Why are we having an
issue on sowing seed, gardening, and fruit-bearing in January, of all months,
and on the heels of a horticultural issue in 2001 about pruning branches and
the like?

    1. January is when
serious gardeners in northern climates begin receiving seed catalogs in the
mail.

    2. Our readers who live
in southern climates and south of the equator may already be gardening when
they receive this issue.

    3. Those of us who are
kept indoors by the snow and cold of winter may enjoy more quiet time during
this season to cultivate our spiritual lives as gardens of the Lord.

     4. In the March-April
2001 issue of Words of Truth the emphasis was on God’s chastening of
believers (corresponding to pruning branches of a vine or fruit tree) to help
increase our fruitfulness. In the present issue the focus is more on what we as
believers are and should be to the Lord as His garden, for His joy and
pleasure.                   The Editor

 

 

 

    “A sower went out to sow
his seed:and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down,
and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as
it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell
among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell
on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had
said these things, he cried, He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke
8:5-8).

    Here is how the Lord
Jesus explained this parable to His disciples:“The seed is the Word of God.”
Let us be clear about this. We are to give God’s Word, not our own thoughts and
imaginations. The seed is the Word and those who are children of God should sow
the seed. What about the different classes of hearers? “Those by the way side
are those who hear; then comes the devil and takes away the Word out of their
hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12). They listen
casually, pay attention for a while, and then become occupied with other
things. “Then comes the devil and takes away the Word out of their hearts, lest
they should believe and be saved.” You remember the apostle Paul’s words to the
Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved”
(Acts 16:31). People say that it is too simple, that it is too easy a way. One
cannot be saved just by be­lieving the gospel. But even the devil knows that
you can! We are told that “he who believes on the Son has everlasting life”
(John 3:36). Do you object to this? Stop and think what has trans­pired that
you might have everlasting life by believ­ing. “For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). You see you cannot separate the
last part from the first part of that verse. God has already given His only Son
to settle the sin question. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). The Son of Man had to be
lifted up on the cross in order that you might be saved. The devil knows this,
and that is why he tries to take the Word away from you. That is why we who are
servants of God are so eager to have you trust Christ at once because we know
how the devil will bring in other things to try to get you not to believe.

    “Those on the rock are
those who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root,
which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). It
is not always a good sign when people seem to receive the Word with joy. A dear
friend of mine told me of a young woman who was frivolous and careless all
during a meeting one evening. When he returned the next night some­one came up
and said, “You remember that girl who was in the service last evening; well,
she has found peace at last.” The preacher inquired, “Did she ever find
trouble?” The servant of God must present to the people the truth of God so
that they may see their need of repentance; then when they judge themselves in
the sight of God, He gives peace when they be­lieve the Word. But when people
receive the Word only with joy, it is often like the soil in which seed is sown
which is just barely covering the top of the rocks. It is generally an evidence
of shallowness when people who have known no real exercise about their sins
profess to receive the message of the gospel with gladness. God’s way is to
wound that He may heal (Deut. 32:39). Men need to see their need in order to
appreciate the remedy. It is a great mistake to try to lead souls to make a
profession of faith in Christ who have never known what it is to face their
sins in the presence of God. This is the root-cause of much of the falling away
after so-called “revivals,” where many, under emotional stress, or
over-persuasion, have made a profession of faith, but with no exercise of
conscience or repent­ance.

    “And that which fell
among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with
cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection”
(Luke 8:14). They have heard and really have been quite concerned, but they are
so occupied with the cares and pleasures of this life that they bring no fruit
to perfection. These are people who have been interested to some extent in the
gospel message, but are far more interested in the things of this life such as
pleasure-seeking, money-making, and similar things. Many of these objects may
be innocent enough in themselves, but if you become so occupied with them that
you forget your responsibility to God, you will be sorry all through eternity
that you did not put the things of the Lord first.

    “But that on the good ground
are they who, in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it and
bring forth fruit with patience” Luke 8:15). “An honest and good heart”! Does
not the Bible say that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desper­ately
wicked” (Jer. 17:9)? What then is meant by a good and honest heart? It is
referring to a person who says, “I know I have been wrong and occupied with the
wrong things, but I am going to face these things and acknowledge my sins and
confess them to God.” When a man takes that stand, then he is honest before
God.

