THE MYRRH OF CHRIST

Songs of Solomon 1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

I think the Songs of Solomon is one of the most neglected books in all of the Bible; this negligence seems to me completely unacceptable when we consider that it is filled with representation of Jesus Christ which tell us in vivid imagery of the love that he has for his Church, which is his bride; and the love that his Bride has for him.

Sadly many ministers who venture into the Songs of Solomon do so in a sensual manner, in an attempt to excite the fleshly desires of the congregation. They use it to teach 'intimacy' between couples. This is not the reason God gave us this poetic book. Like all of the law, this book was spiritually written, it IS spiritual, and must be spiritually discerned. It testifies of Christ, and we must only prayerfully consider these Scriptures before we see Christ in his relationship as the Bridegroom.

Now let us consider our text. Here the 'Bride' speaks of her well-beloved. Who is he? He is Christ, who is not simply the 'beloved' of the Church, but the well-
beloved of the Church. He has her chiefest desire and love. She loves him more than her mother, her father, her brethren, her children, or her closest friends. She loves Christ more than anything in this world, or the world to come [Luke 14:26].

And what a fitting symbol of Christ is given us here, for she compares her 'well-
beloved' to a "bundle of myrrh", which is very precious. Let us consider myrrh for a moment and see how it is 'like' