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THE PREACHERS' ANALYST.

VOL. IV.

→LEADING+SERMON.*←

THE CHURCH AND THE SPIRIT

BY THE EDITOR.

NOVEMBER

Cant. iv., 16.-Awake O north wind, and come thou south. Blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.

HE Song of Solomon is a marvellous and

mysterious portion of the scriptures. There are various opinions both respecting the writer and the scng. Some maintain that it is a mere love song composed by Solomon for the pleasure of one of his wives, and that it has no further meaning. Others affirm that it is a divinely inspired poem in which Solomon and his loves are merely used as illustrations. There are many who would discard it altogether from the Bible. But to do so would be an irreparable loss to the spiritual-minded Christian. The more spiritual minded a man becomes the more does every line of Solomon's Song teem for him with intense meaning and blissfull splendour. A worldly man cannot understand it. Christian every verse contains a world of beauty and a mine of wealth.

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Our own idea is that, so far as Solomon himself was concerned, he never dreamt of writing a spiritual poem when he penned. this song. He intended it as a poem describing his own domestic pleasures and the intense delight of true mutual love. A worldly man like he was could never have had the spiritual feelings which we have described. Besides, no mortal man, none except a prophet or an angel could realize its inner meaning until after Christ had been born, and the mysteries of the gospel were revealed. But, all the while, Solomon was writing about himself as if he thought his work was overruled by the great Spirit of Truth to manifest and introduce the most blessed and glorious truths of the gospel- truths which were not to have their full signification revealed till long ages after the writer was dead. Thus he was an un

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concious instrument in God's hands, composing for the Church a sweet and exquisite formula of Christian experience.

Now there are two great characters chiefly introduced in this song-Solomon and his Bride. Solomon is the type of Christ. The Bride is the Church. There is here described the close union and the intense love which exist between Christ and His Church.

Let us now turn to our text. The Bride or the Church is likened to a garden. I will ask you, in your considerations on the subject, to dwell with me

I. ON THIS BEAUTIFUL IMAGE.

'A garden enclosed is my sister—my

spouse.

The Church of Christ is like a garden

1. Because it is an enclosure. The bride is the peculiar property of her husband, a garden is a portion of ground enclosed for the owner's own enjoyment or profit. It is not a common. It is not even a field. There is a certain amount of publicity in a meadow or a field, but a garden is shut off and shut up from the outside world.

So it is with the Church of God. It is His. strict and separate and enclosed from all the world beside. The Church and the world are two different and necessarily antagonistic organizations. There is a fence and a division between them. We often forget this truth in our daily lives; and if we remember it we do not act upon our convictions.

There is not the distinction and difference between professed Christians and the world that there ought to be. Those who love Christ keep too near those who love the Devil. They follow their amusements, imitate their ways, and mix as freely as possible with their sins. They make no line of difference. The adverse soldiers are one moment arm-in-arm in friendly intercourse, but obliged professedly to enter into combat the next. Christians ought to remember that there is a line over which they cannot safely go. Far we are from advocating the seclusion which some would urge, but the Church is an enclosed garden and if its members are

caught climbing over the walls they may be mistaken for thieves and robbers.

2. The Church is like a garden because it is a plantation. In a garden nothing grows of tself; everything is planted, tended with care, and cultivated. It is only the ill weeds that are indigenous. The fruit and the flowers are all sown by the owner; unless they have constant attention they will degenerate or die. They need shelter, protection and labour. So each individual member of the Church of Christ is planted, planted by the Father, nourished by the Son. I am the true Vine, ye are the branches,' tended by the Holy Spirit. They are under the constant care and consideration of the Divine vinedresser. Your name, if you are a member of His Church, is written on the heart of your heavenly Father. Not a hair of your head but is known by Him; nothing can happen to you without His permission. More than that, He is doing all He can do to bring you to a state of perfection. He uses the pruning knife with all its attendant severity, He dungs the roots of every plant according to its several needs, he trains the branches and protects the young and tender shoots.