    When a man condemns
himself and says, “I have sinned,” then the rest is easy. At last he has
reached the place where God can justify him.

    The four classes of
hearers are found wherever the gospel is preached. Some pay no attention and
the devil plucks away the good seed. Some give apparent heed, but there is no
realization of their guilty condition before God. They accept the gospel
mentally, even gladly, but soon give evidence that there was no exercise of
conscience. Others are seri­ously perturbed and appear to be earnest believers,
but the things of this world are soon seen to be far more important in their
eyes than spiritual realities. A fourth group face their true condition before
God, confess their sinfulness and acknowledge their guilt. Trusting in Christ
they enter into peace, a peace that abides, the fruits of which are seen in the
life.

    The seed is the same in
each instance. It is the attitude of the hearer that is different. Some are
utterly careless, others effervescent and easily moved, but vacillating. Others
again are in earnest to begin with, but allow other interests to crowd out
spiritual things. Then there are those who are seeking to know God and are
ready to receive His Word when it is presented to them. These bear fruit to
perfection, and so glorify the Father. Fruit-bearing is the proof of spiritual
life. If there be no fruit, profession is a mere sham, as the after­-experience
will soon make manifest.

    (From Addresses on the
Gospel of Luke; used by permission of Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., Neptune, NJ.)

 

    Leaving home for a few
days’ absence, we lowered the window shades and closed the doors. But we had
left behind us in that dark house a beautiful little plant. Upon our return we
soon discovered that a great change had taken place in it. Its freshness and
beauty had passed away and the flower had greatly wilted. We lost no time in
letting in both sunshine and fresh air; then we poured water upon and around
the plant.

    Lacking those three
things essential to plant life—sunlight, fresh air, and water—it had suffered
and withered. With the loving care that ministered these things to it again,
its freshness, color, and bloom began to reappear, and it made us rejoice. It
seemed to smile in our faces and be grateful for the care bestowed. At the same
time we had learned a valuable spiritual lesson:

    The Plant spoke to
us of each plant of our heavenly Father’s planting—those who form part of His
garden (Matt. 15:13; Cant. 4:12-16).

    Sunlight, so
necessary for the health and beauty of the plant, speaks of communion of heart
with our Lord now in the heavens. He is the true “Sun of righteousness” (Mal.
4:2).

    Water that
ministers to the life of the plant is a symbol of the precious ministry of the
Holy Spirit by means of the Word of God. Ministry like this, day by day, is the
sustaining power of the Christian’s life. It puts freshness and beauty upon it.

    Fresh Air, so
imperative for a healthy condition, speaks of the moral and spiritual
atmosphere in which we live and move day by day, including the people with whom
we enjoy heart-to-heart communion, and the things with which we are occupied.

    We might pause for a
little and take warning concerning these three essentials to all life:

    Sunlight. How
diligently we need to guard ourselves lest there be any neglect of communion of
heart and feeling with our Lord and Saviour. The least neglect in this respect
will show itself soon. It was communion with Him that made the faces of Moses
and Stephen to shine (Exod. 34:35; Acts 6:15). Neglecting this, the lovely
graces and the spirituality of the Christian life will disappear (2 Cor. 3:18;
Eph. 5:8-14).

    Water. There will
be no lack of the enjoyment of the Spirit’s ministry if communion of heart with
Christ is sought and enjoyed. It is the Spirit’s ministry, through the medium
of the Holy Scripture, that puts us in touch with Christ where He now is in the
heavenly glory. This precious ministry to God’s people is as the water to
nourish and sustain the life—to impart bloom, freshness, and beauty, and fill
the life with such fragrance as we should look for from plants in the King’s
garden.

    Fresh Air. No
plant of God’s planting can thrive except in the atmosphere of the new
creation. Where can the devoted child of God find such an atmosphere? How
important the question and what exercise and searching of heart the subject
requires:“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1
John 2:16). Well might we search ourselves and ask, “What is the fellowship
that I seek? Is it that of the Father and the Son, or that of the world?”

    How we are drawn to the
little plant to learn from it the serious lessons from the school of God’s creation! Properly learned they will lead the soul away from the
world-bordering spirit of the times in which we live, when the theater, the
opera, the novel, the loose literature, and the card games [and their
modern-day correlates] are often found with the profession of Christianity. As
impure air robs the plant of its freshness, this spirit robs the Christian life
of all spirituality! (Rom. 12:1,2; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 2 Tim. 2:19-22).

