Sermons on the Song of Songs

WHAT IT IS TO KISS THE FEET, THE HAND, AND THE LIPS OF THE LORD.

' Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.1 — Cant. i. 1.

WE shall read to-day in the book of experience. Turn your minds inward upon yourselves, and let each of you examine his own conscience in regard to those things which are to be mentioned. I desire to make examination, whether to any of you it has been given to speak out of the deep desire of his heart, these words of the text which we are to consider. Not to all men does it belong to take these words upon their lips with sincere desire; he alone is able to do so, who has received even once only, the spiritual kiss

from the lips of Christ; him his own experience incessantly urges to obtain a renewal of that which he found so full of sweetness. It is my strong opinion that no one can comprehend what it is, save he who has experienced it; it is, as it were, a hidden manna; and he who tastes of it, still hungers for it again. It is a fountain sealed, from which no stranger may draw; but he who drinks of it still thirsts to drink again. Listen to one who had experienced that which he again asks for: Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation (Ps. li. 13). Let not a soul then which is laden with sin, and still subject to the passions of the flesh, which has not yet tasted the delights of the Holy Spirit, which is wholly ignorant of, and inexperienced in, inward joys; in short, a soul like mine, make the least pretension to such a degree of grace.

2. Nevertheless, to such a one I will point out the position in regard to this saving grace which is befitting to him. Let him not have the rashness to lift himself so high as to the lips of the Divine Bridegroom, but let him, with holy fear, lie with me at the Feet of that Lord so severe; let him, like the publican, tremble nor dare to lift up his eyes unto heaven (Luke xviii. 1 3), for fear lest his eyes, accustomed only to earthly gloom, should be dazzled by the light of heaven, should be blinded by its glory; and, being stricken by the unaccustomed splendour of that majesty, should be whelmed anew in a still deeper darkness. It is not for thee, O sinful soul, whosoever thou art, to regard that place and posture, in which the woman that had been a sinner and became a saint, laid down her sins and put on the garment of holiness, as being vile or contemptible. There the Ethiopian changed her skin, and, being restored to a new whiteness, was enabled to respond with as much confidence as truth to those who reproached her: Daughters of Jerusalem, tlwugh black, I am comely (Cant. i. 4). If you wonder how she was enabled to do this, or by what merits she obtained it, I will answer in a few words. She wept bitterly; she drew long sighs of remorse from the depths of her soul; her frame was convulsed with salutary sobs, and thus the deeply-seated poison was cast forth. The heavenly Physician came promptly to help; for His Word runneth very swiftly (Ps. cxlvii. 15). Is not the Word of God a medicine? It is so in truth, and a medicine strong and powerful, trying the very heart and reins (Ps. vii. 10). For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any Hvo edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. iv. 12). According to the example of this happy penitent, do thou also, O unhappy soul, prostrate thyself that thou mayst cease to be unhappy; prostrate thyself even to the earth, embrace His Feet, appease them with kisses, bedew them with thy tears; yet not that thou mayest wash them, but thyself; and that thou mayest become one of that flock of sheep newly shorn, which come up from the laver of cleansing (Cant. iv. 2). And do not have the boldness to lift up your countenance suffused

with tears of shame and grief, until you hear, you also, the words of absolution, Thy sins are forgiven thee (Luke vii. 36-48); until you hear, Arise, arise, O captive daughter of Zion; shake thyself from the dust (Is. lii. 2).

3. Having then imprinted this first kiss upon the Feet, do not presume immediately to lift up thyself to the kiss of His Lips, but let the kiss of His Hand be for thee a gradation or second step by which to reach the higher blessedness. Take notice of the reason for this. If Jesus shall have said to me, Thy sins are forgiven thee; what shall even this avail me if I do not cease to commit sin? If I have put off my tunic, and then put it on again, what doth it profit? Or if I wash my feet and then defile them anew, will it avail anything that they were once washed? Long have I lain in the filthy mire, wallowing in every kind of vice; but if, after escaping therefrom, I shall unhappily fall back into it, my state will undoubtedly be worse than it was at first. For I remember how He who healed me spake to me thus: Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee (John v. 14). What is needed, then, is that He who gave me a goodwill to repent for the past, should also add to this another gift of grace, whereby I may abstain from sin for the future, so that I may not again commit crime upon crime, and my last state be worse than the first Woe to me if He, without whom I can do nothing, shall suddenly withdraw His supporting Hand from me, even in the midst of my penitence! Nothing, I repeat, am I capable of doing without Him; neither to repent of the past, nor to keep myself from fresh sin. I bear in mind the counsel which the Wise Man gives: * Do not make a vain repetition in thy prayer ' (Ecclus. vii. 14). And I tremble at the decree which the Judge has it in mind to pronounce against the tree which bringeth not forth good fruit (Matt. iii. 10); I confess that on this account I shall not be wholly content with the former grace, by which I am enabled to be repentant for my former sins, unless I shall have received a second to make me bring forth fruits worthy of penitence, and thenceforth not to return to my former pollution.

