belovedwhom she had thus foolishly sent away."By night I sought him whom my soulloveth, I sought him but I found himnot."

And then she tells how she wentforth into the city and sought him inthe streets in vain and how she went tothe watchmen for direction and at lastafter a painful search, she found <36>him and she gladly welcomed him andbrought him to her mother's home, andfeared not to have the world know herlove because she would thus atone forthe folly which before had let him go.This is the beautiful story of the callof this ancient bride, and back of itlie the deeper teachings of ourspiritual life and the experiences ofmany of us.

The coming of the Beloved. This is a picture of the Savior'scoming to the heart which He calls tothe fullness of His love. It looks backto His first coming to save a ruinedworld. He is represented as coming uponthe mountains and leaping over the

hills. What mountains of sin, hills ofprovocation, obstacles that nothing butinfinite power and love could ever havesurmounted. Oh the hindrances which ourdepravity, which our prejudices, whichour willfulness have placed between Hislove and our wicked hearts, but howswiftly and victoriously He came!

"Down from the shining hosts above With joyful haste He sped."

And to each of us has He come. With Hiswhole heart has He sought us. Howtouching the picture of His standingbehind the wall looking forth at thewindows, showing Himself at the <37>lattice. It tells of Him who has waitedlong to gain our attention, to win ourconfidence, to reach our hearts, and Heis still crying to many of us, "Behold!I stand at the door and knock. If anyman hear my voice and open the door, Iwill come in unto him and sup with himand he with me."

His call. Verse 10, "My Belovedspake and said unto me, Rise up mylove, my fair one, and come away."

This is the Master's call to dosomething and to leave something. Weshall never get anywhere in the life ofconsecration until we take a positivestep and positive stand. We must riseup sometimes. The act of rising up inthe congregation and committing one's

self to a consecrated life is often thefirst real step in a life of holiness,but whatever be the step, there issomething that must be done before wecan make any headway, and there issomething that must be left. We must"come away." There are associationsfrom which we must break away, worldlyentanglements that we must separatefrom, forbidden occupations that wemust abandon, doubtful relationshipsthat we must dissolve, pleasures thatwe must forsake, friends that we mustsurrender. "Come ye out from among themand be ye separate, and touch not theunclean thing," is the peremptorycondition of the promise, "I <38>will receive you and be a father untoyou, and ye shall be my sons anddaughters," saith the Lord Almighty.

And therefore we must gosomewhere. At least we must go with Himwherever He may go.

"I will follow Jesus, Anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on."

Enough to know that He leads; enough tobe with Him. Beloved, have we answeredthis call, "Rise up and come away?"This is speaking to some of us today,as it finds us in some forbidden place,and bidding us decide like Rebecca whenthe servant of Abraham brought her theproposal to be the wife of Isaac and

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pressed the solemn question for herimmediate decision, "Wilt thou go withthis man?" And she answered, "I willgo." He was a stranger to her. The landto which he led her was a strange land.She knew not the way. She had not evenseen her bridegroom, but her trustingheart accepted it all without reserve,and her prompt decision was, "I willgo." When the soul thus answers to thecall of Jesus it has begun aneverlasting progression of blessing andglory. So He is calling thee today,"Rise up and come away." Come from thisperishing world, come from the low<39> claims of your selfish life, comeout from the fellowship of the worldly,come out from the hopes that end withearth, put your hand in His, commityour future to His will, invest allyour hopes in His kingdom and coming,and you shall find how true it is, "Hethat loseth his life for my sake shallkeep it unto life eternal."

His pleading. He urges her to comeby all the beauty and gladness of theworld around, which, no doubt, He meansas a type of the brighter spring-timeand summer of happiness and love intowhich He is to introduce her. Much moretrue is this of our heavenlyBridegroom's call. The summer land oflove into which He brings us is onewhose beauty no springtide glory canexpress and no sunlit sky adequatelyset forth.

Oh! that we may hear His pleadingand that we too may have cause to sing,

"I've reached the land of Beulah, the summer land of love,Land of the Heavenly Bridegroom, land of the Holy dove.My winter has departed, my summer time has come.The air is full of singing, the earth is bright with bloom.<40>Oh! blessed land of Beulah, sweet summer land of love.Oh! blessed Heavenly Bridegroom, oh! gentle Holy dove.Oh! Savior keep us ever, all earth-born things above,In the blessed land of Beulah, the summer land of love."

The winter is past. It stands forthe coldness, the barrenness and thewretchedness of our old selfish life,the first-bound misery and theselfishness in which we dwell until theworm Sun of Righteousness lights up ourlife with heavenly radiance and meltsour frigid hearts to love andsweetness. The coming of Christ to theheart is like a great thaw. Not sogreat is the difference betweenDecember and May, as between theearth-bound heart and the soul intowhich Christ has come to reign.

The rain is over and gone. This isthe figure of clouds, mists, spiritualdarkness and gloom. Many Christianslive in an atmosphere where they neversee the sun. It is all mists and tears,doubts and fears, clouds and cares, butwhen we follow Him the rain is over andgone, the sky is ever clear, the sun isever bright, the face of our Lord isever unclouded and <41> unveiled. Oursun shall no more go down nor our moonwithdraw her shining, for the Lordshall be our everlasting light and thedays of our mourning shall be ended.

The flowers appear on the earth.Blossoms are the beautiful earthlytypes of faith; the flower is just thepromise of the fruit. It is natureanticipating the coming seed andrunning over with the joy of theanticipation. The flower is just afruit in embryo, and so faith is justthe bud and blossom which foretells thecoming blessing. How full of luxuriantbeauty and blossom God has made thesummer time of the world. Blossoms areeverywhere; wild flowers are running towaste on every mountainside and waysideand in the wilderness where no eye eversees them but the insects and thebirds. God's prodigal hand scattersthem everywhere, for the delight of Hisown heart and the joy of the meanestcreatures that gaze upon their beauty.So God wants our lives to effloresce inthe overflowing beauty and luxuriance

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which will not only fill up the actualroutine of duty, but which will runover in such fullness that we shall bea blessing to every creature we touch,and that even the insects that buzzaround us, the sparrows that play onthe sidewalk or at the door, the birdsthat sing in our branches, our veryhorse and our dog will be the better<42> and the happier for our religionand shall almost know that somethinghas happened to us. An engineerremarked the other day that since hehad become a consecrated Christian hisold engine seemed to know it and wentbetter. When it didn't work rightly heused to swear at it, but now he onlylifted his heart and voice in a word ofprayer or a note of song, and the oldengine tried to keep time, as thepiston moved apace with his song andseemed to say Amen! When we followChrist in all His fullness, then ourheart will be a land of flowers; ourlife a garden of bloom.

The time of the singing of thebirds is come -- rather, the time ofsinging is come. The spirit of praiseis one of the signs of a consecratedlife. We pray less and sing more.Certainly we groan less, or rather weturn all our murmurs and moans intoHallelujahs and life is one sweeteverlasting song. Sorrow cannot quenchit, but we count it all joy even whenwe cannot see or feel the joy. Beloved!

God is calling some of you to a life ofsong. You do not praise enough, and younever will until you know the love-lifeof the Lord, and then the song will belike a nightingale in the house. Itwill sing at midnight because it cannothelp it. It will sing when there seemsno rational cause for singing. It willsing just because the song is there and<43> it must sing even amid thedarkness, the raging tempest, or withthe dirges of death and despair onevery side.

The voice of the turtle is heardin our land; that is, the turtle dove,the sweet emblem of the Holy Spirit.How beautiful the notes of the wood-dove as some of us remember them in ourchildhood, sometimes on some distantmountain-side. How much more beautifulas they ring,

"Through all Judea's echoingland,"

sweet symbol of the gentle and peacefulvoice of the Holy Spirit, as it isrevealed to the listening ear of love.Oh! how delightful the first whisper ofa Comforter in our hearts, sorrowingperhaps or lonely and afraid. Oh! shallwe ever forget the blissful moment whenfirst the voice of the turtle was heardin our land, and all heaven seemed towhisper, Peace! Peace! and the heartnestled under the wings of the heavenly

Dove, and the soul grew still as ithearkened to the still, small voicethat said, "Peace be unto you. Not asthe world giveth give I unto you. Letnot your heart be troubled, neither letit be afraid." Beloved, follow Jesusand you shall know the voice of thedove, the peace that passeth allunderstanding, the heavenly presencethat folds you under the wings ofeverlasting <44> love and stills youin the eternal calm of the bosom ofGod.

Let us not fail to notice thewords "IN OUR LAND." The voice of theturtle is not heard in the old land ofself-love and sin, but only in the landto which our Bridegroom calls us; theland of love and fellowship with God.How sweetly He calls it "OUR LAND." Hedoes not say "My land." Already Herecognizes the partnership to which Hehas called us, and shares with us eventhe better country into which we havenot yet entered. Beloved, let us makeit our land too.

There is one way of living ineverlasting spring, even on this littleglobe; that is, like the birds ofpassage, to fly away when the wintercomes and leave the land of winter forSouthern climes where frosts are notand cold blasts never blow. How sweetlyCowper sings to one of these happybirds that live in continual sunshine.

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"Sweet bird, thy heart is ever young, Thy voice is ever clear;Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, No winter in thy year."

This may be true of the heart that willmigrate from the winter-land of the oldlife to the <45> everlasting summerof His presence. There is such a landof love and peace for every weary,homesick heart. Beloved, let us riseand come away. The voice of theturtle-dove is calling us to do it.

The fig-tree putteth forth hergreen figs, or rather ripeneth hergreen figs. They have been hanging allthe winter on the tree, and they aregreen and sour, but with the spring-time they ripen and become aromatic andmellow. As the beautiful Hebrew phraseexpresses it,

"She spiceth forth her green figs."

How true of the Christian life.The ordinary Christian has figs, butthey are winter figs. They are greenand sour. He does something for God andhas many a good feeling, but there isno perfume about it. It is raw andharsh; but when love comes, and thelove-life of the Lord possesses all thebeing, oh, how mellow the spiritbecomes, how tender the unction, howgentle the meekness and patience, how

fervid the zeal and the love; how fullof fragrance, how spiced with heavenlysweetness the whole being and bearingbecome!

