Morning, December 2
Go To Evening Reading
“Thou art all fair, my love.”
Song of Solomon 4:7
The Lord’s admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description
of her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair , but “ all fair.” He views her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood and clothed
in his meritorious righteousness, and he considers her to be full
of comeliness and beauty. No wonder that such is the case, since it
is but his own perfect excellency that he admires; for the holiness,
glory, and perfection of his Church are his own glorious garments
on the back of his own well-beloved spouse. She is not simply pure,
or well-proportioned; she is positively lovely and fair! She has actual
merit! Her deformities of sin are removed; but more, she has through
her Lord obtained a meritorious righteousness by which an actual beauty
is conferred upon her. Believers have a positive righteousness given
to them when they become “accepted in the beloved” ( Eph. 1:6 ). Nor is the Church barely lovely, she is superlatively so. Her Lord styles her “Thou fairest among women.” She has a real worth and excellence which cannot be rivalled by all
the nobility and royalty of the world. If Jesus could exchange his
elect bride for all the queens and empresses of earth, or even for
the angels in heaven, he would not, for he puts her first and foremost—“fairest among women.” Like the moon she far outshines the stars. Nor is this an opinion
which he is ashamed of, for he invites all men to hear it. He sets
a “behold” before it, a special note of exclamation, inviting and arresting
attention. “ Behold , thou art fair, my love; behold , thou art fair” ( Song of Sol. 4:1 ). His opinion he publishes abroad even now, and one day from the
throne of his glory he will avow the truth of it before the assembled
universe. “Come, ye blessed of my Father” ( Matt. 25:34 ), will be his solemn affirmation of the loveliness of his elect.