A Refreshing Canticle 2

Equally true is it that the remembrance of earth's comforts, of which wine is the type, must be but 'transient'. If the sinner could live many days, and have much wealth, would he remember it when he entered the unseen world? Ah! he might remember it, but it would be with awful sighs and sobs. You know how Abraham spoke, across the great gulf, to the rich man in hell, "Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented." But we can say, of the love of Christ, that it is better than wine, for we shall rejoice to remember it for all eternity. We shall recount the labors of him who lived and died for us. That is what we shall talk of in heaven; sure I am that this is the theme of all the music and songs of Paradise.

"Jesus, the Lord, their harps employs,
Jesus, my Love, they sing!
Jesus, the life of all our joys
Sounds sweet from every string."

Do you not see, then, why this comparison is made in our text? We remember Christ's love more than the best earthly comforts, because they make but a feeble impression, a mingled impression, a marred impression, and their impression, at best, is but transient; but the love of Christ is remembered as something that is better than wine.

I have to hurry over these different points; but if you enjoy hearing about this subject as much as I delight in preaching upon it, you would not mind listening to me all night long, and I should not mind preaching right through the night. Surely, this is a theme that sets one's tongue at a happy liberty. "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer" if I can but feel the love of Christ shed abroad in my heart.

III. Now, thirdly, I am to speak of THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF REMEMBERING CHRIST'S LOVE.

If we remember the love of Christ to us, the first practical effect will be that "we shall love him". Can I remember your love to me, O my sweet Lord, and not love you in return? Surely, Dr. Watts was right when he wrote,-

"Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all your quickening powers,
Come, shed abroad a Saviour's love,
And that shall kindle ours."

True is it, O Jesus, that there is no light of love in our hearts except the light of your love! It is the holy fire from your altar that must kindle the incense in the 'censer of our hearts'. There is no living water to be drawn out of these dry wells- you, O Jesus, must supply them from the bubbling spring in your own heart! When my heart is conscious of your love, it loves you in return.

Another practical effect of remembering Christ's love will be, "love to the brethren". When we remember Christ's love as we ought, we shall not meet one of Christ's brethren without falling in love with him directly. Christ has some very poor brethren, and some very unhand-some ones. David sent to enquire whether there were any left of the house of Saul to whom he might show kindness for Jonathan's sake. Ziba told him that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was lame on his feet. What did David do when he heard this? Did he say, "I will have nothing to do with him; I do not want a lame fellow like that stumbling about my palace "? Oh, no! he might be lame on his feet, but he was Jonathan's son; so David sent for him, and said to him, "You shall eat bread at my table continually." Did you ever know one of Christ's beloved who was lame on his feet? There is a little lameness, somewhere or other, about all of them; and if we only love those saints who are very holy, it will seem as if we only loved them for their own sakes; but if we love Christ's deformed and crippled children, that looks like loving them for his sake.

And, methinks, if you could remember what a clumsy child YOU were yourself, you would not look with such disdain upon any of God's other children. Ministers have much to bear in connection with some of their people. One man's judgment is so keen that you are always afraid of saying something amiss in his presence; another man's temper is so hot that you cannot meddle with him for do not fear should provoke a quarrel; another man is so worldly that, although he has the grace of God in his heart, it seems to be only like a spark in damp tinder. Christ has many very unseemly children; yet if we can but see that they are Christ's, if they have only a little likeness to him, we love them directly for his sake, and are, willing to do what we can for them out of love to him. The remembrance of the love of Christ to us will, I repeat, always kindle in us a love towards all the brethren.

The next effect will be, "holy practice". When we remember the love of Christ to us, we shall hate sin. Feeling that he has bought us with his precious blood, we shall abhor the very name of iniquity. When Satan tempts us, we shall each one say, "Get gone; for I will have nothing to do with you; I remember Christ's love to me." Have you never heard the story of the Indian woman, who, when she was enticed by some great chief, who wished to lead her astray made to him this noble answer, "I know no one in the world to be beautiful or attractive but my husband"? So will the believer say, when he is tempted, "I know of nothing that is good but Christ; I know of no one who is so fair as he is; so begone, black Satan, my heart is given wholly to Christ, and I will have nothing to do with you."

