Draw me, we will run after Thee.
Divine drawings
I. Man needs to be divinely drawn to God.
1. He is far away from God in heart, life, and purpose.
2. Has no inclination to return.
3. Is every moment wandering farther.
4. His understanding needs to be enlightened, his affections to be won, his will changed, and his whole life and being drawn God-ward.
II. God is ever seeking to draw men to himself.
1. By loving words.
2. By merciful deeds.
3. By gracious revelations of Himself and of His purposes, as in Christ His Son.
4. By the influences of His Holy Spirit.
III. Man’s proper attitude in relation to the divine drawings. Here is--
1. A sense of need.
2. Candid acknowledgment of it.
3. Earnest prayer--“Draw me.”
4. A spirit of obedience--“and we will run after Thee.”
5. Eager desire to come to God with all possible diligence--“we will run after Thee.” (Thomas Haynes.)
Divine drawings
I. A humble admission.
1. Of ourselves we cannot come to God. Need to be drawn (John 6:44). Disposition to procrastinate (Acts 24:25).
2. What holds us back?
(1) Natural bias of will.
(2) Strength of temptation.
(3) Spell of the world.
3. Yet, over against this reluctance to come, see God’s gracious promise (John 12:32; Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11:4).
II. An earnest request. Appeal to God to “draw” the soul.
1. Christ draws by silence--woman of Canaan.
2. By a look--Peter.
3. By a word--Mary of Magdalen at sepulchre.
4. By afflictions--the two sisters at Bethany.
III. An eager promise. If drawn, “we will run after Thee.” What does this promise imply?
1. We will lead a new life. Instead of after sin, now “alter Thee.”
2. We will lead an active life--“run.”
3. We will lead a useful life. Not “I,” but “we,” will run, etc.
Drawn myself, I will induce others to run with me in the way of Thy commandments. Conclusion: Two drawing powers are plying us. Satan is draw ing. Christ is drawing. How different the two drawings! Satan’s downward. Christ’s upward. Which of the two prevails in your case? (Preacher’s Assistant.)
The Church’s prayer for nearer communion and fellowship with Christ
1. Let us note, first, what it is the Church desires--what every pious soul must desire who would make a prayer to Christ at all: “Draw me, allure me, bring my soul under the power of a holy and Divine captivity. It is a prayer of the believer that he may feel all the oppositions of the unregenerate nature giving way; that, by the spell of some holy fascination resting upon him, he may feel his will drawn into absolute and entire concurrence with the Divine will. “Draw me,” says the Church, “with lovingkindness, and compassions, and mercies. Allure me to Thee by Thy Word--its promises drawing me after them, like the sweet strains of distant music; or by Thy Spirit, His holy and gentle compulsions leading me onwards, by an influence the methods of which I know not, save that thereby I am brought nearer to Christ, by having Christ brought nearer to me. Many are the things I have need to be drawn from. Draw me from the bondage of sin, which holds me; from the allurements of the world, which entangle me; from the infirmities of a fleshly nature, which still cleave to me. Draw me from my enemies, which are too many for me; from my temptations, which are too strong for me; from my fears of being forsaken, and overmastered, and finally falling away.”
2. “And we will run after Thee.” “Run;” being so drawn we could not be content with a slower pace, and the speed of the running is proportioned to the intensity of the drawing. “I made haste,” said the psalmist, “and delayed not to keep Thy commandments. Hence the expression may be taken to denote the alacrity with which, after an experimental acquaintance with Christ and the power of His grace, we shall persevere in our Christian course. None run so fast as those whom Christ draws. Thus the believer “follows on to know the Lord”; he becomes more vehemently and intensely earnest the nearer he gets to the heart of Christ. Led and lured as by some secret magnaetism--by “a sweet omnipotence, and an omnipotent sweetness,” as one of old describes it--he feels as if he could follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. “Draw me, and we will run after Thee.” The change of person should not be passed over, for it illustrates the germinating property of Divine influences. One convert makes many. He who runs well does much to quicken others’ speed. Grace is communicative, it cannot but speak. “Come, see a Man that told me all that ever I did.”
3. But mark, next, the grounds on which the Church presumes to hope for these near manifestations of Christ’s love to her. “The King hath brought me into His chambers “-that is, He has recognized the lawfulness of my espousals; He has initiated for me this covenant relation of protection, and peace, and mercy. It is on the authority of the King Himself that we and the whole Church “have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” We may take the words “bringing into the chambers” in two senses; that is, either as implying an admission to the ordinances of religion, or a more privileged insight into the truth of its doctrines. Either interpretation would fall in with the national custom which is supposed to be the source of the allusion--that of a bride being conducted to her lord’s home, both to inspect all his household treasures, and to have her future part and possession in them formally made over and acknowledged. Thus, assuming ordinances to be the chief point of the reference, how truly may we, as Christians, say, “The King hath brought me into His chambers.” Or adopting the other supposition, that by “chambers” here are meant the tuner recesses of God s truth--the deep things of the Sprat, hidden mysteries, kept secret from the foundation of the world, and which even “angels have desired to look into”--this privilege is ours also. Ours, the more we love Christ and the nearer we keep to Him. A knowledge of the things of the kingdom is reserved for the children of the kingdom. As the bridegroom would lead his affianced bride from chamber to chamber, to show his wealth, to display his treasures, to unlock his cabinet of choicest gifts, so does Christ, by His Spirit, delight to lead His people into all truth, to conduct them from knowledge to knowledge, and from promise to promise, and from glory to glory. (D. Moore, M. A.)
