The love of the Church extends beyond the person of the Bridegroom, and
reaches to everything connected with Him. “All thy garments smell of
myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they
have made thee glad.” His very vestments are precious in her esteem. She
rejoices to sing of Him in His priestly garments.
“The mitred crown, the embroidered vest,
With graceful dignity He wears;
And in full splendor on His breast
The sacred oracle appears.”
Arrayed in His royal robes, He is not less glorious in her eyes: she
loves to see His crown, and own her King. There is not a word which His
lip hath uttered, nor a place whereon His foot hath trodden, nor a
vessel which His hands have handled, which is not wholly consecrated in
her esteem. We are no worshippers of the ragged relics so fondly hoarded
by Rome; but we have other and far better memorials–holy things that
are of inestimable worth. His written Word, over which, we even now see
that loving hand moving as it did when, many a year ago, it wrote each
character; the echo of his departed voice not yet buried in silence; his
wine-cup not yet empty; his blood still flowing, and his benediction
still breathing peace upon us: all these still remain, and are valued
above all price. We esteem His ordinances, and we triumph in His
teaching, however the world-wise may contemn it. His service is our
delight; to stand at His gates is honor, and to run before His chariot
is bliss. As for His people, we greet them as saints, we call them our
brethren, and they are most near and dear to us for His sake. The
meanest beggar in His Church is of more account to us than the proudest
monarch out of it. “Because he belongs to Christ,” is always a
sufficient reason for the outflow of our affection; for all that is His
is dear to us.
“ Freely Give. ”
O Christian, whenever thou art inclined to an avaricious withholding
from the Church of God, think of thy Saviour giving up all that He had
to serve thee! And canst thou then–when thou beholdest self-denial so
noble–canst thou then be selfish, and regard thy dainties of more
account than their necessities, when the claims of the poor of the flock
are pressed upon thee? Remember Jesus; think thou seest Him looking upon thee, and saying, “I gave Myself for thee, and dost thou withhold
thyself from me? For if thou dost, thou knowest not my love in all its
heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths.”