The vines with the tender grapegive a good smell. This is higher thanfruit; it is fragrance, the very smellof the plant, and that <46> which, aswe shall see later in this beautifulsong, is the highest expression ofspiritual qualities, and the flavor ofthe Christian spirit. Many Christianshave fruit, but they have no fragrance.There is much value in their lives, butthere is no attractiveness. This is notas God would have it. He wants thevines with the tender grapes to give agood smell, and this never can be untilour whole being is saturated with love.This love, then, must first come fromthe love of the Lord, revealed to us,accepted by us, and reflected from ourhappy, heavenly lives.

His repeated call. Once again Hecalls His beloved one. Verse 14, "Oh,my dove, that are in the clefts of therock, in the secret places of thestairs, let me see thy countenance, letme hear thy voice." She had beenturning away, and he pleads with her toturn back and let Him look upon herface and hear her voice. Christ wantsus to turn our faces directly to Him.Is not this the attitude of prayer, andthe prayer that looks up into the face

of God with unveiled countenance andloving, whole-hearted confidence. Godwants our faces turned heavenward, andshining with the reflected glory of theskies. Too often we go with facesturned downward and earthward, but Hesays, "Let me see thy countenance."Lift up your face <47> toward theheavens, for He wants to hear yourvoice in holy testimony and praise. Notuntil you give him your voice and fullyconfess Him with your lips shall youknow all the fullness of His deeperabiding. He wants your lips to answerHis question and to testify to Hislove, and the reason that many of youhave never had the full witness of HisSpirit is because your face has neverfully witnessed unto Him. Beloved, letHim hear your voice.

Her response. Her answer was notworthy of His love. There was a littletrifling in it, a littleprocrastination, and yet a good deal ofsincere love, but enough hesitation andcompromise to lose her full blessing.Her playful hint to him to come andcatch the foxes that spoiled the vineswas a little like the excuse that someof us make when Christ calls us to beall His own, that we are too busy withour earthly duties for what wesometimes consider sentimentalreligion, and that when we get a littlemore leisure from our secular cares andoccupations we will give our attention

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to a life of devotion. That is the verytime and place that we need our Lordthe most.

He is indeed willing to come intoour common life, and help us with ourvines and little foxes, but not untilwe have first surrendered them to Himso fully that we are at leisure from<48> them for His other calls, and arewilling to turn aside from the mostengrossing occupation to commune withHim or to follow Him wherever He maylead. Her great mistake, however, wasthe procrastination and delay which putHim off until the evening. Perhaps itwas the shame of being seen with Himwhich prompted her proposal; perhaps itwas the pressing cares of the day; butwhatever it was, it was wholly wrong,and cost her a very sorrowful night.How often many of us are tempted tosay, "Go thy way for this time." Thechildren of Israel, when called by Godto enter the promised land, hesitatedonly for a night, and were quitewilling the next morning to follow thepillar of cloud from Kadesh Barneah hadit led that way, but it was too late.God refused to go with them. Now it wastheir time, but it was not His. Thetime of His visitation was passed. Lovebrooks no delay. Oh, that each of usmight be able to say of every call ofthe heavenly voice, "When thou saidst'Seek ye my face,' then my heartreplied, 'Thy face, Lord, will I

seek.'" A hint is enough to repel asensitive heart. Love is peculiarlysensitive, and the Holy Ghost is easilyoffended and grieved from our door. Letus take heed how we chill His overturesand appeals by even a qualifiedrefusal, but let our whole heart evermeet Him as generously anduncompromisingly as He has given all tous. <49>

The sad sequel of her reluctantresponse. The sorrowful dream whichfollows in the sad story of Shulamith,is also the story of many a Christianheart. "By night I sought him whom mysoul loveth, I sought him, but I foundhim not." The grieved friend withdraws,and the heart is conscious of desertionand loneliness, and awakes to realizeits terrible mistake. But still thereis something we can do. We can seek Himas she did, and when we find Him not,we can, as she did, go to the watchmenand ask the way. They can tell us theway, but they cannot take us to Him. Wemust go beyond them. It was not untilshe passed the watchmen that she foundher beloved, and it is not until wepass beyond the presence and theconsciousness of even the best of men,and even those who have helped us mostto find our Lord, that we really findHim. The lover always meets his lovedone alone. No friend can be witness ofthe trysting hour. Heart to heart, andwith no other heart between, the

betrothal must be made. And so shepassed from the watchmen's presence andfollowed their directions, and soon shewas clasping the feet of her beloved.There was no reserve now, no desire tohave Him withdraw to the mountains ofBethor, or separation, but the clingingembrace that would never again let himgo, and the uncompromising welcome<50> that brought him to her mother andto the most sacred chambers of herhouse, where the fondest place wasgiven to him, and his dearness andnearness were recognized withoutreservation. Yes, even the mother'splace to which, perhaps, she had clunghitherto, is now abandoned to a dearerand nearer. Beloved, thus you can seekthe Lord, and they that seek shallfind, and to him that knocketh it shallbe opened. Very blessed it is to openimmediately when He knocketh, butblessed is it also to knock until Heopens. So, seeking one,

"Come thy way to Zion's gate, There till mercy lets thee in,Knock and seek and watch and wait.

Knock. He knows the sinner's cry, Weep. He loves the sinner's tear.Watch, for heavenly love is nigh. Wait till heavenly light appear."

And when we find him we must givehim the inmost chamber, the fondestlove, the place that the dearest has

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held. It is when the sacrifice of thetenderest of earthly ties has beenfully made that Christ becomes our Allin All, and every earthly tie becomesmore sacred and more true. The spiritof self-sacrifice is the secret of thetruest happiness.

Once in India a company ofsoldiers were in extreme poverty anddistress. The general entered a heathentemple. The natives besought him tospare their idols, and warned him thatif he touched a certain chief deitythat every calamity would fall upon himand his troops; but he boldly marchedup to the proud idol and striking itfrom its pedestal, he dashed it topieces on the temple floor, when lo! tohis astonishment and the surprise ofthe witnessing multitudes, countlesstreasures of silver and gold pouredfrom its shattered bosom. It had beenthe storehouse for centuries of thetreasuries of kings, and all that itneeded was to be shattered in order toenrich the needy whose hand had daredto strike the blow. Beloved, many ofour idols stand between us and thewealth of God's infinite love andgrace. Let us not fear to strike thefatal blow, and lo! from the bosom ofthat which we perhaps spare as an Agagor cherish with an unholy clinging,will come forth the wealth of infiniteblessing and everlasting love.

CHAPTER FOUR WEDDING DAYS

"In that day they shall call meIshi, and no longer Baali." Hosea 2:16. The Song of Solomon 3:6 to 5:1.

This beautiful section of the Songof Solomon describes the wedding scenein the old Oriental poem. It beginswith a picture of the marriageprocession coming up from thewilderness, the former home of thebride, amid clouds of fragrance, whichlook like pillars of smoke in thedistance. She is borne in the litter orpalanquin of King Solomon, and isguarded by the band of three-scorevaliant men who march before and behindthe royal bride to protect her fromdanger and "fear in the night." She ismet by the king in a chariot of silverand gold, lined with costly <53>tapestries presented by the daughtersof Jerusalem as a gift of love, and theroyal bridegroom is crowned with adiadem of beauty and glory presented byhis mother's loving hands.

The marriage procession fades intothe meeting of the bridegroom and thebride, and we next listen to hisgreeting of Shulamith and his words ofadmiration as he welcomes her with loveand praise (Chap. 4 verses 1-16), andthen leaves her for the remainder ofthe day and until the evening shadowsflee away, when he will come again,

after all the marriage preparations arecomplete, to claim her as his bride,and to take part in the weddingceremonies and the wedding feast.Returning in the evening he greets herwith words of still stronger admirationand love (verse 7), "Thou art all fair,my love. There is no spot in thee." Andthen he pleads with her to turn herthoughts away from Lebanon, her oldhome, and turn her eye with singlepurpose and thought to him alone. Henow calls her for the first time hisspouse. The remaining verses of chapter4 are the outpourings of his fullheart, as he loves to dwell on thesweetness of her who has satisfied hissoul's deepest love. All the mostexquisite imagery of an Oriental landis laid under tribute to praise thebeauty and sweetness of the bride --the <54> sweetness of the honeycomb,the exhilarance of wine, the smell ofcostly ointments, the rich fragrance ofLebanon, the beauty of the garden, thefreshness of the fountains, thefruitfulness of the pomegranate, themanifold variety and delicacy of theperfumes of camphor, saffron, calamus,cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, aloes,and all the chief spices -- all thesepale before the sweetness of her love.

At length we hear her response (inverse 16), as she turns all her beingto his love and calls upon the northwind and the south wind to blow upon

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her garden that its spices may flowout, and then invites her beloved tocome into her garden and accept it ashis own.

The scene closes with thebridegroom's response to her as heaccepts her offered gift of herself,and then, turning to the invited guestsand friends, bids them welcome to themarriage feast, "Eat, oh friends, yea,drink abundantly, oh beloved."

The great spiritual truth whichall this Oriental imagery covers in ourunion with the Lord Jesus Christ, thetrue Bridegroom of the church and ofthe heart. First we see the coming ofthe bride to meet the bridegroom. Shecomes up from the wilderness. It isthere that Christ always calls HisBride. "I will allure her and bring herinto the wilderness," he says <55> toher, "and there will I speak to herheart, and in that day she shall callme Husband, and I will give hervineyards from thence and the valley ofAchor for a door of hope, and she shallsing there as in the days of heryouth." It is usually out of the deep,dark, lonely place of trial that wecome into our deepest intimacy withJesus and know the fullness of Hislove.

The pillars of smoke amid whichshe came are figures of the sweet

fragrance of the heart, the incense oflove, the one offering which makes themost unworthy and insignificantacceptable to the remembrance of love.This is all the bride has to bring, herlove, but it is so deep, and rich, andsweet, that it fills all the air withclouds of fragrance and pillars ofsmoke.

