Under the Apple Tree 2

Now I leave this first part of the subject, only noticing how beautifully natural it is. There was a tree, and she sat down under the shadow. There was nothing strained, nothing formal. So ought true piety ever to be consistent with common-sense, with that which seems most fitting, most lovely, most wise, and most natural. There is Christ, we may enjoy Him, let us not despise the privilege.

II. The second part of our subject is, THE HEART'S REFRESHMENT IN CHRIST.

"His fruit was sweet to my taste." Here I will not enlarge, but give you thoughts in brief which you can beat out afterwards. She did not feast upon the fruit of the tree until first she was under the shadow of it. There is no knowing the excellent things of Christ until you trust Him. Not a single sweet apple shall fall to the lot of those who are outside His shadow. Come and trust Christ, and then all that there is in Christ shall be enjoyed by you. O unbelievers, what you miss! If you will but sit down under His shadow, you shall have all things. But if you will not, neither shall any good thing of Christ's be yours.

But as soon as ever she was under the shadow, then the fruit was all hers. "I sat down under His shadow," she says, and then, "His fruit was sweet to my taste." Do you believe in Jesus, friend? Then Jesus Christ Himself is yours; and if you own the tree, you may well eat the fruit. Since He Himself becomes yours altogether, then His redemption and the pardon that comes from it, His living power, His mighty intercession, the glories of His Second Coming, and all that belong to Him are given over to you for your personal and present use and enjoyment. All things are yours, since Christ is yours. Only be intent that you imitate the spouse: when she found that the fruit was hers, she ate it. Copy her closely in this. It is a great fault in many believers, that they do not appropriate the promises, and feed on them. Do not blunder as they do. Under the shadow you have a right to eat the fruit. Do not deny yourselves the sacred entertainment.

Now, it would appear, as we read the text, that she obtained this fruit without effort. The saying goes- "He who would gain the fruit must climb the tree." But she did not climb, for she says, "I SAT down under His shadow." I suppose the fruit dropped down to her. I know that it is so with us. We no longer spend our money for that which is not bread, and our labor for that which does not satisfy. But we sit under our Lord's shadow, and we eat that which is good, and our soul delights itself in sweetness. Come Christian, enter into the calm rest of faith, by sitting down beneath the cross, and you shall be fed even to the full.

The spouse rested while feasting: she sat and ate. So, O true believer, rest while you are feeding upon Christ! The spouse says, "I sat, and I ate." Had she not told us in the former chapter that the King sat at His table? See how much like that, the Church is to her Lord, and the believer to his Saviour! We sit down also, and we eat, even as the King does. Right royally are we entertained. His joy is in us, and His peace keeps our hearts and minds.

Further, notice that, as the spouse fed upon this fruit, she had a relish for it. It is not every palate that likes every fruit. Never dispute with other people about tastes of any sort, for agreement in tastes is not possible. That dainty which to one person is the most delicious, is to another person nauseating; and if there were a competition as to which fruit is preferable to all the rest, there would be no settling of the matter. But every person who has once tasted the sweetness of Jesus develops a relish for Him!

Dear hearer, is He sweet to you? Then He is yours. There never was a heart that relished Christ, but what Christ belonged to that heart. If you have been feeding on Him, and He is sweet to you, go on feasting, for He who gave you a relish for His sweet self, gives you all of Himself to satisfy your appetite.

What are the 'fruits' which come from Christ? Are they not peace with God, renewal of heart, joy in the Holy Spirit, love to the brethren? Are they not regeneration, justification, sanctification, adoption, and all the blessings of the covenant of grace? And aren't these each and all sweet to our taste? As we have fed upon them, haven't we said, "Yes, these things are pleasant indeed. There is none like them. Let us feast upon them forever!" Now, sit down- sit down and feed.

It seems a strange thing that we should have to persuade people to do that, but in the spiritual world, things are very different from what they are in the natural. In the case of most men, if you put a plate of food before them, and a knife and fork, they do not need many arguments to persuade them to eat. But I will tell you when they will not eat- and that is when they are full. And I will also tell you when they will eat- and that is when they are hungry. Even so, if your soul is weary after Christ the Saviour, you will feed on Him. But if not, it is useless for me to preach to you, or bid you come and feast on Him. However, you that are there, sitting under His shadow, you may hear Him utter these words: "Eat, O friend: drink, yes, drink abundantly!" You can not have too much of these good things: the more of Christ, the better the Christian.