The believer’s prayer
I. The earnest petition. “Draw me.”
1. This is a petition which the very best of us need continually to offer. We have these three enemies ever plotting, ever drawing us--drawing us from salvation towards destruction--the world, the flesh, and the devil. We need, therefore, the magnet of God’s love to overcome these adverse “drawings,” and to guide us at last to a happy and holy heaven.
2. To whom is your petition addressed? The three Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity are employed in drawing you from earth to heaven.
(1) God the Father draws you (John 6:44).
(2) God the Son draws you (John 12:32).
(3) God the Holy Ghost draws you.
He takes of the things of Jesus, and shows them to you, making you willing converts in the day of Christ’s power.
3. But in the passage before us, the prayer, I conceive, is rather addressed to God the Son.
(1) We pray Christ to draw us from those things which will do us harm. From self, that we may not trust in our own strength.
(2) We pray Christ to draw us to those things which will do us good. We pray Him to draw us “to a throne of grace “--to His Word--to His people--to His house--and to His table. And oh, the blessed end of this “drawing”! Deborah the prophetess “drew” Sisera, with his chariots and his multitude, to Mount Tabor; but she “drew” them thither, only to give them into the hands of Barak for their destruction. But, the Lord Jesus Christ is drawing you, not to Mount Tabor, but to Mount Zion, and He is drawing you thither, not for your destruction, but for your salvation; that you may stand there with all the redeemed for the endless ages of eternity. O blessed drawing!
4. But the Lord Jesus uses means.
(1) He draws you by His Spirit; for without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing.
(2) He draws you by dark providences, and makes you say with David, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.”
(3) He draws you by the sunshine of prosperity (Jeremiah 31:3).
(4) He draws you by the remonstrances of conscience, as He drew the woman of Samaria at Jacob s well.
(5) He also draws you by the preaching of His Gospel, opening your hearts, as He opened the heart of Lydia, and bringing the Word home to your souls, as He did to the Thessalonians, “in power, and in demonstration of the Spirit, and in much assurance.”
II. The decided promise. “We will run after Thee.”
1. This is not the voice of nature, but of grace. Nature, unconverted nature, says, “I will run from Thee.” “I will hide myself, as did Adam, in the trees of the garden.” I will forsake the fountain of living waters, and I will hew me out other cisterns. I will say to the Lord, “Depart from me; for I desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” But grace, grace in your heart, says, “Lord, when wilt Thou come unto me? Lord, I will run after Thee. I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.” It is the large-hearted obedience of one who feels that all he has belongs to Christ; who confesses that he is not his own, but that he has been bought with a price.
2. You are not content to “run” alone. You wish your fellow-men to enjoy what you are looking for; and, therefore, you promise your Divine Lord, that if He will only draw you by His grace and free Spirit, you will bring others with you. “Draw me, and we will run after Thee.” (C. Clayton, M. A.)
Predestination
We have to investigate what is taught us herein of the Church and her Lord. He is to draw her; she is to hasten after His steps. This is the statement in its simplest form; but it will lead us across deep mysteries, and doctrines which have ministered food for much controversy.
I. The text brings us across the great mystery of God’s predestination. The cry of man to God is, “Draw me, and I will follow Thee.” In the New Testament we have our Blessed Lord declaring, “No man cometh unto Me, except the Father draw him.” It is asserted that God must call, before there can be any access of the creature to Him. St. Paul has accurately traced the order of Divine providence in this respect; “those whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” The act by which the Almighty draws, or calls, His people, is a consequent of His predestination. Now, wherever predestination is spoken of, it is a predestination which concerns not our final salvation or condemnation, but simply our call to the knowledge of Christ Jesus. “Whom He did foreknow,” says St. Paul, “He did predestinate--to what? why--“to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.” And again in the Epistle to the Ephesians we read, “God predestinated us unto the adoption of the children, by Jesus Christ.” These are the only two places in which the apostle speaks of predestination; and it is, you observe, a predestination to the knowledge of the Gospel, to incorporation into the Christian Church, to which he alludes. He to whom the future is as the present, fixed by His high decree that some kingdoms should immediately be instructed in the truth as it is in Jesus; that others should only after the lapse of years be enlightened; that others should not be summoned to enter the fold until the thunder-clouds of the last tempest should be seen gathering in the sky. The whole history of the propagation of the Gospel, in short, the relation of the fulfilment by man’s agency of the determinate counsel of God, which in the morning of creation, whilst the first dew was yet upon the hills, traced out across them the path of evangelists and teachers, and decreed who should be called and who passed by, while yet all the generations of human kind were in the loins of Adam. And this is the predestination of the Bible; and it has, you see, nothing whatever to do with the salvation of individuals. A predestination to eternal ruin would be hopelessly irreconcileable to the Divine attributes of justice and mercy; but there is nothing so hard in accepting the doctrine of a predestination to the knowledge of Christ and His Gospel here upon the earth. We would not have you then recoil from the doctrine of God’s predestination, as from something too hard for flesh and blood. It is the alone doctrine which will explain why one is taken and another left; one people adopted into the Church, and another passed by. I cannot tell what moves the Eternal King in His dispensation of the Word of Life; but I am prepared to believe that He has a reason for all He does, and believing this, I take the doctrine of His absolute predestination as a most marvellous proof of His infinite nature. Who but God could thus comprehend in His counsels thousands of years, and myriads of living things? Even now there are millions of our race to whom the name of Christ is an unknown thing. But not according to man’s eagerness, but His own ancient counsel, does the Lord reveal Himself to those that sit in darkness: their day and their hour was predestined long since. But this predestination touches not their free-will to live soberly, righteously, and godly; and therefore do I hear but a tribute to His greatness and omniscience in the cry that floats upward from the dim waters to Him who arranges the times and seasons for every islet that sleeps upon the wave, “Draw me, we will run after Thee.”
