Scripture Reading: S. S. 4:10—5:1
Ⅰ
We need to see the vision of eternity, live the life of eternity, and work the work of eternity—Eccl. 3:11; 1:2, 14; S. S. 1:1; Hag. 2:7a:
A
The vision of eternity is the vision of God's eternal economy, which, in brief, is God falling in love with His chosen man—Isa. 54:5; Matt. 9:15; Rev. 21:2:
１
God became a man to court us; now He wants us to court Him by our becoming divine for His expression—cf. Rom. 5:10; Hymns, #477, stanza 2.
２
The church age is an age of "dating," an age in which we are betrothed to Christ; our wedding day as Christ's bride will be the kingdom of one thousand years; and our marriage life as Christ's wife will be the New Jerusalem for eternity—2 Cor. 11:2-3; Rev. 19:7-8; 21:1—22:5.
B
The life of eternity is the life that is really life (1 Tim. 6:19), Christ Himself, whom we enjoy to the uttermost by loving Him to the uttermost (S. S. 1:2-4).
C
The work of eternity is to betroth others to Christ as their Husband, to beautify them with the divine attributes worked into them to become their human virtues for God's expression—2 Cor. 11:2; 1 Cor. 3:12a; cf. S. S. 1:10-11.
Ⅱ
"How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! / How much better is your love than wine, / And the fragrance of your ointments / Than all spices!"—4:10:
A
The seeker says that the Lord's love is better than wine, but the Lord says that the seeker's love is much better than wine; this shows that the believers' appreciation of the Lord's love cannot match the Lord's appreciation of the believers' love—cf. 1:2; Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 5:14.
B
Through loving the Lord, the seeker is saturated with the Spirit, molded by the Spirit in submission to the Spirit, to emanate and become a fragrance of Christ—S. S. 4:10b, 11b; John 12:3; 2 Cor. 2:15.
Ⅲ
"Your lips drip fresh honey, my bride; / Honey and milk are under your tongue"—S. S. 4:11a:
A
Milk and honey, which are the mingling of both the animal life and the vegetable life, are two aspects of the life of Christ—the redeeming aspect and the generating aspect—Deut. 8:8; 32:13-14; John 1:29; 12:24; Matt. 26:26-28.
B
Especially when we are weak in spirit and come to the Lord to experience and apply Him, we sense that He is the milk and the honey, the richness and the sweetness of the life of Christ—2 Cor. 12:9-10.
C
Honey restores the stricken ones, and milk feeds the new ones; the seeker has stored so many riches within her that food seems to be under her tongue, and she can dispense to the needy ones at any time—Isa. 50:4; Eph. 4:29.
D
This sweetness is not produced overnight but comes from a long period of gathering, inward activity, and careful storage—cf. Exo. 29:30; Psa. 92:13-14.
Ⅳ
"A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, / A spring shut up, a fountain sealed… / A fountain in gardens, / A well of living water, / And streams from Lebanon"—S. S. 4:12, 15:
A
The church life is God's garden, God's farm, so that we may grow with the growth of God and be transformed with the riches of God to become God's building—Gen. 2:8; Col. 1:10; 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:9; Rev. 22:1-2; cf. Exo. 25:31-32.
B
God put man in the garden "to work it and to keep it"—Gen. 2:15:
１
Man's working the ground is that life, especially the tree of life, might grow for the fulfillment of the first aspect of God's purpose—for man to express God in His image; to work the ground is to deal with our heart to make it the good ground in which Christ can grow—1:26a; Matt. 13:3-23.
２
Man's keeping the ground is to protect the garden from God's enemy for the fulfillment of the second aspect of God's purpose—for man to deal with Satan by God's authority; to keep the ground is to leave no opening for Satan as the tree of knowledge, the tree of death—Gen. 1:26b; 2 Cor. 5:4; 11:3; 1 Cor. 15:26; cf. Lev. 5:2.
C
We enjoy Christ for the enjoyment and satisfaction of Christ; the Lord is every-thing to us so that He can enjoy everything out of us—S. S. 1:12-14; 4:12-14; 5:1:
１
As soon as the seeker gives an invitation to the Lord to come into His garden, the Lord responds; although we belong to the Lord after we have consecrated ourselves to Him, it is a constant consecration that brings the Lord into our garden—4:16b; 5:1; cf. Lev. 6:12.
２
Experienced believers often find that the latter consecration is harder than the first consecration, yet it is more glorious than the first; only this consecration will give the Lord the fruit of His labor—cf. Ezek. 47:1-5.
D
In this garden are a fountain and a well of living water; God the Father is the fountain, God the Son is the well, and God the Spirit is the flowing streams so that we may become the New Jerusalem—S. S. 4:15; John 4:14b.
Ⅴ
"Awake, O north wind; / And come, O south wind! / Blow upon my garden: / Let its spices flow forth"—S. S. 4:16a:
A
The north wind (cold, harsh, and bitter) and south wind (warm, gentle, and refreshing) are two different environments that the Lord uses to train the believers to enjoy Him as their secret of sufficiency—Phil. 4:11-13, 6-7; 1:20.
B
The Lord's seeker realizes that all problems come from within and not from without; she knows that as long as she is filled with the Spirit as the presence of the Triune God, she can happily live and express Christ in any environment.