3. The Church is like a garden because of the variety it contains. Some trees are for beauty and ornament; others are for use alone. Some have everything which makes them agreeable to the eye; others are only valued for the fruits they produce. A well-kept garden delights us from its very variety, a variety which produces unity. So there is nothing more surprising and at the same time more delightful than the thought which comes to us when we think of the kingdom of heaven as containing every variety of people. It will not consist of persons from one particular class. The Church is like a net cast into the sea which encloses all sorts of fish. Individuals from every nation will be gathered together to swell the mighty multitude who shall stand before the throne. Black and white, learned and ignorant, clever and doltish. The Indian from the burning desert, the Laplander from the frozen north. The noblest philosopher and the most unlearned peasant-old and young. The rich and poor meet together, says the divine writer, the Lord is the maker of them all! All sects, all classes, all social distinction will be done away in another world. Persons of every nation, kindred and tongue will be among the redeemed. It is this very variety, united as one, which forms one of the sweetest thoughts connected with heaven,

We have now pointed out the resemblance between the Church and a garden. The second thought suggested in our text is,

I. THE PRAYER WHICH IS OFFERED. A PRAYER FOR THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

The first thing needed in the cultivation of the earth is favourable weather. One man' may plant, another may water, but it is God that gives the increase. Without the warm breath of heaven all our labour will be in vain. Where would be our flowers and fruits if the sun were to cease to shine, the rain to cease to fall, or the wind neglect to blow? We have to do our part and leave the rest to God, in trust that He will not neglect our wants. We can only pray that He will cause His breath to brood over the world and make it to bring forth food and beauty.

So it is with the Church of Christ. Paul may plant and Appollos may water, but God alone giveth the increase. We may toil, we may work, but we cannot make the spiritual seed grow into eternal life unless Divine grace fructifies it.

What a beautiful prayer it is in our text. 'Awake, O north wind, and come from the south. Blow upon my garden that the spices may flow out.' The Holy Spirit is likened to the wind. The wind bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.' How do we need as a Church to cry,

Awake, oh, thou north wind, and blow from the south. The Spirit seems to sleep. Our hearts are dead and cold and lifeless. We do not grow in grace, we do not feel the depth and reality of the gospel, we are like the flowers when the chill cold of winter has numbed their vitality and stayed their growth. Blow from heaven, thou great Spirit of truth, and warm our deadened souls. Kindle within us the light of life, the vigour of heavenly growth!

And now notice, there are two winds spoken of here, the north and the south. The south wind is warm and gentle, the north is cold and searching. The prayer of our text is not for the warm south wind alone, it is for the north as well. Ah, brethren, if our gardens had nothing but a gentle wind from the south they would produce but little fruit and few flowers. They need the bracing influence of the rough and chilly wind from the north to check a too luxuriant growth, and to restrain as well as encourage. So if our souls had nothing but the south winds of prosperity

and peace, there might indeed be plenty of leaves but there would be little fruit. They need to be braced by adversity, to feel the chill blast now and then, as well as the soft breath of spring. They require the bitterness of the storm as well as the peace of the calm. So the prayer of our text seeks first for the north wind to blow, then for the south. We must not pray for nothing but prosperity; that cannot be our lot below. Let us rather pray Almighty God that He will send us what is best for us. Be it the north wind or be it the south; never mind what it is so long as it comes from Him! The curse is not to have the storm, but the curse is to be denied the presence of God. Better a thousandfold to pass through life buffeted by all the storms we can meet, if those storms are only sent to bring us to God, than to have every enjoyment earth can give without the breath of heaven.

But it will not be all storm, Awake, Oh, thou north wind and blow from the south.' The Spirit will search and try our souls; it will also bring us the refreshment and support we need. It will encourage our growth and sustain our life.

And now let us look at
III.

THE ULTIMATE AIM AND END OF THE PRAYER.

"That the spices thereof may flow out.' Do you not see the beauty of this. Why, the great end of a garden is its fruitfulness.

It would be useless unless it gave some return for the trouble expended on it. And so the prayer is that the north wind may awake and the south wind blow to render that garden fruitful.

It is just so with the Church of God. God expects and requires that His people should bring forth fruit. The tree that brought forth no fruit was to be cut down so that it might not cumber the ground. The New Testament is full of passages teaching us that the very first and last step of Christianity is to bring forth fruit. We learn that all the dispensations of Providence, all the mysterious workings of the Holy Spirit are to produce this end. The bracing, vigour-inspiring influence of the north wind, and the gentle, refreshing breeze from the south are to awake and blow for one and the self-same purpose.

And is not the idea in our text a very sweet one ?