    May we, in view of all
this, seek the bright sunlight, the good water, and the pure atmosphere
of communion with the Father and the Son. Then growth, freshness, and
fruitfulness will result, gladdening both God and His people.

 

* * * * *

 

     One great thing we have
to seek is that communion with Christ be as strong as all the doctrines we hold
or teach. Without that, the doctrines themselves will have no force.                      J.N.
Darby

 

    “When you shall besiege a
city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy
the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them; for you may eat of them, and
you shall not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ
them in the siege; only the trees which you know that they be not trees for
meat, you shall destroy and cut them down; and you shall build bulwarks against
the city that makes war with you, until it be subdued” (Deut. 20:19,20).

    Many are the beneficial
lessons that the Holy Spirit has put before us by means of the instruction
given to Israel. We are familiar with the fact that the things that happened
unto them were our types, and written for our learning. And such is the passage
quoted above. Just as, when God com­manded Israel saying, “You shall not muzzle
the ox that treads out the corn,” He had His own servants in mind (as so
clearly shown us by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 9:9-14), so here may we not see
pictured by the “trees good for food,” these same servants in another aspect,
and made the objects of the Lord’s particular care?

    The children of Israel were admonished against all reck­lessness and waste in felling standing timber when
they besieged the cities of the land. They were carefully to ascer­tain the
character of each particular tree before venturing to lift an ax against it.
All fruit trees were to be spared because they were part of God’s gracious
provision for min­istering food to His people.

    May we not say that God
would have us make the same distinction today? There are trees to the very
roots of which the ax must be laid; trees that are either mere cumberers of the
ground, or producing only that which is noxious and poisonous. Such are the
present day advocates of human righteousness as a basis of acceptance with God,
or the propagators of wicked teachings that deny the very founda­tions of the
faith. Soldiers of the Lord of Hosts may be assured of His approval when they
use the ax against these—exposing their fallacies. “Every plant,” said the Lord
Jesus, “that My heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.” To oppose
fearlessly such evil teachers and denounce their doctrines and practices is in
accord with both the Spirit of the Lord Jesus and His apostles. None reproved
hypocritical pretensions more scathingly than Christ Him­self. No modern
controversialist, with any claim to piety, would be likely to use stronger
words than those of John the Baptist when he sternly arraigned the “generation
of vipers” of his day. Tremendously telling are the denunciations of the
apostle Paul when necessity compelled him to meet the errors of false teachers
troubling the early Church. John, Peter, and Jude did not hesitate to decry the
antichrists, the purveyors of damnable heresies, and the ungodly men “turning
the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and deny­ing the only Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ,” who were creeping in among the saints and seeking to
overthrow their most holy faith.

    But, be it noted, those
so solemnly accused and vigor­ously combated were not erring saints or brethren
with mistaken views, but they were relentless “enemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things.”
And wherever such are found today, and are manifestly proven to be such, they
should be dealt with in the same way.

    But there is grave danger
lest the ax be lifted up against another class altogether—the fruit-bearing trees—whom
the Lord has forbidden our judging or condemning. Every fruit tree is the
object of His tender solicitude. Such are truly born of the Spirit, and genuine
lovers of our Lord Jesus Christ. They may at times, in their zeal for God, or
their earnest passion for the souls of lost men, overstep bounds and use
methods of which their more conservative or better instructed brethren disapprove,
but they are the Lord’s ser­vants and He has said, “Who are you who judges
another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.”

    The spirit of criticism
may lead to very unhappy results, and often one is in danger of finding himself
arrayed against people and movements which God is owning and blessing. The
utmost care is required to distinguish things that differ—that what is of God
and what is of Satan may not come into the same sweeping condemnation. And our
Lord Him­self has given us the rule whereby we may make this dis­tinction. He
has said, “By their fruits you shall know them.” A corrupt tree produces
corrupt fruit, whereas a good tree brings forth good fruit. In either case, the
fruit may not always be the same in quantity or quality, but it will be either
deleterious or “good for food.” Because healthful fruit is sometimes small, or
not up to the standard, one does not necessarily chop down the tree, but
rather, wisely uses the pruning knife and purges it that it may bring forth
more and better fruit.

