Spurgeon: January PM
* 01/08/PM
"Thy love is better than wine."
--Song of Solomon 1:2
Nothing gives the believer so much joy as fellowship with
Christ . He has enjoyment as others have in the common mercies of
life, he can be glad both in God's gifts and God's works; but in
all these separately, yea, and in all of them added together, he
doth not find such substantial delight as in the matchless
person of his Lord Jesus. He has wine which no vineyard on earth
ever yielded; he has bread which all the corn-fields of Egypt
could never bring forth. Where can such sweetness be found as we
have tasted in communion with our Beloved? In our esteem, the
joys of earth are little better than husks for swine compared
with Jesus, the heavenly manna. We would rather have one
mouthful of Christ's love, and a sip of his fellowship, than a
whole world full of carnal delights. What is the chaff to the
wheat? What is the sparkling paste to the true diamond? What is
a dream to the glorious reality? What is time's mirth, in its
best trim, compared to our Lord Jesus in His most despised
estate? If you know anything of the inner life, you will confess
that our highest, purest, and most enduring joys must be the
fruit of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise
of God. No spring yields such sweet water as that well of God
which was digged with the soldier's spear. All earthly bliss is
of the earth earthy, but the comforts of Christ's presence are
like Himself, heavenly. We can review our communion with Jesus,
and find no regrets of emptiness therein; there are no dregs in
this wine, no dead flies in this ointment. The joy of the Lord
is solid and enduring. Vanity hath not looked upon it, but
discretion and prudence testify that it abideth the test of
years, and is in time and in eternity worthy to be called "the
only true delight." For nourishment, consolation, exhilaration,
and refreshment, no wine can rival the love of Jesus. Let us
drink to the full this evening.