II. Let us now consider the words as the utterance of the bride after her union with christ. Let us examine in what way they may be used by us, who have already been grafted into the family of Christ. Now with respect to ourselves, the Divine acts of predestination, justification, and sanctification, are past and gone. We are of those who were predestined to be early adopted into God’s household. So far, then, He has drawn us to Him, and we have hastened after Him; we have believed in Christ, we have taken up the sign of the Cross to be our banner; we have, in a word, accepted the Gospel, and are members of the Church, the mystical bride of the Lamb. Is there, then, no further application of the language of the text? no further drawing by the Lord God? Indeed the entire life of man is a period during which there is perpetually being exerted upon the soul a gentle violence, alluring, tempting it to follow the footsteps of Christ. The life of every man is, we believe, arranged by God in such a manner as will best conduce to his salvation. The details of our existence are so planned as to lead us unto heaven. Do you ask why any of us fall short of the promised reward? Oh! is it not because, though God draws, we hasten not after Him? We thwart God’s purposes; we resist His impulses; we counteract His designs. If we would surrender ourselves into His hands unreservedly, He would bring us safe to the eternal city. And there is yet a further truth involved in the text. It implies, that the course of the servant of God is one of constant progress and active advance. Christ is ever, as it were, moving onward; He leads us from one height of moral excellence to another. There is no rest in store for us on this side the grave. We dare not look for ease; we dare not fancy that the time shall ever come on earth when our discipline for eternity shall be over, or the lessons of our schoolhouse be learnt. He that looketh back is not fit for the kingdom of God. Whatever ye are, ye may be better; whatever ye have done, ye may do more. (Bp. Woodford.)
The soul’s delight in God
When the fields are clothed with fruithfulness, and the flowers bloom in beauty, we know that the rains and the dews have descended, and the sun has sent forth his rays of light and heat; so, when in the soul of man the fruits of holiness abound, when aspirations of faith and prayer bind him to the throne of the Eternal, it is because there has been unveiled to that soul, as existing in the heart of God, a gentleness which makes us great; the gracious and omnipotent love, which sought us when we were lost, welcomes us when we return, and leads us into the King’s own banqueting-house, where, in His presence, we make merry and are glad. Of the salvation of the Church, and of every man in it, Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
I. The attractions of the Divine love by which we are brought nigh to God. “Draw me, and we will run after Thee.” It is the language of devout aspiration, the expression of the soul’s desire for closer, holier fellowship with its Saviour King; and, by the very fact that it takes the form of prayer, we are reminded of the inborn helplessness of the soul either to enter upon or to continue in the life whereunto we are called. The best of men are open to powerful temptations; the strongest are often weary and dispirited; and if any of us are to be kept safe unto the heavenly kingdom, we must indeed pray, “Draw me, draw me unto Thyself.” And if the prayer be sincerely offered, it will assuredly be answered. God will draw you as with the cords of a man and the bands of love. By the power of His Spirit, He will illuminate your mind, and whisper to your hearts the mysteries of His love. By sweet and gentle persuasives will He win for Himself your deepest trust. The image of Christ will be so imprinted on your memory, that no succeeding waves of worldly thought or sensuous impression shall be able to erase it. The joy of living unto Him shall be so true and keen, that all lower choice shall be as poison to your soul. Duty and pleasure, inclination and delight, sacrifice and reward, shall be transmuted into one; and, unseen by others, the Son of Man shall be ever at your side to counsel, to direct, to sustain you.
II. The exalted privileges to which that love introduces us. “The King hath brought me into His chambers,” beyond the outer courts and entrance halls of His palace, and the rooms in which His servants abide, into the inner and more secluded apartments reserved for His own use; where He receives no casual visitors, but those only who possess His full confidence, who are entrusted with the most responsible tasks of his government, and are honoured with marks of His special regard. We are the Lord’s free men; not servants merely, but friends, who have the continued right of access to His presence, receive direct communications of His will, and are entrusted with tasks of highest moment. We arc brought into the King’s chambers, and can there tell out to Him the sorrows of our heart, and seek His help in every form of need. The plea of the penitent and aspiring suppliant, the adoration of the reverent worshipper, and the song of the victor arc alike welcome to His ear. It is the King’s chamber into which we have been introduced, and there we have perfect freedom. (James Stuart.)
The King hath brought me into His chambers.
The Kingship of Christ
Clear as a knell of pure silver, rang out the words of the strange man of Pethor, amid the goodly tents and tabernacles of Israel (Numbers 24:17). With the most captivating frenzy, Israel’s greatest bard gave grand, dramatic exhibitions of the coming Saviour--as the enthroned King (Psalms 2:1-12.); as the conquering King (Psalms 45:1-17.); as the righteous King (Psalms 72:1-20.); as the Priest King, made after the order of Melchizedek (Psalms 111:1-10.). The weeping Jeremiah wiped away his tears, as visions of a new hope broke upon him (Jeremiah 23:5-6). Gathering up the choice music of the centuries, Zechariah bursts forth into the loftiest of refrains (Zechariah 9:9). To the Virgin, the angel came ringing joy-bells, because of the Kingship of her expected Child (Luke 1:33). The Magians--those star-guided strangers--thought only of the sovereignty of the world’s Redeemer (Matthew 2:2). As soon as the guileless eyes of Nathaniel rested upon Jesus Christ, he exclaimed: “Thou art the King of Israel” (John 1:49). Coronation Day being passed and the newly crowned potentate having entered into glory, how the subsequent disclosures that Jesus made of Himself, in the visions of Parinos, were radiant with His own royal light: We read that He is “the Prince of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5); “the King of saints” (Revelation 15:3); “the King of kings (Revelation 17:14)!
I. The elements of the Divine Kingship.
1. Christ’s Personality. A king is a man of high birth--noble ancestry--pure, good blood. Royalty is the blossom on the Tree of Humanity--the ripened fruit of the race. The Kingship of Christ calls attention, first of all, to His lofty personality--that is, to the exclusiveness of His ancestral line: the nobility of His immediate parentage, and the dignity and grandeur of His own inborn substance.
2. Christ’s Authority over His people. This is the second idea involved in His Kingship. “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour!” O, this is the new and startling lesson the Gospel brings to every man to learn: “Christ a Prince first--then a Saviour!” Submission of will, before redemption from sin! Make a whole-hearted self-surrender to Jesus, as your Lord and Master. Then will your sins be for given and you will be a child of God. But what is meant by a surrender of self to Jesus Christ? I reply, we must make Him the King of Life; the King of Truth; and the King of Money.
3. Christ’s protection of His people. This is the third element involved in His Kingship. When things seem dark for the Church, for the ultimate success of the Gospel and the triumph of Christianity, bear in mind that this glorious work is in the hands of an infinite Potentate. Glorious King! He will conquer all our enemies. He will protect His people.
II. Behold, in view of the facts stated, the high spiritual teaching of my text. Just read the second verse of this wonderful Song of Redeeming Love. There we find the awakened soul praying for reconciliation. In the third verse we find a burst of praise to the Saviour. Then comes the text, with its prayer of humility and submission: “Draw me; we will run after Thee.” We are only saved when we “run” after Jesus Christ. It is His own sovereign command; “Follow thou Me!” In the next clause, behold this saved soul’s protection--absolute safety, as to every foe: “The King hath brought me into His chambers,” i.e. into the inner, private compartment of the palace, from which the world is excluded and where no enemy can enter. This is the sacred place of the Most High, where all dwellers abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1). This is the pavilion, where, in the time of trouble, Jesus Christ hides His people--the secret of His tabernacle, giving safety to all (Psalms 27:5); “The strong tower into which the righteous run and are safe’ (Proverbs 18:10). But this part of my text is rich beyond all we have yet seen. Truly we see Protection standing before us in all the calm dignity and infinite power of Divine sovereignty. But you know that the “chambers” of an Eastern monarch were those secluded and gorgeously furnished apartments of his palace, into which no male friend ever entered; nor yet a concubine--only the King’s most cherished wife. In these “chambers,” therefore, behold the dwelling-place of Love. That is, Christ is King of Love! Who would not exclaim: We will be glad and rejoice in Thee, seeing that Christ’s work is love- first, last and evermore! Behold this truth and go forth, from this hour, to make your religion a grand chorus-song--a sweet harp of a thousand chords--an immortal flower, ever beautiful, ever fragrant--a life spent in willing, joyful service!
III. The Kingship of Christ must be cherished in sacred memory. “We will remember Thy love more than wine; the upright love Thee.” “Wine,” here, means the world’s most desirable things: gold; learning; pleasure; power; fame; ease; human affection. But what are all these, as compared with Him who is the King of all wills, all hearts, all knowledge, all possessions, of righteousness, and of love--the Christ of God who has saved us with His own precious blood! (A. H. Moment, D. D.)
We will be glad and rejoice in Thee.--
Rejoicing and remembering
It is a very blessed habit of saints who have grown in grace to enter into actual conversation with the, Well-beloved.. Our text is not so much speaking of Him as speaking to Him: “We will be glad and rejoice in Thee, we will remember Thy love more than wine.”