Once in the desert a wanderingArab found a spring. The water was sodelicious that he could not keep it tohimself, but filling a leathern flaskhe bore it across the desert a hundredmiles in the hot sun and sand, andpresented it to his chief as anoffering of his love. The water was allcorrupted before it reached the prince,and when he tasted it, it had nosweetness, but he betrayed no sign ofits unpleasantness and thanked the kindbestower and sent him back laden withhonors. His princes afterwards tastedthe water, curious to know what <56>strange charm it possessed, but to themit was loathsome, and they looked withastonishment and disgust at theirchief. "Oh," said he, "it had for me ataste which you could not discern. Itwas the taste of love. The kindness ofheart that brought it was all that Icould see, and I would not for theworld have let him know that his giftitself was so worthless, because thelove that brought it made it ofinfinite value." Beloved, we may be

poor and unworthy, but if we bring toJesus a heart of love, it will be toHim a priceless treasure, of surpassingintrinsic values. In the wedded lifethere can be no substitute for love.Without it marriage is a hideousmockery, and in Christian life and ourrelationship with Jesus Christ, withoutlove we are but sounding brass andtinkling cymbals, and all our theories,ceremonies and religious forms are anoffensive sham, and, notwithstandingall that we may do, or think, or say,His sentence can only be, "Thou hastleft thy first love. Because thou artluke-warm I will spew thee out of mymouth."

Next we see the chariot of thebride. It was furnished by her husbandand defended by his own body guard. Andso, as we come into our place of chosenintimacy with Jesus Christ, it is HeHimself who bears us into this higherplane. The very love that brings us toHis bosom is His own heavenly gift. Thevery power to <57> rise to meet Himin this wondrous union is from Him. Hebears us to His palace and to His heartin His own chariot. The Holy Spiritwill teach us the wondrous secret ofheavenly love, and often we will say,like the bride a little later, "Or everI was aware my soul made me like thechariot of Amminadib." The guardsaround the chariot that bore her to herbeloved suggest to us the perils that

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surround us as we walk in the closerplaces of Christian experience. Thereis no place so full of peril as thatwhich lies nearest to the gates ofheaven and to the arms of Jesus. Thefallen spirits of the air, theemissaries of Lucifer, son of themorning, are not only spirits of lightbut spirits of love, and there is afalse love that would lower us to thedepths of ruin as well as a true lovethat would lift us to the heights ofheaven. Many a heart has been beguiledand seduced by lying spirits to a kindof love that is not the love-life ofthe Lord; and, yielding to somedelusive charm that claimed to be fromheaven, the soul has lost its purity,and instead of becoming the bride ofthe Lamb has become an unholy partnerof Satanic power. Thus, alas, the oncepure church of apostolic days becamethe harlot of the great apostasy, andthat which was so terribly fulfilled inthe church has often been made as realin the individual life. This <58> isthe day, especially, when spiritualism,spiritism, theosophy, science falselyso called, and morbid sentimentalism,under the guise of leadings of theSpirit, are betraying many hearts intothe sad and sinful counterfeit of thelove-life of the Lord. But through Godthe heart that is wholly His will beguarded by His almighty hand, and thechariot of heavenly love will bedefended by the armed hosts of His

power and holiness. Let us keep our eyesingly upon Him, our heart wholly trueto Him, and let us not fear to drawnigh, for His guardian presence andheavenly panoply will protect us evenfrom the wiles of the devil, and weshall walk in the narrow paths of theheavenly life safe from all danger andfear even in the night, and His jealousand mighty love will guard us like achaste virgin from even the breath ofdefilement.

We see in this picture the comingof the Bridegroom to meet his bride.He, too, has a chariot of silver, andgold, and royal purple, the gift of thedaughters of Jerusalem, and, as hemeets his bride, his head is crownedwith the crown of love, and his heartis full of gladness in the day of hisespousals.

Our beloved Lord would have usunderstand that His heart is as glad asours in the consummation of His unionwith us. He has chosen us as the objectof His peculiar and eternal <59>love, and He needs our love as we needHis. We may not be able to understandwhy one so much above us can besatisfied with the affection of thoseso unworthy of Him, but there is alwayssomething in love that is inexplicable.It has no reason but itself, and He hasloved us just because He has loved usand in a measure altogether out of

proportion to any claim or fitness inthe objects of that love. We contributeto His joy as well as to our own whenwe yield our hearts to our best Friend.Surely He has a right to claim from usthe return which His love deserves. Hehas given up all else; this is His onlyportion. Let us not rob Him of any partof it.

The Bridegroom's welcome to hisbride. His first words are a tribute toher loveliness, ending with theunqualified words of praise, "Thou artall fair, my love. There is no spot inthee." This is high praise to give, butit is the praise He longs to give toevery one of His sanctified ones. It isnot too high for the blood of Christ tocover. The soul that is washed in thatfountain and robed in His spotlessgarments is whiter than the snow andspotless as Christ Himself. It is notthat our personal character is perfect,but passing out of ourselves into Himand filled with Him, we are indeed ableto claim even His own mighty <60>assurance, "Now ye are clean throughthe word that I have spoken unto you."

Let us dare to believe it on theauthority of His Word, and we shallplease Him far better than when we arecontinually holding up the spots of ourown unworthiness and betraying beforeHis gaze the wretched corpses that He

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would have us bury forever out ofsight.

A call to detach her thoughts andher affections altogether from formerobjects of attraction and fix hersingle eye on Him alone. "Come with mefrom Lebanon, my sister spouse." Thatis, withdraw thy thoughts from Lebanonthy old home, from the fair scenes ofthy childhood, from the tenderassociations of the past, from thebeautiful Amana and Shenir. Forget thykindred and thy father's house, and letthy thoughts be all mine. This is Hiscall to us to let every other interestand affection be concentrated in Hisgreat love, and when we do this thenalone shall we satisfy His heart. God'slove is jealous for our own good aswell as for His own glory, and Hecannot accept a divided heart in a bondso dear as that of marriage.

His delight in her singleness ofeye and heart. Thou hast ravished myheart with one of thine eyes. She hasresponded to his appeal; she has givenhim all her heart. She has dropped<61> the far-off look from her longinggaze, and every thought and affectionis centered in Him alone, and thebeautiful words which He uses in theparallel picture in Hosea are true ofher. "Thou shalt abide for me, and Ifor thee." This is the secret of aconsecrated and happy life, and the

only life that can satisfy our Lord.Beloved, has He got all our eye and allour heart?

His higher tribute to hersweetness and love. He compares her inthe closing verse of the chapter to thefountains, fruits and fragrance of anOriental garden. "A garden enclosed ismy sister spouse." It is the enclosureof the garden which constitutes thesecret of its value. It is not open tothe trampling feet of all the wildcreatures of the woods, but it isenclosed for Him alone and guarded fromthe desecrating tread of others. Thisis the reason why our blessings sooften fade away or leak out as fromopen vessels. We are not enclosed, butlike a garden open to the wild beastsof the field and the destroying,desecrating tramp of every uncleanthing. We receive a blessing in thehouse or at the altar of prayer, andlo! before an hour we have lost it andwonder why. The reason is very plain.Some idle talker has talked it allaway, some vain and volatile flood ofthoughts and imaginations has takenpossession of our heart, and lo! theHoly Dove, disgusted, <62> has takenHis flight. Some wretched, miserable,idle conversation or unholy gossip hasbeen permitted to occupy our attention,the garden gate has been opened and lo!the flowers and fruits are trodden downby unholy feet or devoured by rapacious

mouths. Our God will not abide incompany with Belial. If we would knowthe joy of the Lord and have ourBeloved dwell with us, we must encloseour garden in the walls of holyseparation, and coming out from amongthem and touching no unclean thing, Hewill receive us and we shall be Hissons and His daughters, yea, the Brideof His exclusive affection. The samethought is expressed by the fountainsealed, the spring shut up. It is thepicture of a heart separated unto God.It is the compression of the springthat gives it its impelling power andsends the waters high up sometimes intheir heavenward flow, and keeps themever fresh and pure. The narrower thetorrent's channel, the mightier itsrush of waters. The broad streambecomes a stagnant swamp, and the heartthat has room for all promiscuousthings ceases to have any deep love foranything, and Christ will not acceptits mixtures and compromises. "Becausehe hath set his love upon me," He saysof the single heart, "therefore will Ideliver him." "Delight thyself also inthe Lord and He shall give thee thedesires of thine heart." <64>

Next we have the fruitfulness ofthe garden, "An orchard of pomegranatesand of pleasant fruits." It is singularthat the pomegranate should be the onlyfruit specified. If you ever examinedone you may see the reason. Cut this

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singular-looking fruit through thecenter and look at a section of it asit is exposed by the knife, and yourattention will be at once attracted,not to the rich color of the fruit, oreven to its delicious perfume or taste,but, above everything else, to itscountless seeds. It is one mass oflittle germs, there being enough in asingle pomegranate to multiply it athousand-fold. The fruit which Godwants from His children is fruit thatreproduces itself in other souls. Thegrace that has saved us can just aswell save the world. The blessing thatwe have received can be multiplied byall the people that are willing toaccept it, and God wants each of us tobe a seed which will spring forth andbear fruit, if not as much as thepomegranate, at least some thirty, somesixty and some an hundred-fold. Oursalvation is not a selfish luxury, buta sacred trust; our every newexperience is given us for some othermore than for ourselves. All that Goddoes for us is intended by Him to bereflected and transmitted through ourlives, so that on account of us the<64> wilderness and the solitary placeshall rejoice, and the desert shallblossom as the rose. Beloved, is ourMaster able to delight in us as in HisBride because of our fruitfulness? Isour life repeating itself, not by hardeffort but by spontaneous and springinglife?