Awake, Oh, north wind and come from the south. Blow upon my garden that the spices may flow out.' The spices may flow. The fruits of a Christian life are sweet as the

spices which perfume the eastern gardens. They are as sweet incense rising up to the nostrils of the Most High above. Think of this. Your deeds, your actions of love, your gentleness, meekness, patience, forbearance, brother ly kindness, charity (which are the fruits of the Spirit) are as sweet as balmy spices of yore. They will not be accepted to procure your salvation. Christ has procured that for you, but they will be noted and rewarded by God. They are not the foundation, they are the results, the end, the superstructure. Christ is the foundation. As the early reformers tell us of good works. They are the result of faith in Christ, and our text reminds us they are the fruits. So I warn you not to begin at the wrong end. Christ first, then the results the root first, then the branches, then the fruit. Christ is the root, ye are the branches, your works are the fruit.

And then, lastly, just notice for a moment the great object of the whole. Awake, Oh, north wind and blow from the south. Blow upon my garden that the spices may flow forth. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.' The wind is to blow, the garden to blossom, to bring forth fruit for the enjoyment of the owner thereof! The Church of God is the bride of the Lamb. All her attainments, all her beauty, all her comeliness are for his delight! It is not for yourself, you are to be trained and disciplined and prepared. It is not for your own enjoy. ment alone, it is not merely for the good and benefit of your fellow creatures, but it is for the glory of God, for his pleasure and delight. Do you not recollect that beautiful parable of Our Lord's, wherein He brings us in imagination to the Judgment Day, and represents to us a number of persons who have done good deeds during their lives and others who have omitted doing so. In rewarding one and in punishing the others, what does He say? When I was sick and in prison thou didst visit ME. When I was hungry thou gavest not ME to eat.' The people were astonished and said, Lord, when saw we THEE sick or in prison, or hungry or thirsty and ministered to thee?' Then the Great Judge looking on them cried, Inasmuch as thou didst it unto the least of these thou didst it unto ME, or inasmuch as thou hast omitted doing it unto these thou hast omitted doing it unto ME.'

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My brothers, whatever good you do, your fellow-creatures may indeed be benefitted thereby, but the good is not ended there, it rises higher than the earth, higher than the sky. It goes straight to the Throne of God.

As the sweetest incense, as the fragrant spices, as the pleasant fruits, it reaches His heavenly dwelling and is sweet and joyous in his eyes.

Will you not then join in praying the Great Spirit of Life to blow on the garden of the Church and the plants therein, so that the spices may flow forth, and that in the fulness of our hearts we may be able to say to our God, 'Let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruits?'

Sketches of the Tibes of the Apostles

No. 6. BARTHOLOMEW, OR NATHANIEL. THERE can be no reasonable doubt but that the above two names refer to the same person. The word Bartholomew is in reality only a patronymic, signifying 'the Son of Talmoi or Talmai,' a name which was by no means uncommon among the Jews. Unless Nathaniel was the genuine name, the proper appellation of this disciple is nowhere given in the scriptures, which would be a very unusual and peculiar circumstance. But there are so many circumstances which incidentally show that Nathaniel and Bartholomew were one, that a considerable difficulty would be created if we did not accept this all but universal conclusion.

We need scarcely detail these circumstances. But it is worthy of notice that many men of learning and scholarship have had at various times their doubts upon this identity. We think without reason. Bartholemew and Philip are mentioned together in the first three gospels. But it is Nathaniel and Philip in St. John. And we cannot realize how such a place as that assigned to Nathaniel in John xxi. 2 could have been his unless he had been an apostle. We therefore take it for granted that the relationship above assumed is the correct one.

Nathaniel was born in Cana of Galilee, the city where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine. Here he was introduced to the notice of our Lord by Philip, who having himself realized the power of Christ as a Saviour and the promised Messiah, was anxious to bring all those in whom he was interested to the same blessed state of satisfaction. Nathaniel was ceptical as to the truth of Philip's statement. It was contrary to his anticipations, and contrary to his prejudices; and he betrayed his prejudice by the question which was evidently the outburst of his feelings, Can any good come out of Nazareth? But all his doubts disappeared and all bis prejudice vanished when a short time afterwards Jesus with the tenderness of his love and might of his power revealed himself as the truth and the life.

The conversation of Our Lord with Nathaniel is so deeply interesting that it demands more

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than mere cursory notice. When Nathaniel asked the question just alluded to Philip save him no direct answer, but made the sensible reply, ‘Come and see,' He acted upon the invitation, and as Jesus saw him coming he exclaimed 'Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile !' Nathaniel was apparently astonished at the salutation. It was certainly very different to what be expected, and he manifested his astonishment by asking the Lord, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him Before that Phillip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.' This reply seems to have been convincing. It assured the enquirer that this man whom Philip had stated to be the Messiah was omniscient, for he had seen him in his wonted place of secret prayer, under the shade of the fig tree, where no human gaze could penetrate. It taught him that here was one who could read over his inner thoughts and feelings. And the proof thus afforded of the authority of Christ called forth a confession which forms a climax to those made by the other disciples. Andrew and his companion had acknowledged Him as Master, and the former told Peter that they had found the Christ. Philip had recognized in Jesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph-Him who had been Foretold by Moses and the Prophets. Now, Nathaniel gives Him the full title of the Messiah, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God! Thou art the King of Israel!' His faith was rewarded by a promise of higher manifestations of Christ's glory and power.