    This pruning process is
one that all God’s fruit trees have at times to undergo. Often He uses one
servant to correct and help another; but this is accomplished far better by a
kindly personal admonition, or a brotherly effort to instruct, than by unkind
criticism and a hard judging spirit. A beautiful example of this gracious care
for one of God’s fruit trees is given us in the Book of Acts, in the case of
Apollos whose earnestness and love for the Scriptures ap­pealed to the hearts
of Priscilla and Aquila, though he was not at all up to the standard of New
Testament truth. He had not gotten beyond the baptism of John. But this godly
couple, instead of exposing his ignorance to others, or round­ly denouncing him
as a legalist without true gospel light, took him into their home, and there in
true Christian love expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. What
precious and abiding fruit was the result!

    It is to be regretted
that the same gracious spirit does not always characterize us when we meet
with, or hear of, those who are manifesting similar devotedness, while igno­rant
of much that we may value. How senseless the folly that leads us often to array
ourselves against such servants of Christ, in place of manifesting a godly
concern for them. We thoughtlessly lift our axes against God’s fruit trees and
would destroy where we might save. Many a one who is ignorant of such precious
truth is nevertheless bearing fruit in the salvation of souls and the refreshment
of the spirits of believers; while, on the other hand, one may have a very
clear intellectual grasp of divine principles and understand much that is
called high truth, who produces very little of this same blessed fruit.

    Oh, beloved brethren, let
us keep our axes sharp for the deadly trees of sin and fundamental error that
abound on every side; but shall we not seek grace from God that we may have
spiritual discernment to refrain from damaging in any way trees that are good
for food?

    Satan and his emissaries
can be depended upon to be­stow enough abuse on real Christians and true
servants of the Lord Jesus without their fellow servants joining in the same
unworthy business. Let us not forget the words already quoted:“Who are you who
judges another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.” And the
Holy Spirit goes on to say, “Yes, he shall be upheld; for God is able to make
him stand” (Rom. 14:4).

    (From Help and Food, Vol.34.)

 

    One of the secrets of
good gardening is to be an indefatigable enemy of weeds. Preventing their
growth necessitates the stirring of the soil; and the more the soil is stirred,
the better the crop grows and the greater the yield. So with the Christian:the
more sincerely and earnestly he takes sides with God against himself, the more
he will grow; the weeds of his evil nature will not be able to develop, and
this will cause the new nature to have deeper roots, greater growth, richer and
more abun­dant fruit.

    This means, of course,
that such a gardener must be industrious, early and late, against the enemy,
because of his love for the goodly plants that grow in his garden.

    And what is the finest
garden of earth compared with the garden of heaven in the believer’s soul? An
earthly garden may be worth having much care and labor bestowed upon it; it may
be worth rising up early and staying up late to tend it; and all this toil, all
this enriching and watering, after all, is but for a short season. What, then, of
this wonderful garden of the soul, whose fragrance and fruit are to abide forever?
Is it not worth-while to cultivate it? Shall we be industrious for what passes
away, and careless and idle for what does not pass away?

    Most earthly gardeners enjoy
their labor. They are happy in their toil, even before fruit-time comes.
Just so, is there not holy joy in all our Christian labor and exercises of
soul? Can we fall on our knees in supplication about this or that temptation,
fear, need, or service without rising up again comforted and blessed? Does not
every victory over ourselves and our circumstances make us sing and praise the
grace of our great High Priest, and increase our acquaintance with God? And is
not this, of itself, true bliss?

    May the Lord break up all
our slothfulness of heart, all our apathy concerning sin—not sin in our
brother, but sin in ourself! We can easily be fierce against the mote in
our brother’s eye while blind to the beam in our own.

    May He also break up all
self-complacency, for there is no weed more destructive in the garden of the
soul. We are so proper, so faultless, so free from what would mar the lofty
opinion which our fellows have of us, that we can scarcely realize our
incessant dependence on Him who is at the right hand of God, making
intercession for us.

    Let all weeds be rooted
out, that Christ, Christ alone, Christ our righteousness, our sanctification,
our redemption, may stand before the soul as our all. Thus will our individual
souls flourish, and practical unity will be with love, holiness, and power.

    (From Help and Food,
Vol. 45.)

