Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2479
“His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: His lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.” Song of Solomon 5:13.
IN this chapter the spouse describes in detail the Person of her Beloved. She is not satisfied with saying, “He is altogether lovely,” but she delights to talk of the charms of each part of His sacred Person and to picture the beauties of His Divine form and features, so that thereby she may, perhaps, win some other heart, first to admire and then to love Him.
Dear Friends, there are some things about which you will be wise not to go into details. You had better speak in general terms of half the things on earth, for if you once describe them in detail, you will have to confess that they are marred by a thousand imperfections! You may be content to give merely a surface glance at them, for if you dive beneath the surface, you will soon discover much that will alter your opinion of the thing that, at first sight, looked so lovely. But it is not so with Jesus, our Well-Beloved! You may talk of Him as long as you please and praise Him as much as you can, yet you will never discover that you have exaggerated His excellences. You may go into detail about Him and dwell with much minuteness upon everything relating to His Character, His offices, His Words, His deeds and you shall be made to wonder at the perfection of each one of them. You may apply the microscope to Christ. You may examine His little things, if, indeed, anything can be little that refers to Him. You may look into the deep things of Christ, the hidden things of Christ, His secrets—and the more closely you look, the more you will be amazed, astonished and filled with delight!
It is of Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom, that we perceive the spouse to be speaking and mentioning in detail at least 10 particulars, dwelling with delight upon the beauties of His head and His locks, His eyes and His cheeks, His lips and His hands and every part of Him. And, Beloved Friends, I think it shows true love to Christ when we want to speak at length upon everything that concerns Him. The general Hearer says, “Oh, yes, yes! Of course, Christ is the Son of God and He is also perfect Man—I believe that.” But he does not want you to go into minute particulars concerning your Lord. It is not so with those who truly love the Savior—they wish to know all that can be known about Him. True love likes to become familiar with the object of its affection—its heart is set upon that object. It studies it and can never know it too well or too closely. True love to Christ thinks of Him from morning till night. It is glad to be released from other thoughts that it may follow only its one darling pursuit. True love to Christ seeks to get to Him, to live with Him, to live upon Him and thus to know Him so intimately that things which were unobserved and passed over at the first, stand out in clear light to the increased joy and delight of the contemplative mind! I wish, dear Friends, that we had many more of those people who study Christ from head to foot that they may learn all that can be learned about Him—those who would be able, with the spouse, to talk of His charms and beauties in detail—and to describe them as she does with rapturous delight!
You know how very unacquainted many people are with the Song of Solomon—they shut up this Book of Canticles in despair and say that they cannot understand its meaning. You will find that it is just the same with every truly spiritual thing! If you put into the hands of any one of them a deeply spiritual book, he will say, “I cannot comprehend what the writer means. The man seems to be in a rapture and I cannot make out what he is aiming at by such writing.” Just so. Unspiritual people are all at sea in spiritual things and even some of God’s children, who know Christ so as to be saved by Him, seem to be altogether out of their depth when you begin to speak of the things which you have made touching the King, or dilate upon those special Truths of God which only experience and fellowship with Christ can reveal to the soul. In speaking upon our text, I am sure that I shall not say toomuchin praise of my Lord and Master! My fear is that I shall not say a thousandth part as much as He deserves—and yet, perhaps, it shall seem but trivial talk to some who as yet do not know that one hair of His head is worth more than the whole world and that one drop of His precious blood has an eternal efficacy about it. On the other hand, I know that I shall not speak too enthusiastically for those whose hearts are warm with love to Christ. May the Lord, in great mercy, make us all to have such hearts, and He shall have all the praise!
There are two things I shall speak of as I may be helped by the Holy Spirit. First, Christ looked upon is very lovely— “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.” Secondly, Christ listened to is very precious—“His lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.” There is an important distinction between the two heads of my discourse that I want you to notice before I proceed further, for there is a considerable difference between Christ looked upon and Christ listened to. There are some who listen to Christ’s Gospel and they do well. But those who also look with eyes of love upon His sacred Person. Those who contemplate not only what He says but what He is. Those who delight to know not only what He taught but what He is who taught it—these are they who have penetrated yet further into the mysteries of Christ.