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There is little told us about Nathaniel in the gospels. He did not take a prominent part in the ministry of the Word during the life of our Lord. But after the crucifixion he went into Arabis Felix (sometimes called Judea by the ancients), preaching the Gospel. After that he visited Armenia, where during one of the violent persecutions he is said to have been flayed alive and afterwards crucified head-downwards.

Although this disciple does not come very prominently before us in the Gospel Record there must have been something very estimable in his nature and character. He was, before his conversion, one of those Jews who waited for the Redemption of Israel. When he knew and loved the Lord Jesus he probably threw all his life and energy into the new existence which he then entered upon. It is unfortunate that so few materials are given us from which to construct his history. The Scriptures, however, only supply what is necessary for our salvation, leaving untouched those matters which would only satisfy our curiosity.

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WALKING TOGETHER WITH GOD

Amos iii 3. Can two walk together except they be agreed? The question suggested here is a very natural and important one. The chief object of its being brought forward is to teach us in an emphatic and absolute manner the need of sanctification and the necessity of holiness in those who profess to be the servants of God.

Conversion is not sanctification. Conversion is giving the heart to Christ. Sanctification is being made like God. A person who had his heart full of evil, although wishful to do right, would be utterly unfit for Heaven, and would be out of place in the company of the holy inhabitants thereof.

How can two walk together except they be agreed? How can a God who is all purity and holiness, and who hates sin, manifest his tokens of regard to the man who cherishes and loves what He hates ?

Even in this world the sad consequences of such associations are terribly manifest. Husbands and wives have cursed the day they were born, because unequally yoked together. Whole families call their very existence a misery because of the bitterness of difference and strife.

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1. Companionship. The idea is a very beautiful one. We are carried back eighteen hundred years to the shores of the Galilean lake, and the paths and roads round about the sacred city. We see the King of Glory in his human nature walking side by side with his humble followers and disciples. They went from place to place as friends and brethren. This was only a type of what the Saviour is to all believers. He has promised to be the constant companion and friend of all those who give Him their heart.

2. Progress. The text says nothing about sitting. The promise of rest is given to those who have finished their course, and whose sanctification is complete. Here it is toil and advance, progress towards a state which shall be perfect and complete.

How precious is the thought that amid all our trials, and troubles, and difficulties we are not called upon to walk alone, that One has promised I will be with thee when thou passest through the waters and the fire,'

2.-THE CONDITION CONSEQUENTLY NECESSARY FOR THEM TO ATTAIN.

Uniformity with this divine companion and friend.

1. There must be unanimity of sentiment. A Christian man cannot walk with God unless he thinks the same thoughts, and desires the same things as his Master.

God's plans and purposes are very different to those of the unregenerate mind. (Give particulars.) All our feelings must be brought into subjection to His.

2. There must be unanimity of conduct. Many agree with God's laws in theory, but not in practice. Practical good is what is to be recognized, not theoretical belief. God's commands must be carried out or there will be no agreement between the two. Conduct is the carrying out of motive, the exponent of belief. A man who persists in following the ways, and courses, and acts of the world cannot walk with God.

And the agreement must be thorough, although There must be a its attainment will be gradual. desire manifested, and a struggle made to obtain this necessary conformity.

Learn two things,

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Micah iv 5

TRINITY.

NOVEMBER 14TH.

WALKING IN GOD'S NAME

For all people will walk, every one in the name of his God and we will walk in the uame of the Lord our God for ever.

WE might almost paraphrase this text in the words of Joshua Choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.' It speaks of two choices, the choice of the worldling, and the choice of the Christian. But there seems to be a difference, the people of the world seldom make a definite choice. They do not deliberately will to serve evil. They rather drift into it unthinkingly. It is different with a hristian man or woman. They must make their choice and hold to it, deliberately maintaining the resolve they have fixed upon. Notice.

I. THAT ALL MEN WORSHIP SOME DIVINITY,

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