But there is something far higherthan fruit, and so the nextcharacteristic of the Lord's garden,and the one that is emphasized insevenfold variety and fullness, isfragrance. No less than seven differentkinds of spices are mentioned in theverses that follow. Some of them arefamiliar to us, others are less known,but all express the idea of sweetness,of the devotion of love, of theinexpressible atmosphere ofheavenliness. The perfume is the soulof the plant. It expresses the finer,the more delicate essence of its life.It stands for that in our Christianexperience and in the outgoing of ourheart, which is divinest, mostsensitive, spiritual and devout. It isthe very aroma of the heart, and it isin this that our beloved Lord mostdelights, and by this that the heartsof men are to be most deeply touched.Some of the spices mentioned here arequite suggestive. The aloe was a bitterspice, and it tells of the sweetness ofbitter things, the bitter-sweet, whichhas its own fine application that onlythose can understand who have felt it.The <65> myrrh was used to embalm thedead, and it tells of death tosomething. It is the sweetness whichcomes to the heart after it has died toits self-will, and pride, and sin. Oh,the inexpressible charm that hoversabout some lives simply because they

bear upon their chastened countenanceand mellow spirit the impress of thecross, the holy evidence of having diedto something that was once proud andstrong but is now forever at the feetof Jesus, nay, in His bottomless tomb.They are far sweeter for having had itand died to it than if they never hadpossessed the proud will and died tothe strong desire. It is the heavenlycharm of a broken spirit and a contriteheart, the music that springs from theminor key, the sweetness that comesfrom the touch of the frost upon theripened fruit.

And then the frankincense was afragrance that came from the touch ofthe fire. It was the burning powderthat rose in clouds of sweetness fromthe bosom of the flames. It tells ofthe heart whose sweetness has beencalled forth, perhaps by the flames ofaffliction, perhaps by the baptism ofthe Holy Ghost, the heavenly fire thatkindles all the heart until the holyplace of the soul is filled with cloudsof praise and prayer. Beloved, are wegiving out the spices, the perfumes,the sweet odors of the heart so thateven as the traveler is conscious <66>the moment he enters the waters of theOrient that he is near the land of thesun, and even as Milton sings,

"Far off at sea the soft winds blowSabaean odors from the spicy shores

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of Araby the blest."

The bride's response. "Awake Onorth wind, and come thou south wind;blow upon my garden, that the spicesthereof may flow out. Let my belovedcome into his garden and eat hispleasant fruits."

This is the surrender of the brideto her beloved with all the treasuresof her affection and her life, and, atthe same time, the acknowledgement ofher dependence upon a higher power toevoke the sweetness that was slumberingin her being. Not even all the spicesthat he had named could send out theirperfume until his own breath first blewupon them. It is the cry of dependenceupon the Holy Spirit for every newbreath of love or praise. We have notin our hearts a crystallized andstereotyped sweetness which is at ourcommand, but we are simply the stringsof an aeolian harp, dead and silentunless breathed upon from above, andevery motion or aspiration of piety, orprayer, or praise must be awakenedafresh by the breath of God <67>Himself. It is blessed to know that Hedoes not expect us to even think athought of ourselves. He is ready if weare but surrendered to Him, to blowupon our yielded hearts and awaken allthe chords of melody; or, to change thefigure, call forth all the breathingsof heavenly love. He is both the north

wind and the south wind, the wind thatsharpens, braces, reproves, witherseven, if need be, frosts sometimes withits cutting breath, and sweeps away thechaff, the rubbish and the witheredleaves; and He is the south wind thatcomes with healing, with consolation,with sweet encouragement, with tendersympathy, with heavenly hope, with allthe tenderness of brooding love. Heknows how to adapt Himself to each ofour changing moods and needs and theheart that is fully yielded to Him willaccept either as He sends them andpraise Him alike for both. Thus we seein her response the beautiful spirit ofdevotion to Him in all the richfruition of her being. Her garden wasfor her Beloved and for none but Him.She did not wish to be sweet thatothers might see her sweetness, butthat He might be satisfied. Oh! it isblessed and beautiful to shine forChrist alone, to be lovely that He maybe glad, to pour rich ointment on Hishead and feet, to serve not the churchor the people, but the Lord, and tohave Him say of everything we do, even<68> for others, "Ye did it unto me."Beloved! is our garden all for Him? Isour love for Him, our prayer for Him,our sacrifice for Him, our recompenseenough if He is pleased and if Heapproves, our motto this, "For me tolive is Christ," "that Christ may bemagnified in my body whether it be bylife or by death."

The Bridegroom's acceptance of herlove and His generous invitation to thewedding guests. "I am come into mygarden my sister, my spouse: I havegathered my myrrh with my spice; I haveeaten my honey-comb with my honey; Ihave drunk my wine with my milk: eat, Ofriends; drink, yea, drink abundantly,O beloved."

Not enough do we realize how muchof our service is due to Christ Himselfand how truly He appreciates and enjoysthe riches of our affection. He acceptsthe surrender we make; He feeds uponthe banquet we spread. He sups with usand enjoys as the recompense of thetravail of His soul the little that webring to Him, and then He gives it allto others, and nothing is so blessed tothem as that which was first given toChrist. It is the heart that is whollydedicated to Jesus that becomes thegreatest blessing to mankind. It is theointment which was poured on Jesus'head which fills all the house with itsodor. None can be such <69> blessingsto the world as those who, beyond allthey do for the world, love and servethe Lord alone. It is when we come intothe bosom of His love that we are ableto stand, as the bride of the heavenlyhost at the gates of His palace, andinvite His wandering children to thefeast that His love has provided. "TheSpirit and the Bride say come." It is

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not until we become the Bride, and arethus filled with the Spirit, and ableto represent the Bridegroom that we cansay, "Come" in all the fullness ofeffectual power, and so say it that hethat is athirst, shall come, andwhosoever will, shall take the water oflife freely. Oh! beloved, if we couldbe a perfect blessing to a sad and lostworld, let us come and enter into thelove-life of the Lord.

CHAPTER FIVE TESTING DAYS

"Who is she that looketh forth asthe morning, fair as the moon, clear asthe sun, and terrible as an army withbanners." Song of Solomon 6:10.

The structure of this section ofthe Song of Solomon is very clear andsimple. The marriage is over and thebride's first trial comes. It is a veryserious trial and the cause of it ischiefly her own folly. Lying asleep atnight in her chamber, her bridegroomcomes to the door, knocks upon it andspeaks to her, requesting her to openand admit him. Half asleep and self-indulgent she reluctantly answers, "Ihave put off my coat, how shall I putit on? I have washed my feet, how shallI defile them?" but as he stilllingers, she rises and with fingers<71> dropping with myrrh, freshlyanointing herself to receive him, sheopens the door. But she is too late.

Chilled by the delay, he has gone. Shesearches for him up and down thestreets in the darkness, but in vain.She wanders, anxious and half-crazed,through the town in the darkness, butshe finds him not. She meets thewatchmen on her way and they treat herwith rudeness and harshness, and thekeepers of the walls insult her, untilheartbroken and disappointed, she criesto her maidens, "If ye find my beloved,tell him that I am sick of love." Thenher maidens tempt her by asking herwhat is her beloved more than any otherbeloved, and perhaps insinuate thatthere are plenty others just as good ifshe will only consent to let him go. Itis then that her true nobility andfidelity shine out in spite of hermistake. Faithfully she answers, withwords of love and devotion, that herbeloved is the chief among ten thousandand the altogether lovely, and not onlylovely, but true to her, and though shecannot find him, she persists intelling of her beloved and her devotionto him, summing it all up in thetestimony, "I am my beloved's and mybeloved is mine." Then it is that herewards her faithful heart by suddenlyappearing and greeting her with wordsof warmest admiration and boundlesspraise, calling her beautiful asTirzah, comely as Jerusalem, <72>majestic as an army with banners. Thenher maidens join in the chorus ofadmiration and utter perhaps a little

later in the drama, probably as shegoes from her chamber in the morning,fresh with her loveliness, "Who is shethat looketh forth as the morning, fairas the moon, clear as the sun, andterrible as an army with banners?" Theybeg her to dance for them the simpledance of Mahanaim, and, as she grantstheir request, they break out againwith their ascriptions of praise. "Howbeautiful are thy feet with shoes, ohprince's daughter," etc., until theirchorus is interrupted by the appearanceof the bridegroom once more, and thescene closes with his fresh tribute ofaffection and admiration (Chap.7:6-9),closing with her response of completedevotion, "I am my beloved's and hisdesire is toward me."

The spiritual lessons of all thispart of the drama may be summed up asfollows:

Her failure. It was a lack ofprompt obedience to his call and thisis ever sure to bring us sorrow,separation and loss. The first counselgiven by the apostles to those who hadreceived the Holy Spirit, is, "thatthey who are of the Spirit do mind thethings of the Spirit." The closer wecome to Christ, the more must we besubject to His call. Love is jealousand divine love wants us ever at itssummons and quickly <73> responsiveto its faintest whisper. There is no

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greater word in the Christian'sexperience than the word OBEY. "Godhath given His Spirit to them that obeyhim." Christ has made the manifestationof His peculiar love dependent uponthis very thing. "If any man love me,he will keep my commandments -- and Iwill love him and manifest myself untohim." The intimate and abidingcommunion of Jesus is wholly dependentupon our obedience and responsivenessto His vice. The causes of her failurewere indolence and self-indulgence.This was the great slight to her lord.She had preferred her comfort to his.She could lie in luxurious ease whilehe was standing outside the door, hishead wet with the dews and his lockswith the drops of the night. What a sadpicture of a bridegroom and a bride!What a sad, sad symbol of the attitudeof the Lord Jesus Christ with respectto the very church that He has redeemedand wedded to Himself. She in luxuryand selfishness, and He out into thecold and the darkness. The spirit ofindolence, languor, and slothfulnessare largely responsible for ourfrequent despondence, and therefore ourMaster has said, "If any man will comeafter me, let him deny himself and takeup his cross and follow me." It is trueshe responded at length and opened thedoor, but she did not do it promptly,and her obedience <74> was too late.The same thing is not the same thing atdifferent times. That which is done at

once is twice done. The children ofIsrael were quite willing to enter theland of promise the day after the Lordsummoned, but He would not go withthem. In matters of mutual confidence,hesitation implies distrust or at leastindifference, and it is fatal to thefine, delicate complexion of sensitivelove. It is true she brought her handsfull of myrrh and the door-handledropped with sweetness as she touchedit, but that was a poor substitute forthe sweetness of the heart. Her myrrhwas all lost for lack of prompt,obedient love. We may bring much toChrist as a substitute for love but itis all lost. "Whatsoever He saith untothee, do it, and do it at once."Beloved, learn in the life of abidingto be quick and to recognize andrespond to the Master's voice. Whetherit be the call to prayer, or tostillness, or to service, or tosacrifice, let the heart quicklyanswer, "Yes."

