Songs 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for you… When the bride invites the king to revisit the home of her childhood and the scenes of their early acquaintance and attachment, among other alluring representations she assures him that there will be found, laid up for his use by her thoughtful affection, all manner of precious fruits, new and old. A suitable emblem this of the gathered and garnered spiritual fruits which in this earthly life Christ's people are expected to prepare for him at his coming, and which it will be their delight to offer to him as the expression of their grateful love. Properly understood, the main purpose of the Christian life is the growing, gathering, and garnering of precious fruits for the approval and service of the Lord. I. WHAT THESE FRUITS ARE. 1. They are the fruits of spiritual life and experience. 2. They are the "fruits of the Spirit" - the virtues especially Christian, fruits of righteousness, those qualities of character which are the peculiar growth of grace. 3. They are fruits of service; not things enjoyed so much as things achieved. II. WHY ARE THEY LAID UP FOR CHRIST? Because: 1. They are the fruit of his own garden, the growth which testifies to the care and culture of the Divine Husbandman. 2. They are of a nature to yield a peculiar satisfaction and pleasure to him. 3. They are such as he will use for his own purposes, and for the display of his own glory and praise. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. |
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