A garden contemplation suits,

    And may instruction
yield,

Sweeter than all the flowers
and fruits

    With which the spot is
filled.

 

Eden was Adam’s dwelling place,

    While blessed with
innocence;

But sin o’erwhelmed him with
disgrace,

    And drove the rebel
thence.

 

Oft as the garden-walk we
tread,

    We should bemoan his
fall;

The trespass of our legal
head

    In ruin plunged us all.

 

The garden of Gethsemane

    The second Adam saw,

Oppressed with woe, to set us
free

    From the avenging law.

 

How stupid we, who can
forget,

    With gardens in our
sight,

His agonies and bloody sweat,

    In that tremendous night!

 

His Church as a fair garden
stands,

    Which walls of love enclose;

Each tree is planted by His
hands,

    And by His blessing
grows.

 

Believing hearts are gardens
too,

    For grace has sown its
seeds,

Where once, by nature,
nothing grew,

    But thorns and worthless
weeds.

 

Such themes to those who
Jesus love,

    May constant joys afford,

And make a barren desert
prove

    The garden of the Lord.

 

    (From Olney Hymns.)

 

    “A garden inclosed is My
sister, My spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your plants are an
orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire with spikenard,
spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:a fountain of gardens, a well of
living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, you
south; blow upon My garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my
Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits. I am come into My
garden, My sister, My spouse:I have gathered My myrrh with my spice; I have
eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk:eat, O
friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” (Cant. 4:12-5:1).

    With these choice words
from the Song of Solomon, the Bridegroom likens His bride to a garden of
delights. Probably, all believers, with hearts opened to understand the
Scriptures, would agree that in the Bridegroom, or the “Beloved,” of the Song
of Solomon we have a beautiful figure of Christ. Most would also concede that
in the interpretation of the Song, the bride sets forth Christ’s earthly
people.

    However, while the strict
interpretation of the bride has Christ’s earthly people in view, we are surely
warranted in making an application to the Church, the heavenly bride of Christ.
Furthermore, if we may discover in this garden the excellencies that Christ
would find in His heavenly bride, do we not at the same time learn what the
love of Christ is looking for in the hearts of those who compose the bride? May
we then, for a little, meditate upon this garden, with its spring, its fruit,
its spices, and its living waters, as describing what the Lord would have our
hearts to be for Himself.

    First, we notice that the
Bridegroom always speaks of the garden as “My garden,” while the bride delights
to own it as “His garden.” “Awake O north wind … blow upon My garden,”
says the Bridegroom. The bride replies, “Let My beloved come into His garden.”
The application is plain:the Lord claims our hearts for Himself. “My son, give
Me your heart,” says the Preacher (Prov. 23:26). “Sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts,” is the exhortation of an apostle (1 Pet. 3:15). Another apostle can
pray that “Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph. 3:17).

    It is not simply our time,
our means, our brains, and our busy service that the Lord desires, but first,
and above all, He claims our affections. We may give all our goods to the poor,
and our bodies to be burned, but without love it will profit nothing. The Lord
is still saying to us, “Give Me your heart.”

    “You have left your first
love” was a solemn word indicating that whatever excellencies belonged to the
believers thus addressed, their hearts had ceased to be a garden for the Lord.
As one has said, “A wife may take care of the house and fulfill all her duties
so as to leave nothing undone for which her husband could find fault; but if
her love for him has diminished, will all her service satisfy him if his love
to her remains the same as at first?” (J.N. Darby).

    Above all, then, the Lord
claims the undivided affection of our hearts. The garden must be His garden.
Moreover, if the Lord claims our hearts to be a garden for His delight, they
must have the marks of the garden that is according to His mind.

    As we read this beautiful
description of the garden of the Lord, we note five outstanding features that
set forth in figure what the Lord would have our hearts to be for Himself.
First, the garden of the Lord is an enclosed garden. Secondly, it is a watered
garden, with its spring shut up and its fountain sealed. Thirdly, it is a fruitful
garden—a paradise of pomegranates with precious fruits. Fourthly, it is a fragrant
garden, with trees of frankincense and all the chief spices. Lastly, it is a refreshing
garden from whence “the living waters” flow, and the fragrance of its spices is
carried to the world around.