I. We have here a double resolve: “We will be glad and rejoice in Thee, we will remember Thy love more than wine.”--
1. It is, first, a necessary resolve, for it is not according to human nature to rejoice in Christ, it is not according to the tendency of our poor fallen state to remember His love. There must be an act of the will with regard to this resolve; let us will it now.
2. It is also a right and proper resolve. Should we not be glad and rejoice in Christ? Why should the children of the bride-chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them? With such a Husband as we have in Christ should not the spouse rejoice in Him?
3. Do you not think also that this resolution, if we carry it out, will be very helpful to ourselves? There is no way of getting right out of the Stygian bog of the Slough of Despond like rejoicing in the Lord.
4. Certainly, it will also be for the good of others. If you Can get right out of your sorrow, and can actually rejoice in the Lord, and if you Can so remember Him as to be glad and rejoice in Him, you will allure many to the fair ways of Christ, which else will be evil spoken of if you go mourning all your days.
5. We cannot carry out that resolve without the help of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, let us breathe it unto the Lord in prayer; and, as we tell Him what we mean to de, let us each one add, “Draw me, O Lord; then I will run after Thee. Help me to come to Thee; manifest Thyself to me, and then I will be glad and rejoice in Thee.”
II. The resolve of the text is a suitable resolve for this occasion: “We will be glad and rejoice in Thee, we will remember Thy love more than wine.”
1. We are most of us coming to the communion table, to eat of the bread and to drink of the cup in remembrance of our Master’s dying love. Surely, now is the hour, if ever in our lives, to be glad and rejoice in Him, and to remember Him, for the object of this supper is to commemorate His dying love. It is idle, and worse than idle, to come to Christ’s table if you do not remember Him; what good can it do you?
2. Recollect, next, that in coming to this communion table, we also commemorate the results of Christ’s death. One result of our Lord’s death is that He gives food to His people; His body broken has become bread for our souls, yea, it is meat indeed. His blood, which was shed for many for the remission of sins, has become drink indeed. So, dear friends, if we come to this table in a right spirit, we must rejoice in our Lord, and we must remember His love.
3. I think also that there is this further reason why we should rejoice in our Lord, and remember His love, because at this table the commemoration is made by our Lord to be a feast. What! will ye come to the King’s table with sorrowful countenances? Will ye come sadly to see what He has brought you?
4. Let us also recollect that, when we come to the table of our Lord, we commemorate a very happy union.
5. It does not become us to gather at this communion table with a heavy heart when we recollect that it is not only a commemoration, but an anticipation. We are to do this “till He come.” Let us leap up at the remembrance of this gladsome hope.
III. I must dwell for a brief space upon what I meant to make my third point concerning this double resolve,--let us carry it out. “We will remember Thy love. Dear Saviour, what we have to remember is Thy love,--Thy love in old eternity, or ever the earth was, Thy prescient love. We remember the love of Thine espousals when Thou didst espouse Thy people unto Thyself, and didst resolve that, whatever might be the lot of Thine elect, Thou wouldst share it with them. “We will remember Thy love,”--that love which, having once begun, has never wavered, never diminished, never stopped. We remember the love which Jesus bore in His heart right up into the glory at the right hand of the Father; that love which is still as great as when He hung on Calvary to redeem us unto Himself. Next, let each one of us say to Christ, “I will remember Thy love to me.” Still, even that is not all. The text does not merely speak about Christ’s love, and Christ’s love to me, but it talks about Christ Himself. “We will be glad and rejoice in Thee,”--not only in His love, but in Himself, Do try, dear friends, to let your thoughts dwell upon Christ, His complex person, God and man, and all the wonders which lie wrapped up in Immanuel, God with us. Thy work, Lord, is fair; but the hand that wrought the work is fairer still. Come, then, beloved, and let us be glad and rejoice in Him, and let us remember His love more than wine. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
We will remember Thy love more than wine.--
A refreshing canticle
The Hebrew word for “love” here is in the plural: “We will remember Thy loves.” Think not, however, that the love of Jesus is divided, but know that it hath different channels of manifestation. All the affections that Christ hath, He bestows upon His Church; and these are so varied that they may well be called “loves” rather than “love.” We will remember, O Jesus, that love of Thine which was displayed in the council chamber of eternity, when Thou didst, on our behalf, interpose as the Daysman and Mediator; when Thou didst strike hands with Thy Father, and become our Surety, and take us as Thy betrothed! We will remember that love which moved Thee to undertake a work so burdensome to accomplish, an enterprise which none but Thyself ever could have achieved. We will remember the love which suggested the sacrifice of Thyself; the love which, until the fulness of time, mused over that sacrifice, and longed for the hour of which, in the volume of the Book it was written of Thee, “Lo, I come.” We will remember Thy love, O Jesus, as it was manifested to us in Thy holy life, from the manger of Bethlehem to the garden of Gethsemane! We will track Thee from the cradle to the grave, for every word and every deed of Thine was love. And especially, O Jesus, will we remember Thy love to us upon the cross! Nor is this all the love we have to remember. Though we ought to recollect what we have heard, and what we have been taught, I think the spouse means more than this. “We will remember Thy loves,--not only what we have been told, but what we have felt. Let each one of you speak for yourselves; or, rather, do you think of this for yourselves, and let me speak of it for you.
I. Here, then, we have a resolution positively expressed: “We will remember Thy love.” Why does the spouse speak so positively? Because she is inspired; she is not like Simon Peter when he said, “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.” She is speaking the truth for she will not forget the love of her Lord. Why is that? For one very good reason, because she cannot. The virtue was not in her own constancy, but in the tenacity of his affection, wherefore she could not help remembering it. What is there, in the love of Christ, that will compel us to remember it? The things that we recollect best are of certain kinds. Some that we remember best have been sublime things. When we have stood, for the first time, where we could see a lofty mountain, whose snowy summit pierced the thick ebon clouds, we have said, “We shall never forget this sight.” The Sublimity of what we have seen often causes us to remember it. So is it with the love of Christ. How it towers to heaven! And mark how brightness succeeds brightness, how flash follows after flash of love unspeakable and full of glory! There is no pause, no interval of darkness or blackness, no chasm of forgetfulness. Its sublimity compels us to remember its manifestation. Again, we are pretty sure to recollect unusual things. Many people do not notice the stars much, but who forgets the comet? So it is with the love of Christ. It is such an extraordinary thing, such a marvellous thing, that the like was never known. That constellation of the Cross is the most marvellous that is to be seen in the spiritual sky; the eye, once spellbound by its charms, must retain its undying admiration, because it is the greatest wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles which the universe ever saw. Sometimes, too, things which are not important in themselves are fixed on the memory because of certain circumstances which happen in association with them. If something particular in politics should happen on our birthday, or our wedding day, or on some other notable occasion, we should say, “Oh, yes! I recollect that; it happened the day I was married, or the day So-and-So was buried.” Now, we can never forget the love of Christ, because the circumstances were so peculiar when, for the first time, we knew anything at all about it. We were plunged in sin and ruin; we were adrift on the great sea of sin, we had no hope, we were ready to sink, and no shore was near; but Jesus came and saved us. I think I might give you twenty reasons why it would be impossible for the children of God to forget the love of Christ to them; but above and beyond every other reason is this one, Christ will not let His people forget His love. If, at any time, He finds them forgetful, He will come to them, and refresh their memories. If all the love they have ever enjoyed should be forgotten by them, He will give them some fresh manifestations of love.
II. Now let us look at the comparative resolution: “We will remember Thy love more than wine.” Why is “wine” mentioned here? I take it to be used here as a figure. The fruit of the vine represents the chiefest of earthly luxuries. “I will remember Thy love more than the choicest or most exhilarating comforts which this world can give me.” The fact is, the impression which the love of Christ makes on the true believer is far greater and deeper than the impression which is made by anything earthly. Mere mortal joys write their record on the sand, and their memory is soon effaced; but Christ’s love is like an inscription cut deeply into marble, the remembrance of it is deeply engraven in our hearts. Earthly comforts, too, like wine, leave but a mingled impression. In the cup of joy there is a dash of sorrow. There is nothing we have here below which is not somewhat tainted with grief. But in Christ’s love there is nothing for you ever to regret; when you have enjoyed it to the full, you cannot say that there has been any bitterness in it. True, there is the remembrance of your sin, but that is so sweetly covered by your Lord’s forgiveness and graciousness, that His love is indeed better than wine. It has had all the good effects of wine, and none of its ill results. Equally true is it that the remembrance of earth’s comforts, of which wine is the type, must be but transient. If the sinner could live many days, and have much wealth, would he remember it when he entered the unseen world? Ah I he might remember it, but it would be with awful sighs and sobs. But we can say, of the love of Christ, that it is better than wine, for we shall rejoice to remember it in eternity.
III. The practical effects of remembering Christ’s love.
1. If we remember the love of Christ to us, the first practical effect will be that we shall love Him.
2. Another practical effect of remembering Christ’s love will be, love to the brethren. Christ has many very unseemly children; yet if we can but see that they are Christ s, if they have only a little likeness to Him, we love them directly for His sake, and are willing to do what we can for them out of love to Him.
3. The next effect will be, holy practice. When we remember the love of Christ to us, we shall hall sin.
4. Another effect of remembering the love of Christ will be, repose of heart in time of trouble. A constant remembrance of Christ’s love to us will make us always cheerful, dutiful, holy. Dear Lord, grant us this boon; for if Thou wilt enable us to remember Thy love more than wine, Thou wilt give us all good things in one. Let Thy good Spirit but keep us up to this good resolution, and we shall be both holy and happy, honouring Thee and rejoicing in Thee.
IV. A few practical suggestions as to preserving a deeper and more sincere remembrance of Christ’s love than you have hitherto done.
1. One of the first things I would recommend to you is, frequent meditation. See if you cannot more often get a quarter of an hour all alone, that you may sit down, and turn over and over again the love of Christ to you. Our old proverb says, “Prayer and provender hinder no man’s journey”; and I believe that prayer and meditation hinder no man’s work. Do try to get a little time to think about your soul.
