06. Chapter 1. The fellowship which the saints have with the Son of God –

Chapter 1. The fellowship which the saints have with the Son of God –

I will do two things here: I. Declare that we have such fellowship with the Son of God. II. Show what that fellowship or communion consists of: I. For the first part, I will only produce a few passages of Scripture to confirm it: 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” This fellowship is what all the saints are called to, and they will be preserved in it by the faithfulness of God. We are called of God the Father, as the Father, in pursuit of his love, to commune with the Son as our Lord.

Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Certainly this is fellowship, or else I do not know not what fellowship is.

Christ will sup with believers: he refreshes himself with his own graces in believers, by his Spirit who is bestowed on them. The Lord Christ is greatly delighted in tasting the sweet fruits of the Spirit in the saints. This is reflected in that prayer of the spouse that she may have something for his entertainment when he comes to her, Song of Solomon 4:16, “Awake, O north wind, and come, you south wind. Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my Beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.” The souls of the saints are the garden of Jesus Christ, the good ground, Hebrews 6:7; they are a garden for delight. He rejoices in them for, “his delights are with the sons of men,” Proverbs 8:31; and he “rejoices over them,” Zephaniah 3:17. The believers are a garden for pleasant fruit.

Song of Solomon 4:12-14, “An enclosed garden is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, camphire with spikenard, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, and all the chief spices.”

Whatever is sweet and delicious to the taste, whatever is savory and fragrant, whatever is useful and medicinal, is in this garden. There are all kinds of spiritual refreshments in the souls of the saints for the Lord Jesus. For this reason, the spouse is earnest in her prayer for an increase of these things, that her Beloved may sup with her as he has promised. “Awake, O north wind...” It is as if to pray, “O that the breathing and workings of the Spirit of all grace might arouse all his gifts and graces in me, that the Lord Jesus, the beloved of my soul, may have fit and acceptable entertainment from me.” God complains of a lack of fruit in his vineyard in Isaiah 5:2; Hosea 10:1. The lack of good food for Christ’s entertainment is what the spouse fears, and what she labors to prevent. A barren heart is not fit to receive him. The delight that he takes in the fruit of the Spirit is unspeakable. He expresses this at large in Song of Solomon 5:1, “I am come,” says he; “I have eaten, I am refreshed.” He calls it “periy megadim” [OT:6529,4022], “the fruit of his sweetnesses” or what is most pleasant to him. Moreover, as Christ sups with his saints, they will sup with him to complete their fellowship with him. Christ provides for their entertainment in a most eminent way. Beasts are killed, wine is mingled, and a table is furnished, Proverbs 9:2. He calls the spiritual delicacies that he has for them a “feast,” a “wedding,” “a feast of sumptuous things, wine on the lees” [finishing it to its dregs], etc. The fatted calf is killed for their entertainment. This is the mutual entertainment of Christ and his saints in that communion.

Song of Solomon 2:1-7, “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste...” In the two first verses you have the description that Christ gives, first of himself, and then of his church. In verse 1 he describes what he is to his spouse: “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” The Lords Christ is compared to all things of eminence in the whole creation. In the heavens, he is the sun and the bright morning star. Among the beasts, he is the lion of Judah. Among the flowers of the field, he is the rose and the lily. These two are eminent in their savory sweetness and colorful beauty, the rose in its sweetness, and the lily in its beauty. “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Further, he is “the rose of Sharon.” This is a fruitful plain, where the choicest herds were fed, 1 Chronicles 27:29. It is so eminent, that it is promised to the church that she will be given the excellence of Sharon, Isaiah 35:2. This fruitful place undoubtedly produced the most precious roses. Christ, in the savor of his love, and in his righteousness, is like this excellent rose. He draws and allures the hearts of his saints to him. The rose is like the garment in which Jacob received his blessing, giving forth an aroma like the smell of a pleasant field, Genesis 27:27. God smelled a sweet savor from the blood of Christ’s atonement, Ephesians 5:2. From the graces with which he is anointed for them, his saints receive a refreshing, cherishing savor, Song of Solomon 1:3. A sweet savor expresses what is acceptable and delightful, Genesis 8:21.