     A Garden Enclosed.
If the heart is to be kept as a garden for the pleasure of the Lord, it must be
as “a garden enclosed.” This speaks of a heart separate from the world,
preserved from evil and set apart for the Lord.

    May we not say that in
the Lord’s last prayer we learn the desire of His heart that His people should
be as “a garden enclosed”? We hear Him tell the Father that His own are a separate
people, for He can say, “They are not of this world, even as I am not of the
world.” Again, He desires that they may be a preserved people, for He prays,
“Keep them from the evil.” Above all, He prays that they may be a sanctified
people, for He says, “Sanctify them through thy truth” (John 17:14-17).

    Does not the Preacher
exhort us to keep our hearts as “a garden enclosed” when he says, “Keep your
heart more than anything that is guarded” (Prov. 4:23 JND)? Again we do well to
heed the Lord’s own words, “Let your loins be girded about” (Luke 12:35).
Unless the girdle of truth holds in our affections and thoughts, how quickly
our minds will be drawn away by the things of this world, and the heart cease
to be “a garden enclosed.”

    Again, the apostle James
desires that our hearts may be preserved from evil when he warns us, “If you
have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not
against the truth … for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and
every evil work” (Jas. 3:14-16). Never has there been a scene of confusion and
strife among the people of God that has not had its hidden root—of envy and
strife—in the heart. We may be sure that the heart that entertains bitterness,
envying, and strife will be no garden for the Lord.

    How necessary, then, to
have our hearts kept in separation from the world and preserved from evil.
Nevertheless, the refusal of the world and the flesh will not be enough to
constitute our hearts “a garden enclosed.” The Lord desires that our hearts may
be sanctified, or set apart for His pleasure, by being occupied with the truth
and all that is according to Christ. Does not the apostle Paul set before the
Philippians “a garden enclosed”—a heart sanctified for the Lord—when he says,
“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest [or noble],
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report:if there be any virtue and if
there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8)?

    If the heart is full of
cares, fretting over wrongs, and full of bitterness towards those who may have
acted badly towards us, if we are entertaining evil imaginations, malicious
thoughts, and vengeful feelings towards a brother, it is very certain our
hearts will be no garden for the Lord.

    If then we would have our
hearts freed from things that defile and turn the heart into a barren waste,
choking the garden with weeds, let us follow the instruction of the apostle
Paul when he tells us, “Be careful [or anxious] for nothing; but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God” (Phil. 4:6). Having, like Hannah of old, poured out our hearts before
the Lord and unburdened our minds of all the cares, sorrows, and trials that were
pressing upon our spirits, we shall find that “the peace of God, that passes
all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (verse
7). Thus set free from all that might come in between the soul and God, our
hearts will be at liberty to enjoy the things of Christ, and our minds free to
“think on these things”—these holy and pure things that should mark one whose
heart is “a garden enclosed.”

    A Watered Garden.
The heart that is set apart for the Lord will have its hidden source of
refreshment and joy. It will be a garden with “a spring shut up [and] a
fountain sealed” (Cant. 4:12). A spring is an unfailing supply; a fountain
rises up to its source. The prophet could say of one who walks according to the
mind of the LORD that his soul shall be “like a watered garden, and like a
spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isa. 58:11). To the woman of Sychar
the Lord spoke of giving “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting
life,” to be “in” the believer. The world is entirely dependent upon surrounding
circumstances for its passing joy; the believer has a spring of joy within—the
hidden life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.

    As the spring of life,
the Holy Spirit meets all our spiritual needs by guiding us into “all truth”;
as the fountain of life, He engages our hearts with Christ above. The Lord can
say, “The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me”
(John 15:26)—Christ in His new place in the glory. Thus as the Spring, He
refreshes our souls with the truth; as the Fountain springing up to its source,
He engages our hearts with Christ.

    Let us, however, remember
that the spring, which is the source of blessing, is “a spring shut up”
and the fountain is “a fountain sealed.” Does this not remind us that
the source of blessing in the believer is sealed to this world, and wholly
apart from the flesh? The Lord speaks of the Comforter as One whom “the world
cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him; but you know Him
for He dwells with you and shall be in you” (John 14:17). Again we read, “The
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary the one to the other” (Gal. 5:17).

    Alas! we may mind the
things of the flesh and turn aside to the world, only to find we grieve the
Spirit so that our hearts, instead of being as a watered garden, become but a
dry and barren waste.