2. Take care that you are not content with what you knew of Christ’s love yesterday. You want to know a little more about it to-day, and you ought to know still more about it to-morrow. If you learn a little more about Christ every day, you will not be likely to forget what you already know of Him.
3. Then, again, as another way of keeping in your heart what you do know,--take care, when you have a sense of Christ’s love, that you let it go down deeply. If there were a nail so placed that it would slacken its hold a little every day for six days, if I had the opportunity of driving it in the first day, I would try to drive it in right up to the head, and to clinch it. So, if you have not much time for fellowship and communion with Christ, if you have only a short season for meditation, try to drive the nail well home. Do not be content with merely thinking about Christ, seek to see Him before your eyes as manifestly crucified. Realize your fellowship with Him as He rises from the tomb, for this will help very much to keep you right.
4. When any of you meet together, it is always a good thing to make Christ the theme of your conversation. Whenever you have the opportunity, tell out the marvellous story of His great love to you; so will your own memory be refreshed, and others, listening to your testimony, will also get a large, and, it may be, an everlasting blessing. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Remembrance of the love of Christ
I. Inquire into the nature of the Saviour’s special love.
1. This love is everlasting; that is to say, it did not commence in time, but existed from eternity; and it will not terminate while eternity endures: like its Divine source, it has neither “beginning of days nor end of years.”
2. The love of Christ is most generous; since it was undeserved, unsolicited, and disinterested.
3. This is an efficient and powerful love. If conscience condemn us, His peace speaking blood can assure us, and enable us to shout with the apostle, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” If our corruptions rage and struggle, His Spirit can subdue them, and render us more than conquerors over them. If the curses of the broken covenant hang over us, and hell gape to receive us, yet sheltered in His wounds, no curse can smite us, no flames kindle around us. If we be called to pass through the gloomy vale of death, this Sun of Righteousness can enlighten it, and cause us even there to “lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh.” If we go into a strange and unknown world, He can there fill our souls with joys far above all our thoughts or desires. Then, and not till then, shall we be able to see the power of that love, which strained and vanquished our obstinate hearts.
4. To crown all these properties, this love was painful and suffering.
II. It is the duty of believers to remember the love of Christ.
1. All those circumstances which tend to produce permanent and firm impressions upon the memory, are to be found in this love.
(1) We carefully observe and faithfully remember those things that are wonderful and beyond the ordinary course of nature. “Common events pass through the mind as common persons through the streets, without attracting particular notice;” whilst those events that are rare and astonishing, fasten upon the mind, and leave a durable impression. Now where can a greater complication of wonders be discerned, than in the love of your Redeemer?
(2) We easily retain and frequently meditate on all those things which excite our love. Do we love any object? Memory constantly presents it to us; in our more retired moments, and even amidst the bustle of the world, the object of our attachment is the theme of our meditation. Now, what is more calculated to excite our love than the love of Christ?
(3) We easily remember those things that are beneficial to us, and necessary for us. And what is there so beneficial, so necessary, as the love of Christ?
2. We are bound to remember the love of Christ, because the remembrance and sense of this love is the fountain whence all holy actions and good desires proceed. It is this love which animates the Christian to obedience; it is this love which, in the strong language of the apostle, “constraineth him” to labour for his Master.
III. Our remembrance must be accompanied with gratitude in the heart. This duty is not painful; this duty is the source of the highest joy; dost thou fly from pleasure, my soul! Then let thy transports and thy rapture testify that thou feelest the value of a Saviour’s love.
1. If this remembrance be thus accompanied by gratitude in the heart, it will manifest itself by the praises of the lips; it will shine in our discourse.
2. To these emotions of the heart, to these words of the mouth, must be added the actions of the life, if we would manifest a true remembrance of the love of the Saviour. (H. Kollock, D. D.)
The memory of Christ’s love
This is a night for remembering Christ’s love. The communion table spread before us, the sacred feast to which we are about to come, is meant to recall to our minds our Saviour’s words, “This do in remembrance of Me. .. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
I. First, I would remind you of the preparations for this holy memory. Here they are.
1. The first word is, “Draw me. Lord, I would fain come at Thee; but, like Mephibosheth: I am lame in both my feet. I would fain fly to Thee; but my wings are broken; if, indeed, I ever had any. I cannot come to Thee. I lie inert, and dead, and powerless.” So the first preparation is, “Draw me.” It is a sweet, gracious, efficacious exercise of Divine power that I need and entreat. .. I pray this for myself, and I trust that you will pray with me, Come, Sacred Spirit, and draw us nearer to Christ; enliven our hopes; incline our hearts; arouse our desires and then help us to yield our whole being to Thy gracious influences!”
2. Notice, next, that this verse says, “Draw me, we will run after Thee.” I like the change in the pronouns, as though I should pray to-night, “Lord, draw me, I am the most weighted, the heaviest of all Thy children in this congregation; but draw me, we will run after Thee if Thou dost draw the most burdened one towards Thyself, all the rest will come to Thee at a rapid rate.” Oh, that we might every one attain the running pace to-night! Oh, that we might speed along towards our Lord with that strong, impetuous desire which will not let us rest till we are close to Him: “Draw me, we will run after Thee.”