I will say, Yes, to Jesus, Whatever He commands,I will run to do His bidding, With loving heart and hands.

I will listen to hear His whispers, And learn His will each day.And always gladly answer, yes, Whatever He may say. <75>

The humiliation and suffering

which follows her failure. The firstsad consequence of her mistake was theloss of her bridegroom's presence andthe slight and offense which he sodeeply felt. He withdrew from her doorand left her alone. There is no trialmore deep and keen to a devout spiritthan the loss of the Lord's presence.That which once we did not value is nowbecome the very essence of our life andhappiness, and the moment thatprevailing presence is gone we areconscious of a void that nothing elsecan fill and an anguish than which noneis more keen. There is a deep sense ofChrist's wounded love and the HolySpirit's withdrawal in grief anddispleasure, and sometimes there is adeep and terrible dread upon the soullest He may have taken His everlastingflight. "My God! My God! why hast thouforsaken me?" is its bitter cry. "O!that I knew where I might find Him,that I might come to His seat," is itsperplexed, distracted question. This issomething quite different from thewithdrawal of the Lord's manifestationswhich He may be often pleased to takefrom the soul with which He has nocontroversy, simply to try the faithand teach to trust Himself in the dark,but this is something deeper andkeener. It is the Lord saying, "I willgo and return unto my own place, untilthey acknowledge their inequality." There is a judicialseverity in it which is meant to

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reprove the heart for its neglect anddisobedience and it is a very keen anddreadful thing for a child of God tofall under the hand of its Father'schastening; but the reason is veryplain, and it is necessary that weshall learn it thoroughly and neverforget it, and that henceforth wheneverHe speaks to us we shall instantlyanswer, "Yes."

The next sad consequence of herfailure was the long and painfulseeking, and the cruel harshness of thewatchmen whom she met on the street asshe vainly sought her Lord. It isstrange how hard it is to find our wayback again when we get far from God.That which once seemed so simple is nowas dark as night. The promise that onceseemed to glow with light is all fullof darkness and gloom. The throne ofgrace at which we knelt, where heavencame down our souls to greet, issurrounded with clouds and thickdarkness. The very conception of Christseems dim, and God Himself distant andstrange. The delightful sense ofnearness is gone, and we know not howto pray. We seem like one perplexed anddistracted in the night, fluttering,bewildered, heart-broken. Poor soulaway from thy Lord, thou art not thefirst one that cried in the night, "Oh,that I knew where I might find Him."Let the recollection of thy misery be an everlasting restraint upon

thy heart to abide henceforth ever nearHim and quickly hearken to His voiceand obey His slightest call. At suchtimes others do not understand us; eventhe very watchmen on Zion's walls seemlacking in tenderness and sympathy.They do not enter into our distress.They treat us with harshness. How oftenthe very ministers of the gospel willsay to some perplexed, troubled soulthat has lost its consecration, or isseeking for a deeper life, as thewriter himself has said in the earlieryears of his ministry, "Oh, you arejust a little melancholy, andsentimental, and nervous. All you wantis a little fresh air, or good company,or medicine, to get out of the blues,and cheer up, and give up dreaming."Often the unwise teacher will tempt thesoul to abandon its notion ofsanctification, to give the whole thingup as a delusion and come down to theordinary plane of Christian life, andtreat its former experience as amistake. Sometimes the watchmen gofurther than this, and the erring oneis treated with severity, rebuke andhumiliation, rather than withtenderness, gentleness and helpfulness,and the soul at length turns away fromall men, crying, like poor Job,"Miserable comforters are ye all." "Iwill seek unto God; unto Him will Icommit my cause."

Still further, she is not only

harshly treated by the watchmen,but actually tempted by her owncompanions. "What is thy beloved anymore than any other beloved?" theytauntingly say. It is thus that theworld comes to the lonely and achingheart, and tries to make it think thatearthly love and pleasure can heal itswound and satisfy the aching void. "Youhave lost your new joy, but there arejoys just as sweet that you may havewith us. Return to your old friendshipsand accept the world's smile." Oh, howalluring is that which she sometimesholds out to the aching heart, and,alas, sometimes but too successfullydoes she apply her flattering appealsand fascinating charms, and many, for atime at least, have sunk back into thearms of the world and lost their firstlove. There is no time that Satan andthe world tempt the heart sopersuasively as when it has lost thejoy of the Lord. It is a very perilousthing to allow disobedience ordespondency to betray us into the handsof our enemy, who is only too ready totake advantage of his opportunity; butthank God if at such an hour we can,like her, stand fully armed in thepanoply of love and repel all theworld's alluring appeals with thetestimony of our faithfulness.

There is yet one more subtletemptation which the adversary appliesin the hour of the soul's desertion.

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"Where is thy beloved gone, thoufairest among women?" This is the tauntof our scornful foe, who wouldinsinuate a doubt of our Bridegroom'sfidelity. "Has He left you? Is this thelover of whom you boasted so bravely?Has He deserted you so soon and leftyou to wander upon the streets inloneliness and humiliation? Is He afterall not such a faithful lover as youthought? Perhaps you had better let Himgo. Perhaps He has gone forever, andyou had better stop searching for Him."This was David's experience when hecried out, "My tears have been my meatday and night, while they continuallysay unto me, 'Where is thy God?' Why goI mourning because of the oppression ofthe enemy? As with a sword in my bonesmine enemies reproach me; while theysay daily unto me, 'Where is thy God?'"Oh, beloved, keep out of the path ofthe backslider. It is beset with snaresand thorns, and if thou dost ventureinto it, "Thine own backslidings shallreprove thee, and thou shalt know thatit is an evil thing and bitter thatthou hast forsaken the Lord thy God."But if you have wandered be notdiscouraged, stand firm amid all thetemptation, like the bride, as we shallsee, and when you are restored youshall remember the experience as aneverlasting warning, and shall walksoftly all your days closer to the sideof your Beloved.

Her fidelity through all thetrials of her faith and love. First, she continued seeking; shedid not go back to bed again and fallasleep in languid indifference, but themoment she found out her mistake sheendeavored to correct it, and continuedto search for her lord until she foundhim. So, beloved, there is always thisresource left you, "Ask, and it shallbe given unto you; seek, and ye shallfind; knock, and it shall be openedunto you." It is as true for thebackslider as it is for the sinner."Then shall ye find me when ye searchfor me with all your heart." Next, shenot only searched but she continuedsteadfast in her love. Her onecontinual testimony, when they askedher what was her beloved more than anyother beloved, was that he was thechief among ten thousand and thealtogether lovely. Not for a momentwould she depreciate his charms oryield to a disparagement of his worth,but she boldly testified to his graceand beauty in the midst of all hertrials; and, in the face of all hertemptresses, her true and loving heartwas immovable as a rock from itssteadfast affection, and all the worldcould not tempt her to even a thoughtof disloyalty or compromise. So,beloved, even if you have lost the joyof your Lord, you can still retain thesingleness of your purpose, the loyaltyof your love, and cry, "Though I see

Him not, yet I love Him; though I have sinned against Him, yet Heknoweth that I love Him; though I havebeen foolish and forgetful, yet myheart is true; and, though all theworld should tempt me, He and He aloneshall be my Beloved; though I never seeHis face again, or hear His voice, yetI shall be true to Him in life anddeath forevermore." Therefore she wasnot only steadfast in her devotion, butshe retained her faith in his love toher with unfaltering confidence, andwhen they seemed to imply that he haddeserted her, she still declared, "I ammy beloved's, and my beloved is mine.He is as true to me as I am to him,and, although he hides his face for alittle, his heart, I know, has neverchanged. Although he forsake me, I willcling to him; though he slay me, I willtrust him." Dear friends, is this yourattitude even in the darkness? "Who isthere among you that followeth the Lordand obeyeth the voice of His servant,and hath no light? Let him trust in thename of the Lord."

The appearing of her beloved. Suddenly he stands before her. Hehas heard her loving testimony, hisheart has been moved with tendernessfor all her trials, and she is dearerto him than ever as he sees hersteadfast purpose, amid all the testingordeal, to be his and his alone, and sohe rewards her faithfulness. "Thou art

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beautiful, O my love, as Tirzahcomely as Jerusalem, and terrible as anarmy with banners. My dove, myundefiled is one." It is Christ'sadmiring testimony to the heart thatstands true to Him through all thefiery trial. The old promise was everfulfilled. "Hope thou in God, for Ishall yet praise Him who is the healthof my countenance and my God."

Brighter than His first appearing,dearer than even the soul's first love,is the hour when He comes again to thedesolate and wandering heart. "For thisis as the waters of Noah unto me," Hecries, as He renews His covenant, "for,as I have sworn that the waters of Noahshall no more go over the earth, sohave I sworn that I will not be wrothwith thee nor rebuke thee; for a smallmoment have I forsaken thee, but withgreat mercies will I gather thee; in alittle wrath I have hidden my face fora moment, but with everlasting kindnesswill I have mercy upon thee," said theLord thy Redeemer. Oh, the joy of therestored heart when the Lord ariseswith healing in His wings, and the longnight of waiting ends in a morning ofjoy.

Her new loveliness after hertrials are over. "Who is this thatlooketh forth as the morning, fair asthe moon, clear as the sun, andterrible as an army with banners?" her

maidens ask, as they behold herhappiness the morning after herbridegroom has returned. The last shadow of her sorrow has passed away,her face is bright as the morning andfresh as the morning dow. Her beauty isfair as the moon, and its luster hasremained all through the night ofsorrow. Her faith and love are gloriousas the sun, and the strength of hercharacter has come forth from thetesting armed for all coming conflictseven as an army with banners.

