Spurgeon: August AM
* 08/25/AM
"His fruit was sweet to my taste."
--Song of Solomon 2:3
Faith, in the Scripture, is spoken of under the emblem of all
the senses. It is sight : "Look unto me and be ye saved." It is
hearing : "Hear, and your soul shall live." Faith is
smelling : "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and
cassia"; "thy name is as ointment poured forth." Faith is
spiritual touch . By this faith the woman came behind and
touched the hem of Christ's garment, and by this we handle the
things of the good word of life. Faith is equally the spirit's
taste. "How sweet are Thy words to my taste! yea, sweeter than
honey to my lips." "Except a man eat my flesh," saith Christ,
"and drink my blood, there is no life in him."
This " taste " is faith in one of its highest operations .
One of the first performances of faith is hearing . We hear the
voice of God, not with the outward ear alone, but with the
inward ear; we hear it as God's Word, and we believe it to be
so; that is the "hearing" of faith. Then our mind looketh upon
the truth as it is presented to us; that is to say, we
understand it, we perceive its meaning; that is the "seeing" of
faith. Next we discover its preciousness; we begin to admire it,
and find how fragrant it is; that is faith in its " smell ."
Then we appropriate the mercies which are prepared for us in
Christ; that is faith in its " touch ." Hence follow the
enjoyments, peace, delight, communion; which are faith in its
"taste." Any one of these acts of faith is saving. To hear
Christ's voice as the sure voice of God in the soul will save
us; but that which gives true enjoyment is the aspect of faith
wherein Christ, by holy taste, is received into us, and made, by
inward and spiritual apprehension of His sweetness and
preciousness, to be the food of our souls. It is then we sit
"under His shadow with great delight," and find His fruit sweet
to our taste.