3. Now, in the further preparation, if you read the verse through, you Will find that an answer comes to the prayer directly it is uttered: “The King hath brought me into His chambers.” I know, and some of you know, unhappily, what it is to feel very cold and lifeless; but I also know, and some of you know, what it is to become full of life, full of love, full of joy, full of heavenly rapture, in a Single moment.
4. There is only one more preparation for remembering Christ, and that is to feel gladness and joy in Him: “ We will be glad and rejoice in Thee.” Come, take those ashes from thy head, thou that art sighing by reason of affliction! Come unbind that sackcloth, and throw it aside, thou that hast lost fellowship with God, and art consequently in the dark! Christ is yours if you believe in Him. He has given Himself to you, and He loves you. Rejoice in that blessed fact.
II. I Would like to speak about the Divine subject of this Holy memory: “‘We will remember Thy love.
1. First, we will remember the fact of Christ’s love What it is for God to love, God only knows. We faintly guess, by the love that burns in our bosom towards the objects of our affection, what the love of God must be. The love of God must be a mighty passion. I use the word because I know no better; I am conscious that it is not the right one, for human language is too feeble to describe Divine love.
2. But we will remember, also, the character of Christ’s love. What a love it was! He loved us before the foundation of the world. With the telescope of His prescience, He foresaw our existence, and He loved us when we had no being. It was unmerited love, which had no reason in us for it to light upon. He loved us because He would love us. It was the sovereignty of His love that made Him love those whom He chose to love. He loved them freely, without anything in them, or that would ever be done by them, to deserve His love. But He loved fully as well as freely; He loved intensely, divinely, immeasurably.
3. We will also remember the deeds of Christ’s love.
4. I would like you, to-night, to remember the proofs of Christ’s love. You were far off, but He sought you, and brought you back. You were deaf, but He called you, and opened your ear to His loving call.
III. The Divine product of this holy memory: “The upright love Thee.”
1. So it seems, then, that if we remember Christ, we shall have a respect for His people. His people are the upright; and she, who speaks in the, sacred Canticle, here looks round upon them, and says, “The upright love Thee.” “That commends Thee to me; for if they who are of a chaste spirit love Thee, much more should I.”
2. In remembering Christ’s love as the upright do, we shall grow upright. I believe that God blesses trouble to our sanctification, and that He can bless joy to the same end; but I am sure of this, that the greatest instrument of sanctification is the love of Jesus. If you will remember Christ’s love, you will be lifted up from your crookedness, and made straight, and put among the upright, who love the Lord. (C. H. Spurgeon)
Love of Jesus
The spouse has been singing the praise of her Beloved. The Church has been chanting to the honour of the Church’s Head. There is nothing gives the spouse so much delight as to be able to set forth the glory of her Husband and her King. She cannot find words sweet enough to express her admiration of Him. She loves Him better than all else, and her love is better than a banquet of wine. She is happy in the song, but just while she is at her happiest, there seems to float across her sky clouds, dark and heavy clouds. She remembers, for a moment at all events, that all do not love Him as she does. “Oh,” she seems to say, “I love Thee, yet all do not share in my affection.” But the cloud does not tarry long; it is gone when she remembers that the upright love Him, that all whose love is worth having love Him, so she cheers her heart again with this glad thought that there are some who hold Him at His true worth, some who count Him fairest of the fair, and dearest of the dear. Then is it that she speaks, not always in the first person, but sometimes in the third, for she loves to get them to join the strain and all rejoice to sing the self-same song. All ye who love Jesus, have you not all felt the same? I learn from this text, first, that Jesus well deserves His people’s highest love. Take the revised version of the text, “Rightly do they love Thee.” He well deserves His people’s love, first, because of His great affection for His people. “We love Him because He first loved us.” This is the charm of Christ’s love, that it is ever the same, that it never changes, that it stands the strain of our unfaithfulness and lack of love, and He has proved it over and over again. Did He not leave His glorious throne to tabernacle with men? Did not He live? Did not He die? Did not He rise again, all for your sake and for mine? Lord Jesus, rightly do we love Thee I Lord, we love Thee, because Thou art so lovely and so lovable. “Thy very name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love Thee.” The purer we are the more we shall love all that is pure. I love to think of this, that the Lord Jesus delights to have His people happy in His love, to see them trusting Him and familiar with Him. Who can chide us for loving our dearest friends? Lastly, there is that other version in the margin of the Authorized Version which tells us that they love Thee uprightly. I understand from this that those who love Jesus must love Him in the best possible style and greatest possible degree, love with utmost love. You love Christ, you are conscious of that; but that love of yours must count best. You must love uprightly. Now, I want you to search your hearts to see if you love Him as He deserves. Do you long for fresh tokens of His affection? Your love is not of the right sort unless you are constantly pressing forward to closer proximity to the Master. Here is another test. Have you great joy in His sacred Person? We will be glad and rejoice in Thee. I do believe that true love to Jesus means much joy to every one of us. My heart does leap at the sound of His name. There is something wrong in the heart if it does not thus respond to His affection. I would that you were happy Christians. The clouds that darken the sky are gilded with this love. I pray you revel in His love. It is better than wine. Be as those who feast. (T. Spurgeon.)