The morning is especially the typeof freshness. It speaks of a Christianlife that is ever new, a buoyant spiritthat ever springs with spontaneous lifeand fullness, like the springing dawnand the fresh zest which starts forthupon a new day with the completeoblivion of yesterday's toil and care.

The moon is the beautiful figureof the light that shines in thedarkness. It tells of the faith andlove that live on in uncloudedclearness even through the dark shadesof the night. The sun tells of thestronger light for the service of theday, for endurance and trial is not themain business of life. It is a preciousdiscipline to fit us for more strongand positive service. But the strong,clear light of the day is higher, evenas the sunlight is better thanmoonlight, and after we have stood the

test of the night and shone with thepure radiance of the moon, God sends usforth into the daylight and sunlight ofservice, and expects us to shed this strong light upon all around usand go forth in it ourselves to thework to which He calls us.

The last figure, an army withbanners, tells of the strength thatcomes from the discipline of trial, thecourage of faith, the precious,priceless lessons which fit us for theconflicts that lie before us. God wantsus to be not only sweet, but strong;not only to be the joy of His heart,but a terror to the enemy of our soulsand of His kingdom. It is not until wehave fought that enemy in our ownhearts that we are prepared to go forthin aggressive conflict and standagainst him in the souls of others andthe work of the gospel. It was afterChrist had stayed forty days in thewilderness that He went forth in thepower of the Spirit into Galilee andcame out guiltless and triumphant overall the powers of darkness. This is thedivine purpose of our testings. Thetrial of our faith is much moreprecious than gold that perisheth, eventhough it be tried with fire, that itmight be found unto His praise andglory at the appearance of our LordJesus Christ. "No affliction for thepresent seemeth to be joyous butgrievous, nevertheless afterward it

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yieldeth the peaceable fruit ofrighteousness to them that areexercised thereby; but the God of allgrace who hath called us unto Hiseternal glory by Christ Jesus, afterall ye have suffered, will make youperfect, stablish strengthenand settle you, to whom be gloryforever and ever, amen." Beloved, isthis the effect of your testings? Arethey bringing into your life thefreshness of the morning, the quietlight of the moon which shines onthrough the dark night, the clear lightof day that fits you for the serviceand duties of your life, the settledstrength and established purpose whichenables you to withstand in the evilday, and to go forth in the strength ofGod in aggressive warfare against thedevil and all his legions?

The deeper love into which hertrials have brought her. There is avery beautiful order running throughher testimonies regarding her love. Herfirst testimony is, "My beloved is mineand I am His." This gives noprominence to his love for her, andthere is, if possible, a little touchof selfishness in the thought of him asher first glad consciousness. A littlelater her testimony is, "I am mybeloved's and my beloved is mine." Thisspeaks of a change in her attitude andthought. Her love to him and her entiresurrender is the more prominent

thought; but there is a thirdexpression, a little later, after thereturn of his presence. It is simplythis, "I am my beloved's." Every traceof selfishness in her love is gone, andher whole being is absorbed with thesimple consciousness of being all hisown. This is the crowningblessing of her trial. It brings herinto a complete surrender andwholehearted devotion to him with herone concern to please him, to satisfyhim, to glorify him, and even theenjoyment of him is lost in the thoughtof his enjoyment of her and delight inher. Surely sorrow has been crownedwith infinite and eternal glory, andtrial has been found unto praise, andhonor, and glory in her happyexperience. So may each of us stand inthe hour of testing and find throughour fiery trials a far more exceedingand eternal weight of glory.

CHAPTER SIX HOME LONGING

"Make haste, by beloved, be thoulike a roe or a young hart upon themountains of Besamim." Song of Solomon8:14.

"Even so, come, Lord Jesus, comequickly." Revelation 22:20.

This last text is the interpreterof the first. Both express, one in

figure and the other in simple prose,the longing of every true Christianheart for the coming of our Lord. Howdifferent the closing cry of the Songof Solomon from the bride's earliersong in the second chapter! There itis, "Turn, by beloved, and be thou likea roe or a young hart upon themountains of Bether," or "Division,"but here it is, "Make haste, mybeloved, and be thou like a roe or ayoung hart upon the mountains ofBesamim," or the mountains <88> oflove, for the spices suggested by theHebrew word just mean the "fragrance oflove."

We have already seen that thebride became weary of the constantdistractions of the life that she wasliving in the great city, and longed toreturn to her early home, where shecould have her beloved all to herself,and, in the simplicity of their homelife, could meet him without restraintor thought of the keen eyes of aconventional world. This is expressiveof the longing of the church for theLord's second coming, and theinstinctive cry of every holy heart,"Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." Letus endeavor to understand the truespirit and limitations of this desire.What is a true Scriptural home-longing?

We do not mean by this a morbiddiscontent with life, either from the

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ennui of satiety with pleasure orbusiness, or the deeper despair thatcomes from trouble, and which so oftenhurls the discouraged heart intoreckless or cowardly suicide. There maybe a deep weariness with life which isentirely wrong and even utterlycowardly and mean. The spectacle ofElijah lying under the juniper tree andcrying, "Lord, let me die, because I amnot better than my fathers," or ofJonah sitting under his withered gourdand asking Jehovah to take away hislife because Nineveh had been sparedand his <89> reputation as a prophethad suffered loss, are but samples ofmany kinds of discontent and morbidnessthat may always be found among thegenerations of earth; but this is farfrom the spirit to which our subjectapplies. Disappointed affection,unsuccessful business, the bitterconsequences of our own mistakes andmisdeeds, the reaction of wild andreckless passion, the terrors of aguilty conscience, or the hard andoppressive circumstances of life, allthese may lead one to cry out like poorJob, "I am weary of life, I would notlive alway." But it is often the mostselfish and unmanly thing that a mancan do, to run away from hisdifficulties and leave his helplessfamily and friends to stem the tidethat he was not brave enough to meet.There may be a milder desire for death,which does not lead to reckless

suicide, but which is at the best onlya longing to get free from suffering,and which has in it no real devotion orspirituality. Let us not be deceived bythe counterfeit and palm off mere jadedlanguor as heavenly-mindedness.

There is a true longing to be withChrist, which we find expressed allthrough the pages of the Scriptures andthe utterances of all true Christianbiography. There is a ripening of thegrain which makes the heads hang lowand the fruit mellow and ready to fall.There is a true and <90> beautifulsense in which the apostle can say, "Todepart and be with Christ is farbetter; nevertheless to remain in theflesh is more needful for you." Here wefind a sound and wholesome readinessand even gladness to be with the Lordin a better world, yet with not a tingeof morbidness about it, but rather onthe contrary, a bright and radiantheartiness and hopefulness, and a realpreference to remain amid the toil andconflict of life for the sake of othersand for the Master's work. But underall this there is a heart springingheavenward, a spirit that often longsfor the rest and communion of the lifebeyond, and like a caged bird, poisesits wings for a higher and everlastingflight. Such heavenly aspirationsbreathe through God's holy Word and thehymnology of the ages as well as thehighest experiences of the best of

saints, and yet even this does notexpress the meaning of our text, andthe most Scriptural form of the saints'"longing for home."

It is not so much a desire foreven heaven as a definite longing forthe personal coming of the Lord JesusChrist, and the setting up of thekingdom which His advent is to bring.This is very definitely expressed bythe apostle in the fifth chapter ofSecond Corinthians, where hedistinguishes the expectation of deathvery clearly from the expectation ofthe Lord's coming <91> and theresurrection. "Not that we may beunclothed," he says, referring todeath, "but clothed upon," meaning theresurrection, "that mortality might beswallowed up of life." This is theChristian's true hope -- the Lord'spersonal return, and the life immortalwhich this will bring to the body as itshall rise in His glorious likeness,and death shall be swallowed up of lifeimmortal. This is a very differentthing from the expectation of death.There is a most erroneous impressionabroad among many Christians withrespect to the Lord's coming. When Hebids us to always be ready, ever ready,He certainly does not mean that we areto be continually looking for death,but we are to be looking and hasteningfor the coming of our Lord, and prepareto meet Him when He descends from the

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skies to claim His bride and to rewardHis servants. This is a very differentthing from the expectation of death.That is a looking down into the tomb:this is a looking up into the air. Thatis a depressing thought; this is aliving and comforting one. Nowhere dowe find our Master bidding us keep oureyes upon the tomb, but often does Headmonish us to watch for His return andto stand with loins girt and lightsburning, like men that wait for theirLord when He will return from thewedding. Such a desire and expectationis not only Scriptural, but most <93>sanctifying and quickening. It willlead to personal holiness andfaithfulness in the discharge of ourministry and duties. It is an incentiveto separation from the world such asnothing else can afford, and it willgive a nobility to life and shed thehalo of its glory over all its work andall our way, and inspire us like a polestar to lofty aspirations, and to thehighest and noblest sacrifices andservice. There are abundant reasons whyour heart should feel this heavenlydesire.

The world is not fitted to be ourrest. It is too small for a heart thathas felt the enlarging of God'sindwelling presence, and it is too sadfor the development of our heaven-bornjoy. There is no longing in the humanheart so pure and sweet as the longing

for home. No song has even touched awider circle of responsive echoes than"Home, Sweet Home," and no writer hasever achieved by so small a work agreater reputation than the author ofthat sweet and simple song, justbecause it is so true to the deepestinstincts of human nature. And yet,when we come to the real picture, howdisappointing to the great mass ofhumanity it is! How few homes there areon earth that reach the highest idealof even man's thought, and none ofthese are exempt from the touch of thathand which falls most heavily of all onthe <93> sweetest and happiestshrines. It is where love has been mostsweet and heavenly, and happiness mostdivine, that the parting which death atlast brings is most keenly felt. Thevery depth of our joy only intensifiesthe measure of our pain, so that theheart cries amid the wreck of earth'ssweetest home circles,

"Friend after friend departs, Who hath not lost a friend?There is no union here of hearts That finds not here an end.Were this trial world our only rest,Living or dying, none were best."