Another effect of remembering the love of Christ will be, "repose of heart in time of trouble". When we have, for a while, lost the light of God's countenance; when we are like the apostle in that great storm at sea, and are in a place where two seas meet, and our vessel is already broken by the violence of the waves. When darkness increases our fears, or daylight reveals fresh dangers, then is it specially sweet to remember the love of our Lord. In such a time as that, the tried believer can say, "He did love me once, and his love never changes. Though I cannot now see the light of his countenance, I know that he is still the same as he ever was. I remember the garden of delights where he revealed his love to me, and the banqueting house where he gave me such choice fare; and I feel persuaded that he has not forgotten his poor spouse, but that he will come to her again, and once more lift her out of the mire, set her feet upon a rock, put a new song into her mouth, and establish her goings." A constant remembrance of Christ's love to us will make us always cheerful, dutiful, holy. Dear Lord, grant us this boon; for if you will enable us to remember your love more than wine, you will give us all good things in one. Let your good Spirit but keep us up to this good resolution, and we shall be both holy and happy, honouring you and rejoicing in you.

IV. Lastly, I would put before you A FEW PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS AS TO PRESERVING A DEEPER AND MORE SINCERE REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST'S LOVE than you have hitherto done.

The old Puritanical divines frequently compared their hearers to the Egyptian dog that ran to the Nile, and drank, and then ran away; they came up to the meeting-house, and heard the minister, took a little sip of the gospel, which sufficed them, and then they were off. One preacher said that he wished they were like the fishes; not come and lap at the stream, as the dog did; but swim in it, and live in it. There are too many, in this age, who are content with hearing a little of Christ's love; a sip by the way is all that they seem to need. But it would be far better if you could come up to Rutherford's ideal, "I would have my soul sunk over its masthead in a sea of love to Christ. I would be sunken fifty fathoms deep in the mighty shoreless ocean of his love, so that there might be nothing left of me, and that I might be swallowed up in love to Christ, and in Christ's love to me." I expect, dear brethren and sisters that your complaint is that you cannot recollect good things as you sincerely would. I know very well how you feel. You hear a sermon, and become, for a while, absorbed in holy meditation; but you have to return to your shop early tomorrow morning, and you only quitted it as late as twelve o'clock on Saturday night. There are six days for the world, and only one for heaven; it is no wonder that you find the sermon so difficult to remember. You remind me of a person going out into a garden, on a dark night, carrying a lighted candle. If the wind should blow, there is such a careful shielding of the light with the hand, lest it should be blown out. In like manner, it is but a feeble light that you bear away from the public ministry, and there are ten thousand winds blowing around you, and trying to put it out. You must indeed be careful to keep it alight all the week in your recollection. Let me give you a little practical advice as to how you may keep constantly in your mind a remembrance of Jesus Christ's love.

One of the first things I would recommend to you is, "frequent meditation". See if you cannot more often get a quarter of an hour all alone, that you may sit down, and turn over and over again the love of Christ to you. Remember that souls grow more by meditation than by anything else. The cattle go round the fields, and crop the grass; that is like hearing the Word. But, afterwards, they lie down in a quiet corner, and chew the cud; that is like meditating upon what we have heard. Get a quarter of an hour, if you can, to masticate and digest the Word. "A quarter of an hour!" says someone; "why, I could not get five minutes!" I would not be hard with you, dear brother, but I do you think could; days can sometimes be lengthened out, either at one end or at the other. If you cannot extend the day at the night end, cannot you pull it out at the morning end? Is there not a possibility of a little saving of time at some hour during the day? You will do none the less work for allowing time for meditation and prayer. Our old proverb says, "Prayer and provender hinder no man's journey;" and I believe that prayer and meditation hinder no man's work. Do try to get a little time to think about your soul. What, so much time to be occupied with this dusty, sinful world, and so little time to be devoted to that which relates to heaven! So much time to be employed concerning food, and drink, and clothes, and so little time to be given to thoughts of our precious Saviour and all his loveliness! Do get a little time alone, beloved, for that will help to keep you right. You would not forget your Master's love nearly as much as you presently do, if you would secure more time for meditation upon it.

