THE DAY OF HIS ESPOUSALS
J. Clarke
I would like to support and continue the line that our beloved brother has brought before us as
to affection for Christ. Every true believer should be marked by affection for Christ. This occasion that finds us together is one that has come about as the result of affection. We thank God for it, and we pray for the support and maintenance of those who have been joined together in marriage at this time. It is a day of espousals; it is a day of gladness to them.
Would not this occasion, beloved brethren, carry our minds and our affections forward to the time when Christ will come into His own? This passage in the Song of Songs relates to the time when the Lord Jesus will take up relations with His earthly people, with His earthly bride. It would also give us to think of the time when the Lord will unite the assembly to Himself, the day of His espousals; just think of that! Christ as Man has claims, and what will meet those claims, what will answer to them fully?—the day when He unites the assembly to Himself. How our hearts rejoice in that, beloved brethren. We shall all, have part in that; everybody here will have part in that, when Christ presents the Assembly to Himself. In the meantime, as we await that time, may our hearts be filled with affection for Him. That will be the spring and stimulus of everything, of every committal in relation to Christ and His interests here.
The appeal here is to the daughters of Zion—“Go forth, daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon”. Would we not all come under that heading? Could we not all fit into that description as daughters of Zion?—those who have been the subjects of sovereign mercy, and of precious divine thoughts in their fulness and blessedness. We come into them in affection for Christ. It says, “And behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him”. The Lord Jesus will come into His rights; there is no doubt about that; but think of what it will mean to Him as Man; His people will afford a place for Him in their affections; that is what is in mind here, “The crown wherewith his mother crowned him”. Let us all make way for Him, giving Him His rightful place in our affections. What a day it will be for Christ, the day of His espousals and the gladness of His heart! How wonderful it will be, dear brethren; let our affections move forward; let our thoughts travel forward to that time when Christ’s affections will be fully met, and we shall have part in it.
We are in the light of these things and the Lord would stimulate our affections further on every occasion when we come together, but an occasion like this especially touches our hearts, to see these dear young people, our beloved brother and sister, now about to set out on a united pathway, taking things up in responsibility together. May the Lord have the supreme place with them. May He be crowned; may they give Him the place that is rightly His.
Beloved, that is what will preserve us, that is what will preserve our dear brethren.
I commend the word to all our hearts, that Christ may have the supreme place in our affections. May He help us in this, and in more committal to Him, the One who is living, until that moment when He will unite the assembly to Himself, precious thought! Let us understand it, beloved brethren, and beloved brother and sister, and let us increase in affection for Him until He come. May the Lord bless the word.