The heart that is born from aboveinstinctively reaches upward and risesheavenward, even as the river flows tothe ocean and fire ascending seeks thesun.

The coming of the blessed Lord maywell be an object of desire because ofthe unspeakable blessings which it isgoing to bring us. Not only will ittake away from us a thousand sources ofsorrow and pain, but it will bring tous the perfection of our own being. Allthat we know of holiness here willreach its maturity there and rise to amanhood to which all our presentexperiences are but as the play toys ofan infant. Our physical life will reachits <94> completeness there in theresurrection power and glory which willexalt us above the limitations of spaceand matter, and thrill our being with afullness of life like His own.

It will bring still greaterblessing to the world. It will be thetime of the restitution of all thingsof which the prophets have spoken sincethe beginning of the world. It willbring to this sad and sin-cursed earthmore than paradise restored, and for athousand happy years the world willbecome the theater of the highest anddivinest possibilities of God's powerand grace. Then will the philanthropistsee his dreams of human happinessfulfilled; then will our wretchedpolitical systems give place to a reignof beneficence and happiness, andgeneration after generation rejoice infinding at last all that freedom andrighteousness really mean. David

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Livingstone will look upon thecontinent for which he died, smiling inthe loveliness of millennialrighteousness. John Williams willwander through the lovely islands ofPolynesia, where he shed his blood, andsee every drop transformed into rubiesof eternal glory and recompense inscenes as holy as they are fair. JohnHoward will seek in vain for a prisonbeneath the sun, and recall withrapture the prayers and tears that hespent amid these gloomy scenes of humanmisery. William <95> Wilberforce willgaze with wonder and delight upon aglobe where it will be impossible tofind a fetter or a slave. FrancesWillard will search for a thousandyears before she will find a drunkardin the streets of the New Jerusalem. Itis doubtful if even the fairest of ourearthly scenes, our cemeteries, will befound. At least even death, if it comesat all during that age, will be robbedof its sting, and will probably be buta transformation from the lower to thehigher plane, from the natural to theresurrection life. Oh, for the sake ofa groaning world, may we not well cry,

"Oh, long-expected day, begin,Dawn on this scene of pain and sin."

But the best of all reasons fordesiring this blessed home coming, isthat it is to bring us our Savior invisible, continual and perfect

fellowship forevermore. The joy of thebride is the bridegroom; the hope ofHis coming is centered in Himself. Inthis beautiful poem the reason thebride longs to be back at her home isnot so much to see her mother or hergarden as to be able to be ever withher beloved.

"O that thou wert as by brother,"she cries, "when I should find theewithout I would kiss thee; yea, I wouldnot be despised. I would <96> leadthee and bring thee into my mother'shouse, who would instruct me. His lefthand should be under my head and hisright hand should embrace me." This isalso the secret of the Christian'slonging. It is to be with Christ whichmakes it far better to depart. The Lambis the light of the city above, and theLord is its glory. It will bring ChristHimself. It is true we have Him now,but not as we shall then. We shall seeHis face. We shall dwell continually inHis glorious presence. We shall beholdHis beauty. We shall commune with Himwithout restraint. We shall see thegrandeur of His kingdom and be partnerswith Him in the government of themillennial world. We shall be glad inHis joy, as we shall see forever theglorious fruition of all His sorrow,and the eternal results of redemptionin the ages to come.

In this beautiful song the bride

speaks not only of the joys that waitfor her at home, but the joys she haslaid up for him. "At our gates awaitall manner of fruits which I have laidup for thee, O my beloved." We think ofwhat that day will mean for us, but dowe think of what it mill mean for Him,as He gazes upon the innumerable soulsthat have been saved and glorifiedthrough His sufferings and love, and aseach of them shall bring their crownsand their rewards and lay them at Hisblessed feet, oh, <97> the joy thatshall swell His noble heart as He gazesupon that spectacle of happiness andeternal transformation, and feels thatone of those shining ones would beworth all the cost of Calvary. Have wesomething laid up for that day? Are weconverting our treasures, ourfriendships, our affections intoeternal memorials that some day we canbring to Him as the wedding gift ofthat glorious day?

It will bring us our loved ones. When He comes again, they also thatsleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.It will give us back our dead. As theyears go, how the friends of the pastdiminish. How the friends of the futureincrease. The other day I was talkingwith a dear old saint who desired tocommit to some one the administrationof an important trust after he hadpassed away, but he could think of noone to whom he would commit it. They

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were all gone, and he stood alone. Thisis not his home, but oh, how thicklythey are clustering at yonder gates.What troops will meet us as we enterthere -- brothers, sisters, children,husbands, wives. Oh, how memory teemswith them, and hope lights up thatlooked-for day with all that makes home"Sweet Home." Happy they whosefriendships all take hold upon thatcoming day! Happy they who have nostrong ties that are not anchoredwithin the veil! God has <98> toawaken this homesickness often bybreaking up our earthly nest, that wemay transfer our hopes to the betterhome, and some day we shall thank Himfor the flowers that He hastransplanted to a climate where theyshall wither no more, and where God iskeeping them for our arms forever.Beloved, do you know this home longing?If not, why not? Is it perhaps becauseyour life is all invested in thisearth, your interests are all committedto the present world, and it is notpossible for you to have two hopes andtwo aims? The Christian is a man of oneidea. He is living for the kingdom ofthe future. His hopes are all passingonward, and where his treasure is,there will his heart be also. When thegardener wants his little bedding plantto form new roots and be prepared to betransplanted to the garden, he cuts thelittle branch off from the stalk, andthen it throws out its roots and grows

into the new soil, but if he did notdetach it, it would never have formedits new connection, or draw its newsources of life from the soil. And soHe calls upon us to separate ourselvesfrom the hopes of earth and invest ourbeing in the world to come. Then allthe strength of our spirit shall fastenaround the throne and our heart willlong for the consummation of itsblessed hope. But there is nothing thatso claims our longing for Christ's<99> coming as Christ Himself in theheart, the Hope of glory. He is theMorning Star and as He is formed withinus, so we reach out more and more forHis appearing. Beloved, do you knowanything of this home-longing? "Blessedare the home-sick," the Germans say,"for they shall get home." This isindeed true. Those that choose theirportion on earth shall have theirreward, and those that choose it onhigh shall in no wise lose theirreward. Oh, that we may be able to singwith true hearts,

I am waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom in the air,I am longing for the gathering of the ransomed over thereI am putting on the garments which the heavenly Bride shall wearFor the glad home-coming draweth nigh.

Oh, the glad home-coming, it is swiftly drawing nigh,

Oh, the sad home longing will be over by-and-byLo, the Bridegroom cometh, holy watchers soon will cry,For the glad home-coming draweth nigh.

CHAPTER SEVEN HOME COMING

"Who is this that cometh up out ofthe wilderness leaning on her beloved?"Song of Solomon 8:5.

This is the picture of the bride'sreturning to her early home on the armof her beloved. Soon it merges into thesweeter picture of the two at the oldhome, and recognizing the scenesassociated with tender memories oftheir first meeting. They come to theold apple tree under which they firstexchanged their vows of love, and intender, passionate devotion, she clingscloser to his side and cries, "Set meas a seal upon thy heart, as a sealupon thine arm, for love is strong asdeath; jealousy is cruel as Sheol; as avehement flame of the Almighty itburneth. Many waters cannot quench it.If a <101> man should give all histreasures he cannot buy it." Then alittle later she is represented asmaking intercession for her littlesister who has not yet grown tomaturity, and who seems to be, indeed,unnaturally dwarfed and undeveloped,full aged, but still in form a child;

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and her Lord answers her, "If she be awall we will build upon her a palace ofsilver, but if she be a door we willenclose her with boards of cedar." Thatis to say, if she be a virtuous woman,closed as a wall of adamant against allthe approaches of evil, we will honorand reward her; but if she be open toall comers, and loose and lax in herpurity and separation as an open door,we will place around her the restraintsthat will perforce protect her, if needbe by the severest discipline. This wasfollowed by an intercession for herbrothers that Solomon will give them astheir inheritance his vineyard atBaalhamon. All this is accompanied witha high-spirited protest of her ownlofty virtue and devotion to herbridegroom as the grounds of hisdelight in her. The whole scene closesby a request from him that she willsing to him once more as in the days ofold, and she responds by the sweetrefrain that closes the Song ofSolomon; a refrain that carries with itenough of the notes of the old song oftheir early love to be recognized, butenough also <102> that is new toraise it to a higher key and a sweeterchord. The old song was, "Turn, mybeloved, and be like a roe or a younghart on the mountains of separation,"but the new one is, "Make haste, mybeloved, and be like a roe or a younghart on the mountains of love." Thisbeautiful closing scene of the old

drama is a picture of the two stages inthe Christian's journey. The first wemight call going home, and the secondgetting home.

Going Home. The apostle expresses the meaningof this in the two words, "looking for"and "hastening to" the coming of ourLord. It is one thing to be passivelydrifting toward the coming of the Lord,and it is another to be going out tomeet Him. This denotes an ardentexpectation and an active cooperationin bringing about His advent.

We may press forward to His comingfirst by desiring it and looking forit. It was when the people were inexpectation that Jesus came of old.There is a strange power in love todraw the loved one, and when the heartof the church is really yearning forJesus, He will speedily come.

Be praying for it. This is one of the things that Godhas promised always to meet. Believingprayer for the Lord's return willsurely not be in vain, and willmightily hasten the wheels of <103>His chariot. The Holy Spirit hasHimself inspired such a prayer. It isthe last breath of inspiration in thesesacred pages, "Even so, come, LordJesus, come quickly," even as it is thelast note of the Song of Solomon, "Make

haste, my beloved." Prayer shall bemade for Him continually it is said. Hecomes to the heart when invited, and Heshall come to His own when theunanimous cry of His Bride goes up toHis waiting heart.

