PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Union and Communion; or, Thoughts on the Song of Solomon
Taylor, James Hudson, 1832-1905 · 17,477 words · 32 reading sections
Part 1
Produced by Free Elf, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Union and Communion…
19 wordsSECTION 2FOREWORD
THIS little book, whose design is to lead the devout Bible-student into the Green Pastures of the Good Shepherd, thence to the Banqueting House of the King, and thence to the service of the Vineyard, is one of the abiding legacies of Mr. Hudson Taylor to the Church. In the power of an evident unction from the Holy One,…
395 wordsSECTION 3J. STUART HOLDEN.
ST. PAUL'S, PORTMAN SQUARE, LONDON, W. _June 1, 1914._…
10 wordsSECTION 4INTRODUCTORY
THE great purpose towards which all the dispensational dealings of GOD are tending, is revealed to us in the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "That GOD may be all in all." With this agrees the teaching of our LORD in John xvii. 3: "And this is (the object of) life eternal, that they mi…
797 wordsSECTION 5Part 5
In each of these sections we shall find the speakers to be--the bride, the Bridegroom, and the daughters of Jerusalem; it is not usually difficult to ascertain the speaker, though in some of the verses different conclusions have been arrived at. The bride speaks of the Bridegroom as "her Beloved"; the Bridegroom speaks…
380 wordsSECTION 6THE TITLE
"_The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's._" WELL may this book be called _the_ Song of Songs! There is no song like it. Read aright, it brings a gladness to the heart which is as far beyond the joy of earthly things as heaven is higher than the earth. It has been well said that this is a song which grace alone can teac…
217 wordsSECTION 7THE UNSATISFIED LIFE AND ITS REMEDY
Cant. i. 2-ii. 7 THERE is no difficulty in recognizing the bride as the speaker in verses 2-7. The words are not those of one dead in trespasses and sins, to whom the LORD is as a root out of a dry ground--without form and comeliness. The speaker has had her eyes opened to behold His beauty, and longs for a fuller enj…
924 wordsSECTION 8Part 8
* * * * * But true love cannot be stationary; it must either decline or grow. Despite all the unworthy fears of our poor hearts, Divine love is destined to conquer. The bride exclaims:-- Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is as ointment poured forth; Therefore do the virgins lov…
782 wordsSECTION 9Part 9
Our attention is here drawn to a danger which is pre-eminently one of this day: the intense activity of our times may lead to zeal in service, _to the neglect of personal communion_; but such neglect will not only lessen the value of the service, but tend to incapacitate us for the highest service. If we are watchful o…
881 wordsSECTION 10Part 10
Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels. We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver. The bride is not only beautiful and useful to her LORD, she is also adorned, and it is His delight to add to her adornments. Nor are His gifts perishable flowers, or trinkets destitute of …
884 wordsSECTION 11Part 11
The citron is a beautiful evergreen, affording delightful shade as well as refreshing fruit. A humble wild flower herself, she recognizes her Bridegroom as a noble tree, alike ornamental and fruitful. Shade from the burning sun, refreshment and rest she finds in Him. What a contrast her present position and feelings to…
347 wordsSECTION 12FOOTNOTES:
[1] Loves = endearments, caresses. [2] The pronoun here and in chapter iii. 5, and viii. 4, should not be "he" as A.V., nor "it" as R.V., but "she."…
30 wordsSECTION 13COMMUNION BROKEN--RESTORATION
Cant. ii. 8-iii. 5 _"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them."_--Heb. ii. 1 (R.V.). AT the close of the first section we left the bride satisfied and at rest in the arms of her Beloved, who had charged the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up…
926 wordsSECTION 14Part 14
Arise, My love, My fair one, and come away. Can such pleading be in vain? Alas, it can, it was! In yet more touching words the Bridegroom continues:-- O My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place, Let Me see thy countenance, let Me hear thy voice: For sweet is thy voice, and thy co…
892 wordsSECTION 15Part 15
May we all, while living down here, in the world, but not of it, find our home in the heavenly places to which we have been raised, and in which we are seated together with CHRIST. Sent into the world to witness for our MASTER, may we ever be strangers there, ready to confess Him the true object of our soul's devotion.…
177 wordsSECTION 16FOOTNOTE:
[3] See note on p. 26.…
6 wordsSECTION 17THE JOY OF UNBROKEN COMMUNION
Cant. iii. 6-v. 1 O JESU, KING most wonderful, Thou CONQUEROR renown'd, Thou sweetness most ineffable, In whom all joys are found! Thee, JESU, may our voices bless; Thee may we love alone; And ever in our lives express The image of Thine own. WE have been mainly occupied in Sections I. and II. with the words and the …
881 wordsSECTION 18Part 18
Separation never comes from His side. He is always ready for communion with a prepared heart, and in this happy communion the bride becomes ever fairer, and more like to her LORD. She is being progressively changed into His image, from one degree of glory to another, through the wondrous working of the HOLY SPIRIT, unt…
896 wordsSECTION 19Part 19
The consecration of all to our MASTER, far from lessening our power to impart, increases both our power and our joy in ministration. The five loaves and two fishes of the disciples, first given up to and blessed by the LORD, were abundant supply for the needy multitudes, and grew, in the act of distribution, into a sto…
200 wordsSECTION 20COMMUNION AGAIN BROKEN--RESTORATION
Cant. v. 2-vi. 10 THE fourth section commences with an address of the bride to the daughters of Jerusalem, in which she narrates her recent sad experience, and entreats their help in her trouble. The presence and comfort of her Bridegroom are again lost to her; not this time by relapse into worldliness, but by slothfu…
926 wordsSECTION 21Part 21
When, all too late, the bride did arise, she seems to have been more concerned to anoint herself with the liquid myrrh than to speedily welcome her waiting LORD; more occupied with her own graces than with His desire. No words of welcome were uttered, though her heart failed within her; and the grieved One had withdraw…
911 wordsSECTION 22Part 22
Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy Beloved turned Him, That we may seek Him with thee? The bride replies:-- My Beloved is gone down to His garden, to the beds of spices, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine: He feedeth His flock…
436 wordsSECTION 23FOOTNOTE:
[4] The Church of Popular Opinion, as pointed out by the Rev. Charles Fox in an address at Keswick, as the Church of Philadelphia is the Church of Brotherly Love.…
30 wordsSECTION 24FRUITS OF RECOGNIZED UNION
Cant. vi. 11-viii. 4 IN the second and fourth sections of this book we found the communion of the bride broken; in the former by backsliding into worldliness, and in the latter through slothful ease and self-satisfaction. The present section, like the third, is one of unbroken communion. It is opened by the words of t…
867 wordsSECTION 25Part 25
He sees in her the beauties and the fruitfulness of the tall and upright palm, of the graceful and clinging vine, of the fragrant and evergreen citron. Grace has made her like the palm-tree, the emblem alike of uprightness and of fruitfulness. The fruit of the date-palm is more valued than bread by the Oriental travell…
863 wordsSECTION 26Part 26
she gladly exclaims. Now it is none of self or for self, but all of Thee and for Thee. And if such be the sweet fruits of going down to the garden of nuts, and caring for His garden with Him, she will need no constraining to continue in this blessed service. Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field; Let us lod…
566 wordsSECTION 27FOOTNOTE:
[5] See note on p. 26.…
6 wordsSECTION 28UNRESTRAINED COMMUNION
Cant. viii. 5-14 WE have now reached the closing section of this book, which, as we have seen, is a poem describing the life of a believer on earth. Beginning in Section I. (Cant. i. 2-ii. 7) with the unsatisfied longings of an espoused one--longings which could only be met by her unreserved surrender to the Bridegroo…
814 wordsSECTION 29Part 29
The High Priest bore the names of the twelve tribes upon his heart, each name being engraved as a seal in the costly and imperishable stone chosen by GOD, each seal or stone being set in the purest gold; he likewise bore the same names upon his shoulders, indicating that both the love and the strength of the High Pries…
850 wordsSECTION 30Part 30
In the little sister, as yet immature, may we not see the elect of GOD, given to CHRIST in GOD'S purpose, but not yet brought into saving relation to Him? And perhaps also those babes in CHRIST who as yet need feeding with milk and not with meat, but who, with such care, will in due time become experienced believers, f…
835 wordsSECTION 31Part 31
Very sweet is the presence of our LORD, as by His SPIRIT He dwells among His people, while they serve Him below; but here there are many thorns in every path, which call for watchful care; and it is meet that now we should suffer with our LORD, in order that we may hereafter be glorified together. The day, however, is …
155 wordsSECTION 32THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM
THE question is frequently asked, Who are represented by the daughters of Jerusalem? They are clearly not the bride, yet they are not far removed from her. They know where the Bridegroom makes His flock to rest at noon; they are charged by the Bridegroom not to stir up nor awaken His love when she rests, abiding in Hi…
423 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.