Christ is also “the lily of the valleys,” which of all the flowers is the most beautiful, Matthew 6:29. He is most desirable for his personal attractiveness and perfection. He is incomparably fairer than the children of men (more of this later). He abundantly satiates all their spiritual senses. He is their refreshment, their adornment, their delight, and their glory. In the next verse he tells us what they are to him: “As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.” Christ and his church are described the same way (as the lily). This is because of their union by the indwelling of the same Spirit. It is from the conformity and likeness that exists between them, and to which the saints are appointed. The church is a lily, and she is very beautiful to Christ “as the lily among thorns.” As the lily excels the thorns, so the saints excel all others in the eye of Christ. The remainder of the world is “pricking briers and grieving thorns to the house of Israel,” Ezek. 28:94. “The best of them is like a brier, the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge,” Micah 7:4. This is how the saints appear among the daughters. There cannot be any greater exaltation of excellence. So, then, this is how Christ is to them in verse 1. And that is how the saints are in his esteem in verse 2. That is also how he is in their esteem in verse 3.“As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” To carry on this intercourse, the spouse begins to reveal her thoughts of him, and to show her delight in the Lord Christ. As he compares her to the lily among the thorns, so she compares him to the apple-tree among the trees of the wood. And she adds this reason for it. He has the two things that the others do not: fruit for food and shade for refreshment. She eats of the one, and rests under the other, both with great delight. All other sons are the fruitless, leafless trees of the forest, which will yield neither food nor refreshment to a hungry, weary soul. This is true of the angels, who are the sons of God by creation, Job 1:6; Job 38:7, and of the best of the sons of Adam, called daughters in verse 2. “In Christ,” she says, “there is fruit, fruit sweet to the taste.” “His flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed,” John 6:55. Moreover, he has produced that everlasting righteousness which will abundantly satisfy any hungry soul, especially after it has gone to many a barren tree for food and has found none. Besides, he abounds in precious and pleasant graces of which I may eat. In fact, he calls me to eat of them and to do so abundantly (Matthew 26:26; Luke 9:17; John 6:53-58). These are the fruits that Christ bears.

They speak of a tree that brings forth all things that are necessary for life, in food and raiment. Christ is that tree of life that has brought forth all things that are necessary for eternal life. In him is the righteousness that we hunger for. In him is the water of life. Whoever drinks of it will thirst no more. Oh, how sweet are the fruits of Christ’s mediation to the faith of his saints! Someone who can find no relief in mercy, pardon, grace, acceptance by God, holiness, sanctification, etc., is an utter stranger to these things that are prepared for believers. Also, the believer has shades for refreshment and shelter. He has shelter from wrath without, and refreshment from weariness within. The first benefit of the shade is to keep us from the heat of the sun, as Jonah’s gourd did for him. When the heat of wrath is ready to scorch the soul, Christ interposes himself and bears it all.

Under the shadow of his wings we sit down steadfastly, quietly, safely, putting our trust in him, and we do this with great delight. Who can express the joy of a soul that is safe, shadowed from wrath under the cover of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus! There is also refreshment in being shaded from weariness. He is

“as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,” Isaiah 32:2. In him there is quiet, rest, and repose from the power of corruptions, the trouble of temptations, and the distress of persecutions, Matthew 11:27-28.

It is apparent that Christ and believers cannot be anything but delighted in their mutual fellowship and communion. In the next verses that describe their communion, I will briefly observe four things in it: (1.) Sweetness. (2.) Delight.

(3.) Safety. (4.) Comfort.

(1.) Sweetness: “He brought me to the banquet-house,” or “house of wine.” This expresses the greatest sweetness and most delicious refreshment, flagons, apples, wine, etc. “He entertains me,” says the spouse, “as some great personage.” Great personages and great entertainment are had in the banquet-house the house of wine and delicacies. These are types of the preparations we find in grace and mercy. They are love, kindness, resources that are revealed in the gospel, declared in the assemblies of the saints, and exhibited by the Spirit. This “love is better than wine,” Song of Solomon 1:2; it is “not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Gospel delicacies are sweet refreshments, whether these “houses of wine” are the Scriptures, the gospel, the ordinances dispensed in the assemblies of the saints, or the exquisite manifestations of his special love. Banqueting is not an everyday affair, nor are these preparations used in ordinary entertainment. What is promised at this banquet is wine that cheers the heart of man, that makes him forget his misery,

Proverbs 31:6-7, that gives him a cheerful look and countenance, Genesis 49:12. The grace exhibited by Christ in his ordinances is refreshing, strengthening, comforting, and full of sweetness to the souls of the saints. Pity those foul souls who loathe these honey-combs! But in the ways described, Christ makes all the assemblies of his saints love banquet-houses, and there he gives them entertainment.