We can go out to Him by preparingfor His coming, by getting readyourselves, by putting on the weddingrobe, and keeping our vessels filledwith the heavenly oil. Beloved, are weready? Surely if the bride were dressedfor the wedding, the Bridegroom wouldnot expose her to ridicule by leavingher to wait in suspense. We believethat the moment the church of God isprepared for the coming of the SaviorHe will come.

By preparing the world for Hiscoming. This gospel of the kingdom"must first be preached unto allnations, and then shall the end come,"and they who truly long for His adventwill be the most alive in sending forththe gospel in all lands.

By anticipating already in somemeasure the millennial life. Even hereand now we may receive the foretaste ofthe coming kingdom. <104> Our bodiesmay know a thrill of the life of theresurrection even here, and this is themeaning of divine healing. Our spiritsmay know a little of the rapture of Hislove and the marriage joy of that glad

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day. "We that have the first fruits ofthe Spirit, do groan within ourselvesfor the full redemption of the body."Christ is coming very near today in thelife of His people. There are manysober Christians who can honestlytestify in these last times to acommunion with the Lord which almostreaches within the veil, and brings thelight that is inaccessible and full ofglory; and certainly the wonderfulmanifestation of Christ's life in thebodies of His people in the lastquarter of a century is a stupendousforeshadowing of the coming glory, andthe resurrection itself will only be afuller manifestation of that whichalready has thrilled the mortal fleshof many of God's beloved ones. In thisrespect, therefore, we can go forth tomeet the Lord and feel already the gladforetaste of His millennial presence.It is through a wilderness that shegoes up to meet her Lord and surely asHis coming draws nearer it will becomedark and lonely, and the clouds of thegreat tribulation will begin to gather,and the violence of the latter dayswill give premonition of the comingcrisis. But the wilderness will onlypress her closer to his side as sheleans <105> upon her beloved with anintimacy which well describes the deepspiritual life which is one of thecharacteristics of this day on the partof the few who are looking for theLord's return. Above all others they

are separated unto Him, and, having letgo their hold of earthly hopes andconfidences, they are compelled to leantheir whole weight on Him alone.Beloved, do we know aught of thisseparation unto Him? Do we know aughtof this expectation of Him? Sometimeson the battlefield, when pressed by thefoe, the general has been known to getupon his knees to listen for the trampof coming reinforcements; and once itis said that, at a very great crisis inone of the decisive battles of theworld, one who had thus been listeningsprang to his feet and shouted, "Theyare coming! They are coming! I hear thetramp of their feet miles away!" Andthe shout went along the line, "Theyare coming! They are coming!Reinforcements are coming!" and a cheerwent up, and the flag was lifted highand the lost ground recovered, and thebrave men held their own with newenthusiasm, for they knew that thearmies of help and deliverance were athand. Are we listening for the tread ofthe coming feet, and do we sometimesalmost hear the tramp of the armies ofthe sky as the procession alreadybegins to move earthward in the adventtrain of the Son of Man? <106>

But this picture tells us stillmore of the getting home. The firstincident in the home-coming is therecollection of the old apple treewhich had been the scene of their

earlier meetings. It tells of thememories and associations that willform part of the future life and willadd such exquisite sweetness to thefelicities of the millennial life. Itsuggests to us the memories that willcome back to us from the eternal shore;nay more, the actual revisiting of thescenes of earth that have beenassociated with our tenderest spiritualexperiences. An apple tree is not muchin itself, but just such things are thepivots on which turn all that issweetest in memory and affection inmany of our lives. David speaks of hisrecollection of God's love in one ofthe Psalms in such words as these, "Iwill remember thee from the land ofJordan, from the hill Mizar," or thelittle hill. It was this little hillwhich, perhaps, had no earthly namethat he associated in his mind with histenderest recollections. It was thespot where God in some way met him,delivered him, comforted him. There arespots on earth for each of us that willbe eternally dear, and that some day weshall visit with our precious Lord,and, remembering all the way He has ledsince our covenant was recorded there,we shall doubtless weep for love andgratitude as we thank <107> Him forHis faithfulness. Beloved, we arecoming back again over this green earthand the path we are treading now. Letus leave no foot-prints which we wouldnot care to retrace in company with our

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Lord.

The next deep record in the storyof the home coming is the love which itis to perfect. Then, indeed, shall Heset us as a seal upon His heart andupon His arm, to be separated no moreforever, and to be used, even as themonarch uses his signet ring, for thehighest and noblest ministries and withthe very authority and majesty of theLord Himself. And then we shall lovewith a love as strong as death and asvehement as the love of God Himself;for this is just what love means, theflame of the Almighty, the very love ofGod Himself, for when we reach Hispresence we shall love Him even as weare loved.

Next we have a picture of serviceand unselfish consideration for others.Immediately the bride begins to thinkof those who are dear to her, and toremember them to her lord in lovingintercession. First she prays for herlittle sister. Who is meant by thislittle sister that hath no breasts, or,in other words, who with the years of awoman is still in form a child? Ofcourse it is a type of some class ofpersons who shall be on earth at thetime of the Lord's coming, and whoshall be related to the <108> realbride of the Lamb by a bond ofsisterhood, but yet shall be differentfrom her in perfection and spiritual

maturity, and one who shall be ofdoubtful purity in the judgment of theLord, for it must be remembered it wasHe who asked the question whether shebe a wall or a door; that is, aseparated one or a loose and lax womanopen to every evil influence. What ismore natural than to suppose that sherepresents that portion of the churchof Christ which shall not be preparedfor the Lord's coming, and whichthrough the fault of its memberswillingly remains unsanctified. It isobvious to every careful reader of theScriptures that there will be twoclasses of Christians at the time ofthe Lord's coming, the sanctified onesand the worldly and unholy followers ofthe Lord; His children, but Hisimmature children who have neverpressed forward to the fullness oftheir high calling and the true meaningof their sonship. It is of these thatthe apostle says, "when for the time yeought to be teachers, ye have need thatone should teach you again which be thefirst principles of the oracles of God,and are become such as have need ofmilk and not of strong meat; for everyone that useth milk is unskillful inthe word of righteousness, for he is ababe; but strong meat belongeth to themthat are of full age." We see in theparables of the <109> pounds and thetalents two classes of servants whoshall come before the judgment seat ofChrist, one the faithful whose works

shall be rewarded as the ruler of themillennial kingdom, the other thefaithless ones who have kept what theyhave had committed to them, but havemade no use of it for Him. We see thesame solemn truth also in the parableof the ten virgins, where the foolishones are virgins, but unprepared forthe Lord's coming. We see also in theFirst Epistle of John the distinctionof two classes, one who shall beashamed before Him at His coming. Inthe book of Revelation we find thefirst fruits unto God and the Lamb whoare without spot before the throne ofGod, and their solemn warning to beready for His coming and keep theirgarments lest they walk naked and wesee their shame. We are told in theEpistle to the Hebrews that "withoutholiness no man shall see the Lord."This little sister must, therefore,represent that element which in the dayof His coming will be found unready totake the place of the bride, but forwhom the bride lovingly intercedes,perhaps in the first rapture andtranslation of the saints, while manyare still left on the earth that aredear to the translated ones. It is forthis that she prays, and the Masteranswers that if her little sister will<110> separate herself from the worldand sin, and be a wall of virtue andpurity, she shall have a palace ofsilver. This is not surely the same asa palace of gold. It is, perhaps, an

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inferior reward, but certainly aglorious one. But if she be a door,that is unholy or even unseparated fromthe world, she shall be fenced withboards of cedar, and thus shall be heldback by the rigid restraints of God'schastening hand from her own evilinclinations; referring, no doubt, tothe tribulations of these last daysthrough which the remnant of God'speople upon the earth will be at lengthseparated from the world and preparedfor some part indeed in the millennialkingdom.

We find her next interceding forher brothers; these same brothers whohad harshly treated her before, but forwhom she now asks from Solomon theleast of one of his vineyards, and hisroyal and generous consideration. Theapplication of this to the Jews asGod's earthly people seems very clear.They, too, shall have a part in thecoming age. The vineyard which God'sright hand had planted shall be theirsagain. The Queen of nations, Israel,shall return to her own land andpossess once more her old estatesthroughout the millennial years.

The general idea, however,conveyed by this picture is that ofunselfishness and loving <111> regardfor the good of others. It surelyimplies that in the age to come, God'sglorified church will be engaged in

high and holy ministries. We believethat our best work for God is yet tocome, and all we do in this day of toiland trial is to prepare for the higheroccupations of that glorious time whenin cooperation with Him we shall rulethe nations, and shall see the earthunder His administration, and ourselvesrise to the beauty of more thanparadise restored. Surely this is themeaning of such expressions as, "Bethou ruler over ten cities," or again,"Who then is a faithful servant andwise steward, whom His Lord when Hecometh shall find so doing? Verily Isay unto you, He shall make him rulerover all that He hath", and again, "Iappoint unto you a kingdom as my Fatherhas appointed unto me, and ye shall siton thrones judging the ten tribes ofIsrael."

The last song of the bride is anote of the heavenly anthem. It remindsus that the spirit of that happy agewill be the spirit of praise, and thatour songs will be for Him. We are goingto a home where we shall spend eternityin the celebration of our Redeemer'spraise. The songs of heaven are butrepetitions of the earth's songs withan added refrain. There are two songsin the book of Canticles, the earthsong and the home song of the bride.The first song <112> has for itsrefrain a minor chord, and the sadthought of the mountains of Bether, or

separation; but the last song is aboutthe mountain of Besamim, or themountain of spices, that is love. Oh,what a difference there will be! Allthe songs of earth have a touch ofsorrow. It is said that the song ofevery bird that warbles in the air ison a minor key. All earth is taintedwith the sadness of the Fall, but thereis a day coming when the key will bechanged and the everlasting song willbe without a chorus of sorrow.

There shall be no more crying, There shall be no more pain,There shall be no more dying, There shall be no more stain.

Savior, our watch we are keeping, Longing for thee to come;Then shall be ended our night of weeping, Then shall we reach our home.

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