Christ Present With His Church

I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. yea...: or, and be drunken with loves - Song of Solomon 5:1

    “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

    In the preceding verse we see the church, the bride of Christ, making a twofold prayer. First, she asked for the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit. “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out.” Then, she asked for the manifest presence of Christ himself. “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.”

    Here we have the Lord’s gracious answer to that prayer. Here the Lord Jesus Christ himself speaks and says, “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

    Here our Lord Jesus speaks of his manifest presence with his church. We should not be greatly surprised to hear him speak in such a manner. Did he not say that if any would open to him he would come in and sup with them (Rev. 3:20)? Our all-glorious Christ is always as good as his promise. No sooner did his church throw open the doors of her heart than he entered and made himself known in sweet communion.

    Of this one thing we may be sure. Every heart that is prepared by God to receive Christ, and anxiously seeks and desires the presence of Christ shall have Christ (Isa. 65:24). Certainly this is true with regard to poor, needy sinners (Heb. 4:16). This is most assuredly true with regard to you who are the Lord’s.

    The fact that our hearts truly long for Christ’s presence is evidence that he is with us already. Sometimes we are like Jacob when he awoke out of his sleep, he said, “Surely, the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.” We are often like Mary; on one occasion the Lord was standing by her side in the garden, and she knew him not. George Burrowes wrote, “The fact of the existence of such desires for him, is evidence of his being with us; as in this passage, in immediate connection with the request, he adds, ‘I have already come.’ He was present in the heart, though his presence was not felt.”

    Christ’s presence

    The Lord Jesus Christ calls for us to take notice of his presence. Our prayer in the last verse of chapter four was, “Let my Beloved come into his garden.” Here he says, “I have come into my garden,” as if to say, “Look up, my beloved, I am here!” Could it be that he has come without us perceiving it? Could he be present and us, who so earnestly long for him, not know it? I am afraid that it is so. Our hearts are so much taken up with doubt and worldly concern that unless Christ advertises his coming, as he does here, he might be at our side and us fail to see him.

    A local church is the gathering of two or three needy souls in the name of Christ. Our Master promised that where two or three gathered together in his name, he would be present with them (Matt. 18:20). The place in which his people gather is not important. The number present is not important. The denominational name is not important. The only matter of importance is that we gather in his name.

    But what does it mean to gather in his name? To gather in his name is to gather believing on his name, trusting him alone as our Mediator and Savior. To gather in his name is to come together to worship him and seek his glory. To gather in his name is to come together seeking his righteousness, his will, his mercy, and the salvation of his sheep.

    Our Savior has promised to be with his people, those who truly worship him in Spirit and in truth, at all times (Isa. 43:1-3; Matt. 28:18-20). He said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:4). And our Lord Jesus Christ has promised his manifest presence to those who love him (John 14:18-23). This is the thing I am talking about. We know the doctrine of Christ’s presence. But we want to know his real, manifest presence with us. Wherever the door is opened to Christ, he comes in (Rev. 3:20). Wherever there is a heart broken and contrite before God, Christ takes up his abode in that heart (Isa. 57:15; 66:1-2).

    This personal, manifest presence of Christ among his people is an unspeakable blessing of grace. When our Lord is manifestly present in our assemblies there is life in our midst, fervency in our prayers, vitality in our songs, and blessedness in hearing his voice as his Word is read. The preaching of the gospel is the delivery of a message from God and the hearing of it is the hearing of a message from God. When he is absent, all is lifeless and dead. When He is present there is joy and peace in Jerusalem. Any who miss Christ, miss him because they will not seek him.

    Christ’s satisfaction

    Our dear Savior is ever present with his church because he finds great satisfaction in his church. His church is not a building, or a denomination. His church is his people. All true believers, considered collectively, are his church. And the Son of God finds great satisfaction in his people. He says to his church, “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.”

    Here our Lord claims the church as his own garden, his rightful possession. In this one verse he uses the personal possessive pronoun “my” nine times. Certainly this is meaningful. We rightfully belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his by divine gift in eternal election (John 6:39, by lawful purchase in particular redemption (1 Cor. 6:19-20), and by omnipotent, effectual grace in regeneration (Ezek. 16:8).

    The sweet produce, which Christ finds in his garden, is the result of his own cultivation. He takes pleasure in us just as a farmer takes pleasure in his fruitful field. He finds satisfaction in us just as a mother finds satisfaction in her living, healthy baby.

    Without question, our Lord’s language in this place is designed to convey to us the message that he finds great satisfaction and delight in his people. What condescending grace! The Son of God comes to us! But that is not all; he even looks upon us with complacency, delight, and satisfaction! Because of his own blood and righteousness, he accepts the sincere, though feeble, worship of our hearts (1 Pet. 2:5). Our offerings are to him like the gathering of his myrrh and spice. Our prayers are like sweet-smelling myrrh to him. Our songs of praise are like spices and incense before him. Our love toward him is like honey in the honeycomb to our Redeemer. Our joy before him is like exhilarating wine. Our daily lives are like refreshing milk to him! Imagine that.

    In this heavenly poetic verse, Christ is fed first, then his children are invited to eat. It seems to imply that our first concern should be for him. The first and best of everything must go to him.

    Christ’s invitation

    The Son of God gives a loving invitation to his beloved people. He says, “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” He calls us to a feast of fellowship, communion, and life. It is spread not for the world, but for his own peculiar people.

    Notice the two words by which he tenderly calls us to the feast: “friends” and “beloved.” He calls us his friends (John 3:29; 15:13-15; Lk. 15:7). We were by nature his enemies. And we would have forever remained his enemies. But he has graciously reconciled us to himself. We are his friends! He calls us his beloved. All who are born of God are the peculiar objects of his great love. —Electing Love! —Redeeming Love! —Immutable, Unchanging Love! —Saving Love! —Preserving Love! Oh, what blessedness is heaped up in that word as it falls from our Savior’s lips, “Beloved!”

    Notice the two provisions for our souls to feast upon. —We are bidden to eat and drink. You know what the food of faith is, and what the delightful drink is. The food and the drink are in him. By faith, we eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:50-56). That is to say, we live by constantly trusting his righteousness and obedience unto death as our sin-atoning Substitute.

    Notice this delightful word, too, —“Abundantly.” Our Lord tells us to feast abundantly upon him. Let faith eat and drink, feeding upon Christ without end. The more your hunger and thirst is satisfied, the more you will hunger and thirst. —Feast on! This is healthy gluttony. The marginal translation of this last phrase is, “Be drunken with loves.” It is as though the Lord is saying, “Come, my friends, my beloved, drink the rich wine of my love, until your heart is drunk with my love, until you are totally under the influence of my love” (Eph. 5:18).

    There is never any danger of overindulgence when it comes to preaching, feeding upon, and worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, child of God, gorge your self on Christ! Drink of him, O my soul, until you are thoroughly, completely intoxicated with him, and then drink on!