    A Fruitful Garden.
The “spring” and the “fountain” will turn the garden of the Lord into a
fruitful garden—“an orchard of pomegranates with precious fruits” (Cant. 4:13).
The ungrieved Spirit will produce in our hearts “the fruit of the Spirit”
which, the apostle tells us, “is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [or self-control]” (Gal. 5:22,23). What,
indeed, are these precious fruits of the Spirit but the reproduction of the
character of Christ in the believer? The fountain, rising up to its source,
occupies with Christ and His excellencies; thus, beholding “the glory of the
Lord, [we] are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18).
Thus the heart becomes a garden of the Lord bearing precious fruit for the
delight of His heart.

    A Fragrant Garden.
Not only is the garden of the Lord a garden of precious fruits, but a garden of
spices from which sweet odors arise. In Scripture, fruit speaks of the excellencies
of Christ, but the spices, with their fragrance, speak of worship that has
Christ for its object. In worship there is no thought of receiving blessing
from Christ, but of bringing the homage of our hearts to Christ. When the wise
men from the East found themselves in the presence of “the young Child,” they
fell down and “worshiped Him,” and “presented unto Him gifts:gold and
frankincense and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11). When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with
“a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly” (John 12:3), she was not, as on
other occasions, at His feet as a receiver to get instruction, or to find
sympathy in her sorrow; she was there as a giver to render the worship
of a heart filled with the sense of His blessedness. It was good to be at His
feet to hear His word, and, again, to be at His feet to receive comfort in
sorrow; but in neither case do we read of the ointment with its odor. But when
she was at His feet as a worshiper, with her precious ointment, we read, “The
whole house was filled with the odor of the ointment” (John 12:1-3).

    The Philippian saints in
their financial gift to the apostle may indeed have shown forth some of the
excellencies of Christ—His comfort of love and compassions—thus bringing forth
fruit that would abound to their account. In addition, there was in their gift
the spirit of sacrifice and worship which was as “an odor of a sweet smell, a
sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God” (Phil. 2:1; 4:17,18).

    In our day, if our hearts
are to be a garden of the Lord, let us not forget that the Lord not only looks
for the precious fruit of the Spirit, reproducing in us something of His lovely
traits, but also the spirit of worship that rises up to Him as a sweet odor.

    A Refreshing Garden.
Lastly, the Lord would have His garden to be a source of refreshment to the
world around—a garden from whence flow the “living waters.” Thus the Lord can
speak of the believer, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, as being a source of
blessing to a needy world, as He says, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water” (John 7:38,39).

    Thus we learn from the
Song of Solomon that the Lord would gladly possess our hearts as a garden of
delights for Himself. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, for He
desires to come in and dwell within our hearts. If we are slow to let Him in,
He may say, as the Bridegroom in the Song, “Awake, O north wind; and come you
south; blow upon My garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.” He may allow
adverse circumstances, trials and sorrows, in order to drive us to Himself, so
that we may say like the bride, “Let my Beloved come into His garden” (Cant.
4:16).

    If we open to Him we
shall experience the truth of His own words, “If any man hear My voice and open
the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Rev.
3:20). In like spirit, when the bride says, “Let my Beloved come into his
garden,” the Bridegroom at once responds, “I am come into My garden, My sister,
My spouse:I have gathered My myrrh with My spice; I have eaten My honeycomb
with My honey” (Cant. 5:1).

    Here is a summary of what
we have learned from this passage in the Song of Solomon:

    1. If the heart of the
believer is kept separate from the world, preserved from evil, and set apart
for the Lord, it will become like “a garden enclosed.”

    2. In that garden will be
found a spring of secret joy and refreshment that, like a fountain, rises to
its source.

    3. The fountain,
springing up to its source, will bring forth precious fruit, the excellencies
of Christ.

    4. The fruit that speaks
of the moral traits of Christ in the heart of the believer, will lead to
worship that rises up as a sweet odor to the heart of Christ.

    5. The heart that goes
out in worship to Christ will become a source of blessing to the world around.

    In the light of these
Scriptures we may well pray the prayer of the apostle Paul when he bows his
knees to the Father and asks “that He would grant you, according to the riches
of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph. 3:14-17).