Songs 5:16 His mouth is most sweet: yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. I. CHRIST THE BELOVED OF HIS PEOPLE. 1. They love Him for His own great and glorious perfection. In Him all beauty centres. In Him, whatever qualities excite admiration, or engage esteem, whatever excellence adorns, dignifies, or endears the character, unite without diminution or alloy. 2. They love Him for His suitableness to their necessities. Are they in a lost and perishing condition? Christ is a Saviour and a great one. Are they blind and ignorant? In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Are they tied and bound with the chain of their sins? Christ proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prisons to them that are bound. Are they weak and helpless? Christ will give strength to His people. He is a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in distress. In a word, Christ is a remedy exactly suited to every want. 3. They love Him for the special benefits which He hath conferred upon them. (1) They have experienced the freeness of His love. (2) They have experienced the efficacy of His pardoning mercy. (3) They have experienced the power of His sanctifying grace. (4) They have experienced the faithfulness of His Word. They have trusted in Him and have been holpen. They have called upon Him and have been delivered. II. CHRIST IS THE FRIEND OF HIS PEOPLE. 1. Christ is a Friend, who tenderly loves His people, and is cordially attached to their interests. 2. Christ is an all-powerful Friend. The kingdoms of nature, of providence, of grace, are under His control. 3. Christ is an unchangeable Friend. 4. Christ is a seasonable Friend. The friend who ministers to our support, when other friends forsake us, and when we stand most in need of his support, pre eminently shows himself to be a friend. Such a friend is Christ to His people. III. SOME MARKS, BY WHICH YOU MAY JUDGE WHETHER YOU LOVE CHRIST OR NOT. 1. If you love Christ, you love His cause. That His kingdom may come, is your prayer. That His kingdom will come, is your joy. 2. It you love Christ, you love His people. The faithful in Christ Jesus you will account the truly honourable on earth; the excellent, in whom is all your delight. 3. If you love Christ, you love His ordinances. 4. If you love Christ you love to do His will. (E. Cooper, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. |
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