the love-song of the Lamb and His Bride. There are few books in Holy Scripture more fragrant with heavenly affection than the Song of Solomon. To the carnal mind it is but an Eastern love-poem filled with imagery too intimate for the sanctuary. Yet to the regenerate heart, enlightened by the Spirit of God, it unveils the tender mysteries of Christ's love for His Church, that elect company for whom He lived, bled, and rose again. The Song of Songs is no mere record of human affection, it is the divine allegory of the intimate communion between the Bridegroom of Heaven and His blood-bought Bride. When Solomon wrote, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, he gave expression to the soul's longing for the manifestation of divine love. This is the cry of the believer, awakened by grace and yearning for communion with Jesus. Every sinner chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and regenerated by the Spirit, comes to feel this holy longing, a hunger not for doctrine alone, but for the presence of the Saviour himself. As the bride desires the embrace of her beloved, so the believer pants for Christ's nearness, the kiss of pardon, the assurance of adoption, the comfort of communion. The Church's beauty in the song is not inherent. She confesses, I am very dark, but lovely. Here lies the paradox of grace. In herself, the Church is blackened by sin, utterly unworthy of divine affection. Yet, through Christ's imputed righteousness, she is lovely beyond description. Her loveliness is borrowed. Her beauty is the reflection of her bridegroom's glory. As the moon shines with borrowed light from the sun, so the redeemed shine only with the righteousness of Jesus. The Lord declares, You are altogether beautiful, my love, there is no spot in you. What marvel is this! He who sees all things, sees no blemish in his redeemed people, for every stain has been washed in his own blood. Consider, too, the jealousy of divine love. You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain. The church is enclosed, kept apart for Jesus alone. The Lord will not share his bride with another. He purchased her at infinite cost, therefore she is his special possession. When the bridegroom calls, Arise my love, my beautiful one, and come away, we hear Christ's summons to intimate communion. The winter of sin and estrangement is past, the rain of wrath is over and gone. Now the flowers of grace appear in the heart, and the time of singing has come. The Lord Jesus calls his people to rise above the world's vanities and dwell in the clefts of the rock, in the wounds of their Redeemer. There alone is peace, rest, and safety. The song concludes with the cry of the expectant church, Come away my love. This is the sigh of every heart that knows the sweetness of his love. The more the believer tastes of Jesus, the more he yearns for his appearing. The church waits not for an earthly kingdom, but for the bridegroom himself. Her joy is not in His gifts, but in His presence, not in temporal blessings, but in eternal union with Him who loved her and gave Himself for her. Thus, the Song of Solomon is the holy dialogue between Jesus and His redeemed people. It is the secret language of heaven-born souls, the love-song of the Lamb and His Bride. Let us then seek that spiritual communion of which it speaks. Let us not rest content with mere knowledge of truth, but press into that intimate fellowship wherein the King brings us into his chambers. There the believer finds what no earthly lover can bestow, the infinite, unchangeable and redemptive love of Jesus. Oh that we may ever be ravished with his love, till faith is turned to sight and the marriage of the Lamb is come.