{"id":2451,"date":"2013-03-16T09:08:44","date_gmt":"2013-03-16T09:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2013-03-16T09:08:44","modified_gmt":"2013-03-16T09:08:44","slug":"a-faint-symbol-of-unutterable-affection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2451","title":{"rendered":"A faint symbol of unutterable affection!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A faint symbol of unutterable affection!<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Charles Spurgeon, \u201cGleanings among the Sheaves\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!\u201d Song of Songs 5:16<\/p>\n

In calling the Lord Jesus \u201caltogether lovely,\u201d the redeemed Church<\/em> asserts that she sees nothing in Him which she does not admire. The world may rail at His cross and call it shameful; but to her it is the very center and soul of glory. He is never without beauty to her! She presses His pierced feet to her embrace\u2014and looks upon His wounds as jewels! Fools stand by His cross and find many a theme for jest and scorn; but she discovers nothing but solemn reason for reverent adoration and unbounded love!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are absolutely beautiful, my Beloved\u2014with no imperfection<\/em> in You!\u201d Song of Songs 4:7. Viewing Him in every office and relationship\u2014she cannot discover a flaw! <\/strong>She knows too well, His perfect Godhead<\/em> and His spotless manhood<\/em>\u2014to offer a moment\u2019s shelter to the thought of a blemish<\/em> in His immaculate person! She abominates every teaching that debases Him! She spurns the most gorgeous religious drapery <\/em>that would obscure His beauteous features! Yes, so jealous is she of His honor, that a hint against His unsullied purity would stir her soul to holy wrath\u2014and speedy would be her execration, and relentless her execution of the heresy! Nothing has ever aroused the ire of the Church so much\u2014as a word against her beloved Redeemer. To all true believers, this is high treason and an offense which cannot be treated lightly.<\/p>\n

Jesus is without a single blot or blemish<\/em>\u2014yet this negative <\/em>praise, this bold denial of any fault\u2014is far from representing the fullness of the loving admiration of the Church. Jesus is positively <\/em>lovely in her eyes! Not merely lovely\u2014His beauties are attracting <\/em>beauties, and His glories are such as charm <\/em>the heart. But although this utterance of the Church is the very climax of the language of praise, and was doubtless intended as the pinnacle <\/em>of all description\u2014yet it is not possible that this one sentence, even when expanded by the most careful meditation, should be able to express more than a mere particle<\/em> of the admiration felt. Her description towers above all others; but its stature fails to reach the towering height of Heaven-born love. It is but a faint symbol of unutterable affection!<\/strong> It is a choice pearl <\/em>washed on shore, from the deep sea of Divine love.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!\u201d Song of Songs 5:16<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where then, are all my spots?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Susannah Spurgeon, \u201cA Basket of Summer Fruit\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are all beautiful, My beloved; there is no spot<\/em>
\nin you!\u201d Song of Songs 4:7<\/p>\n

\u201cAh!\u201d I hear some timid, trembling believer say, \u201cSuch \u00a0a text can have nothing to do with me!<\/em> I am the very opposite of all that is beautiful and spotless. The eyes
\nof my soul have seen hideous sights within, which I can never forget; and I loathe myself and my sin so much,that though I believe God has forgiven me for Christ\u2019s
\nsake\u2014I feel it impossible to take those precious words as addressed to one so sinful and imperfect as myself!\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, trembling soul, I would bid you take courage, and look up! Christ\u2019s love for His people is marvelously set forth in this Song of Songs<\/em>. The same precious blood
\nwas poured out to redeem the least lamb <\/em>of the flock,as for the choicest sheep!<\/em><\/p>\n

Come, then, timid one\u2014rejoice in the blessed fact that you are indeed precious to the Lord\u2014and He says, \u201cYou are all beautiful, My beloved!\u201d Adoringly bow before Him in wonder\u2014at the miracle His love has wrought in you.<\/p>\n

It ill becomes the bride of Christ to ignore His loveliness<\/em>, which He has put upon her, and go about bemoaning the scars and blemishes which His great love overlooks and forgets.<\/p>\n

It is quite true that, in themselves, believers are sorrowfully imperfect and sinful; but if the Lord Jesus, in His marvelous mercy, unrobes Himself to cover over their unrighteousness, they may well be content to be thus made \u201cbeautiful\u201d in His
\nsight. We cannot comprehend the mystery and sublimity of Divine love; but it is the sole and all-sufficient reason for the dear Lord\u2019s estimate of us; and when He uses such endearing language\u2014our hearts melt and are ravished by His wondrous
\ncondescension. With reverence we say it\u2014when our dear Master deigns to address us in accents of love and admiration, our souls are thrilled with heavenly bliss, and we are uplifted beyond all the sorrows and vexations of this world, into an
\natmosphere of unspeakable spiritual joy!<\/p>\n

\u201cMy beloved!\u201d<\/em> Oh, say it again, dear Savior! Let the music of Your voice touch and vibrate through the deepest chords of my nature, and awaken sweet responses in my soul! You are the fount and source of all love; oh, fill me, overwhelm
\nme, plunge me in this sea of mercy and of grace! I would be swallowed up in it\u2014knowing no other joy or bliss comparable to that of being able to say, \u201cMy Beloved is mine\u2014and I am His!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no spot in you.\u201d Can our loving Lord really mean this? He does, indeed! \u201cWhere then, are all my spots<\/strong>, dear Lord, for they were legion\u2014and sin must render me vile and loathsome in Your pure sight?\u201d<\/p>\n

All the sins\u2014past, present, and future\u2014all the deformity and blackness\u2014are cleansed away by Christ\u2019s blood\u2014covered by His righteousness! And so completely is this done, that God Himself can find no remnant or stain of that which would
\nhave meant eternal death to an unwashed soul. The poor sinner is lifted from the depths of sin\u2014to the heights of heavenly bliss! \u201cWhat kind of love is this?\u201d It is so Divine and incomprehensible that, in the contemplation of it, we are lost in wonder and amazement!
\n
\nLord Jesus, what a glorious Savior You are! All the sin, which made Your bride so black and vile\u2014was laid upon You!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no spot in you.\u201d An old writer says\u2014\u201dNow, if God <\/em>sees no spot\u2014why should you <\/em>be prying after one? \u00a0Poring over your misery, searching after your blackness \u00a0and depravity\u2014will be no help to you. This only keeps your eyes off <\/em>Jesus, instead of up unto <\/em>Jesus. You cannot look two ways at once. How did the poor serpent-bitten Israelites in the wilderness get relief and healing? By
\nlooking to their sores, their wounds, their malady? Oh, no! It was by looking to the brazen serpent! And if you would get relief\u2014it must be by looking to Jesus Christ!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A faint symbol of unutterable affection! (Charles Spurgeon, \u201cGleanings among the Sheaves\u201d) \u201cYes, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!\u201d Song of Songs 5:16 In calling the Lord Jesus \u201caltogether lovely,\u201d the redeemed Church asserts that she sees nothing in Him which she does not admire. The world may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c-h-spurgeon","category-christ-and-his-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}