(2.) Delight: The spouse is quite ravished with the sweetness of this entertainment. She finds there the love, care, and kindness that are bestowed by Christ in the assemblies of the saints. Hence she cries out, Song of Solomon 2:5, “Keep me with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick with love.” On discovering the excellence and sweetness of Christ in the banquet-house, the soul is instantly overpowered, and cries out to partake of its fullness. She is “sick with love.” She is not (as some assume) fainting for lack of love and fearing wrath. After she has once tasted of the sweetness of Christ in the banquet-house, she becomes sick, faint, overcome, with the mighty impact of that divine affection. Her desire being deferred makes her heartsick. Therefore she cries, “Keep me...” Her plea is this: “I have seen a glimpse of the ‘King in his beauty,’ tasted of the fruit of his righteousness; my soul melts in longing for him. Oh! Keep and sustain my spirit with his presence in his ordinances, those ‘flagons and apples of his banquet-house,’ or I will sink and faint! Oh, what you have done, blessed Jesus! I have seen you, and my soul has become like the chariots of Amminadib. Let me have something from you to support me, or I will die.” When a person us fainting, two things are to be done: strength is used to support him so that he will not sink to the ground; and comforting things are applied to refresh his spirits. These two things are what the soul prays for when it is overpowered and fainting with the force of its own love, which is increased by a sense of Christ’s love. It wants strengthening grace to support it in this condition, so that it may be able to attend to its duty. And it wants the consolation of the Holy Spirit to content, revive, and satiate it, until it can fully enjoy Christ. Thus sweetly, and with delight, this communion is carried on.

(3.) Safety: “His banner over me was love,” Song of Solomon 2:4. The banner is an emblem of safety and protection. It is a sign of the presence of a host. Soldiers in an army encamp under their banner in security. So did the children of Israel in the wilderness. Every tribe kept their camps under their own standard. It is also a token of success and victory, Psalms 20:5. Christ has a banner for his saints, and that banner is love. All their protection comes from his love, and they want all the protection his love can give them. This safeguards them from hell, death, and all their enemies. Whatever presses on them must pass through the banner of the love of the Lord Jesus. They have, then, great spiritual safety. This is another adornment of their communion with him.

(4.) Comfort – Support and consolation: Song of Solomon 2:6, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.” Here, Christ has the posture of a most tender friend towards one in sickness and sadness. The soul faints with love.

There are spiritual longings for the enjoyment of his presence. And Christ comes in with his embraces. He nourishes and cherishes his church, Ephesians 5:29; Isaiah 63:9. The “hand under the head,” is support, sustaining grace, in pressure and difficulties. The “hand that embraces,” or the hand upon the heart, is joy and consolation. In both, Christ is rejoicing, as the “bridegroom rejoices over the bride,” Isaiah 62:5. To lie in the arms of Christ’s love this way, under a perpetual influence of support and refreshment, is certainly to hold communion with him. And so, in verse 7, the spouse is most earnest to continue his fellowship, charging all to be still so that her Beloved will not be disturbed, or provoked to depart. In brief, this whole book is filled with the description of the communion that exists between the Lord Christ and his saints. Therefore, it is unnecessary to take any more examples from it. I will only add one from Proverbs 9:1-5, “Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars; she has killed her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also furnished her table. She has sent forth her maidens: she cries out on the highest places of the city, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.’ As for the one who wants understanding, she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mixed.’” The Lord Christ, the eternal Wisdom of the Father, whom God makes wisdom to us, erects a spiritual house. In this house he makes provision for the entertainment of those guests whom he so freely invites. His church is the house that he has built on a perfect number of pillars, so that it might have a stable foundation. His slain beasts and mixed wine, with which his table is furnished, are those spiritually sumptuous things of the gospel that he has prepared for those who come by his invitation. Surely, to eat of this bread, and drink of this wine, which he has so graciously prepared, is to hold fellowship with him. In what other things is there nearer communion than in these?

I might further evince this truth by considering all the relationships which Christ and his saints have. These necessarily require a communion between them, if we assume they are faithful in those relationships. But this is something that will be spoken of in one signal instance later.