4. This, then, remains for me to ask and to receive before I presume to approach the higher and more sacred degrees of blessedness. I do not desire to reach the highest point suddenly, but to proceed towards it by gradual steps. For inasmuch as the shamelessness of a sinner is displeasing to God, in the same degree is the modesty of a penitent pleasing to Him. Thou mayst the sooner please Him, if thou shalt observe a becoming measure in thy desires, nor seek for thyself the higher degrees of privilege. From the foot to the lips the ascent is long and difficult, and it would be wanting even in reverence to pass from one straight to the other. What! shalt thou, still marked with recent dust-stains, touch those sacred Lips? and having been but yesterday drawn out of the mire, aspire to-day to the glory of His Countenance? For thee there must be a mid-stage of preparation; and that is by His Hand; it shall first cleanse thee from thy stains, and then it shall lift thee up. But how shall it raise thee up? By bestowing upon thee that which shall be aground for aspiring higher: the grace of continence, the fruits worthy of penitence, which are works of piety. These shall lift thee from the dunghill, and infuse into thee the hope of higher things. In receiving this gift, then assuredly thou shouldest kiss the Lord's Hand — that is, give the glory to Him, not to thyself. Give it to Him once, and yet again: the first time because of His pardon to your sins; the second, because of the virtues He has bestowed. For otherwise, what reply have you to make to such reproaches as these: What hast thou that thou hast not received? Now if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory, as though thou hadst not received it? (i Cor. iv. 7).

5. After you have, then, made in those two kisses, a double proof of the Divine condescension, perhaps you may be so bold as to enter upon the endeavour to reach still higher and more sacred things. For in proportion as you grow in grace, your confidence also will augment, you will love more fervently, and knock at the door with more assurance of success, to seek that in which you feel you are wanting: for to him who knocks it shall be opened. And to you, when in such a disposition of mind and soul, I believe there will not be refused that kiss, the loftiest and most sacred of all, which contains in itself at once a supreme condescension and a sweetness ineffable. This is the way, and this the order, which must be followed. In the first place, we fall at the feet of the Lord, and lament before Him who has made us, the faults and sins which we ourselves have committed. In the second, we seek His helping Hand to lift us up, and to strengthen our feeble knees that we may stand upright. In the third, when we have, with many prayers and tears, obtained these two former graces, then at length -we perhaps venture to lift our eyes to that Countenance full of glory and majesty, for the purpose not only to adore, but (I say it with fear and trembling) to kiss, because the spirit before us is Christ the Lord, to whom, being united in a holy kiss, we are by His marvellous condescension made to be one spirit with Him.

6. Rightly, O Lord Jesus, yea, rightly has my heart declared to Thee: My face hath sought Thee: Thy face, Lord, will I seek (Ps. xxvi. 8). Thou hast made me to hear Thy mercy in the morning when I lay prone in the dust, and kissing the prints of Thy sacred steps, Thou didst pardon the evil of my former life. Then, as the day of my life went on, Thou hast rejoiced the soul of Thy servant; since, by the kiss of Thy Hand, Thou hast accorded unto me the grace to live well. And now what remains, O good Lord, unless that in deigning to admit me, in the fulness of Thy Light, in the fervour of my spirit, to the kiss of Thy Divine Lips, Thou shouldest fulfil me with the joy of Thy Countenance? Teach me, O most dear and tranquil One, teach me where Thou dost dwell, and at noonday dost repose. Brethren, it is good for us to be here; but lo! the evil of the day calls us away. They, indeed, who just now announced

an arrival of guests, oblige me to break off, rather than conclude, a subject so agreeable. I go, then, to the care of these guests, lest anything be wanting in the discharge of those duties of charity of which we speak, and lest we should hear those words spoken of us: They say, and do not (Matt, xxiii. 3). Do ye in the meantime pray that God will make the free will offerings of my mouth acceptable unto Him, that they may be to your edification, and to the honour and glory of His Name.

OF THE THREEFOLD PROGRESS OF THE SOUL, ARISING FROM THE KISS OF THE FOOT, THE HAND, AND THE LIPS OF THE LORD.

' Let Him kiss me with tlie kisses of His mouth.' — Cant i. I.

HE sermon of yesterday was occupied in describing the threefold progress of the soul, under the name of three kisses.

That, I dare say, is still in your remembrance. In the discussion of to-day I propose to continue the same subject in so far as God in His goodness shall deign to assist my poor powers. I said, if you remember, that those were given severally to the Feet, to the Hand, and to the Lips of Christ our Saviour. In the first are dedicated the first fruits of our conversion; the second shall be accorded to those who are making progress in holiness; but the third is rarely experienced, and by those only who are perfect. From this alone, which is placed last, it is that the Scripture which we have undertaken to expound takes its point of departure, and for that reason I have joined the other two to it. Whether that was needful you will judge; but I think that the very nature of the subject suggested, and indeed required, that course. And I think that you will observe also this, that the Bride desired to indicate a distinction when she said, using a phrase very unusual, * of His Mouth? Why, when it would have sufficed simply to make her request, should she have added expressly and precisely beyond the usual phrase and manner of speaking, words which show that the grace for which she asked was not the only one, but was the highest? When the Evangelist relates how the false Apostle betrayed our Lord with a kiss, he says, 4 And he kissed Him ' (Mark xiv. 45); nor does he add ' with his mouth/ or ' of his mouth.' It is thus that everyone expresses himself either in writing or speech. There are, then, three states or modes of souls sufficiently well-known at least to those who have experienced them, when, as far as is possible in these weak bodies of ours, they are enabled to take knowledge either of the pardon which they have received for their evil actions, or the grace which has enabled them to do good ones; or lastly, of the very presence of Him who is their patron and benefactor.