Another means of remembering Christ's love is this. "Take care that you are not content with what you knew of Christ's love yesterday". You want to know a little more about it today, and you ought to know still more about it tomorrow. Some Christians do not commune with their Lord nearly as often as they ought; I wonder how they manage to live on in such a fashion. They get a little manna once a month, and they try to live on that until another month comes round. They meet with their Saviour, perhaps, at the communion table, -and not always then, -and they are content to live from day to day without having fellowship with him. Do not be one of that order of Christians. Seek for daily-no, more than that, -continual communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are to pray for daily bread; then, surely, he who bade you do that must mean that you should seek to be fed daily with himself, who is the Bread of heaven. I do not like to hear people talk about what they knew of Jesus five or six years ago, unless they can also tell something of what they know of him now. What would you think of a wife who said, "My husband spoke kindly to me some years ago; and I saw him five years ago, but I have not seen him since"? You would say, "How can the woman live, if she is a loving wife, without seeing her husband? Is he in the same house with her, and yet has he not spoken to her all that while?" The Lord Jesus is always near to you, and do you mean to say that you can live without fellowship with him? You, you can, for some of you do; but I beg you not to live so any longer, for it is a poor, starving way of dragging on a miserable existence. You who have just enough religion to make you wretched; you have not enough to make you happy- get a great deal more of it. Drink deeply at the heavenly spring of fellowship. If you learn a little more about Christ every day, you will not be likely to forget what you already know of him.

Then, again, as another way of keeping in your heart what you do know- take care, when you have a sense of Christ's love, that you let it go down deeply. If there were a nail so placed that it would slacken its hold a little every day for six days- if I had the opportunity of driving it in the first day, I would try to drive it in right up to the head, and to clinch it. So, if you have not much time for fellowship and communion with Christ, if you have only a short season for meditation, try to drive the nail well home. Do not be content with merely thinking about Christ, seek to see him before your eyes as 'manifestly crucified'. See him as he groans in the garden, and do not be content unless you can groan with him. See him as he hangs upon the cross, and do not rest satisfied until you can feel that you are crucified with him. Realize your fellowship with him as he rises from the tomb, for this will help very much to keep you right. I have heard the story of a man, who was passing by a house where a poor idiot lad, with a piece of sandpaper, was scouring away at a brass plate. The man asked what he was doing, and he replied, "I am trying to scour the name out." "Ah!" said the other, "you may scour away as long as you like, but you will never be able to do that." And so, methinks, I see the devil scouring away at some of you, trying to get the name of Jesus out of your heart. Scour away, Satan, if you like; but you will never get it out, for it is too deeply cut. If Christ's name is engraved upon your heart, Satan may try to get it out, but he will never succeed in doing so; it shall never be obliterated, but shall shine all the more brightly for his attempts to remove it.

Let me add one more direction. When any of you meet together, it is always a good thing to make Christ the theme of your conversation. Oh, what a deal of idle gossip there is even on Sundays. Many people do not go out on Sunday afternoon, so they must talk about something. They do not like to talk about their trade; that would be too secular, they fancy. They do not like to talk about strictly sacred things; that might appear hypocritical, they think. So they begin, "Have you ever heard so-and-so preach?" "Yes, I did once." "Did you like him?" So, from one, they go on to others, and ministers and their sermons become the bones that they pick on Sunday afternoons. They feel that they must have some theme for their conversation not quite sacred, nor wholly secular. I would advise you to talk more about the Lord Jesus Christ than you have been wont to do; you will be less likely to forget his love if you are often talking of him. Let the music of his name ring in your ears all the day long; and if you would have it ring in your ears, it must ring from your tongue. Whenever you have the opportunity, tell out the marvellous story of his great love to you; so will your own memory be refreshed, and others, listening to your testimony, will also get a large, and, it may be, an everlasting blessing.

May God now grant to you, my dear hearers, that you may retain a sense of Christ's love to you, if you have ever enjoyed it! If you never have, may God now give it to you! If you have never come to Christ, come to him now. Remember that Jesus loves sinners. Those who are now farthest from him, when they once return to him, shall know that he loves them. If you "take with you words," and come unto him, groaning and sighing, he will not cast you out. He stands now with open arms, and freely invites you. Come to him, I beseech you. As his ambassador, I entreat you to come; if you do so, he will fold you to his bosom. All that the heirs of heaven can have, you shall have. All that the glorified saints are now enjoying shall yet be your privilege also. You shall one day walk with Christ in white, and see his face, and be with him in Paradise, and be blessed throughout eternity. May God grant us his grace now, that our text may become the cheerful sonnet of our experience, "We will remember your love more than wine."

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