We know that the spouse feasted herself heartily with this food from the tree of life, for in later days she wanted more. The verse which contains our text describes, as it were, her first love to her Lord, her country love, her rustic love. She went to the woods, and she found Him there like an apple tree, and she enjoyed Him as one relishes a ripe apple in the country. But as she grew in grace, she learned more of her Lord, and she found that her Best-beloved was a King. I should not wonder but that she learned the doctrine of the Second Coming, for in the next verse she began to sing, "He brought me to the banqueting house." As much as to say, He did not merely let me know Him out in the fields-- as the Christ in His humiliation. But He brought me into the royal palace; and, since He is a King, He brought forth a banner with His own brave insignia, and He waved it over me while I was sitting at the table- and the motto of that banner was love.

She grew very full with this. It was such a grand thing to find a great Saviour, a triumphant Saviour, an exalted Saviour! But it was too much for her, and she became sick of soul with the excessive glory of what she had learned; and do you see what her heart craves for? She longs for her first simple joys, those countrified delights. "Comfort me with apples," she says. Nothing but the old joys will revive her. Did you ever feel like that? I have been satiated with delight in the love of Christ as a glorious exalted Saviour when I have seen Him riding on His white horse, and going forth conquering and to conquer; I have been overwhelmed when I have beheld Him in the midst of the throne, with all the brilliant assembly of angels and archangels adoring Him, and my thought has gone forward to the day when He shall descend with all the pomp of God, and make all kings and princes shrink into nothingness before the infinite majesty of His glory.

Then I have felt as though, at the sight of Him, I must fall at His feet as dead; and I have wanted somebody to come and tell me over again "the old, old story" of how He died in order that I might be saved. His 'throne' overpowers me, let me gather fruit from His 'cross'. Bring me apples from "the tree" again. I am awe-struck while in the palace, let me get away into the woods again. Give me an apple plucked from the tree, such as I have given out to boys and girls in His family- such an apple as this: "Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Or this- "This man receives sinners." Give me a promise from the basket of the covenant. Give me the simplicity of Christ, let me be a child and feast on apples again, if Jesus is the apple tree. I hunger to go back to Christ on the tree in my stead-- Christ overshadowing me, Christ feeding me. This is the happiest state to live in. Lord, evermore give us these apples!

You recollect the old story we told, years ago, of Jack the converted huckster who used to sing,

"I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all,

But Jesus Christ is my all in all."

Those who knew him were astonished at his constant composure. They had a world of doubts and fears, and so they asked him why he never doubted. "Well," he said, "I can't doubt but that I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all, for I know that, and feel it every day. And why should I doubt that Jesus Christ is my all in all? for He says He is." "Oh!" said his questioner, "I have my ups and downs." "I don't," said Jack; "I can never go up, for in myself I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all; and I cannot go down, for Jesus Christ is my all in all."

Jack wanted to join the church, and they said he must tell his conversion experience. He said, "All my experience is that I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all." "Well," they said, "when you come before the church-meeting, the minister may ask you questions." "I can't help it," said Jack, "all I know I will tell you; and this is all I know-

I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all,

But Jesus Christ is my all in all."

He was admitted into the church, and continued with the brethren, walking in holiness; but that was still all his experience, and you could not get him beyond it. "Why," said one brother, "I sometimes feel so full of grace, I feel so advanced in sanctification, that I begin to be very happy." "I never do," said Jack; "I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all." "But then," said the other, "I go down again, and think I am not saved, because I am not as sanctified as I used to be." "But I never doubt my salvation," said Jack, "because Jesus Christ is my all in all, and He never alters." That simple story is grandly instructive, for it sets forth a plain man's faith in a plain salvation; it is the likeness of a soul under the apple tree, resting in the shade, and feasting on the fruit.

Now, at this time I want you to think of Jesus, not as a Prince, but as an apple tree; and when this is done, I ask you to sit down under His shadow. It is not much to do. Any child, when it is hot, can sit down in the shade.

I want you next to feed on Jesus: any simpleton can eat apples when they are ripe upon the tree. Come and take Christ, then. You who never came before, come now. Come and welcome. You who have come often, and have entered into the palace, and are reclining at the banqueting table, you lords and princes of Christianity, come to the common woods and to the common apple tree where poor saints are shaded and fed. You had better come under the apple tree, like poor sinners such as I am, and be once more shaded with boughs and comforted with apples, for else you may faint beneath the glories of the palace. The best of saints are never better than when they eat their original fare, and are comforted with the apples which were their first gospel feast.

May the Lord Himself bring forth His own sweet fruit to you! Amen.

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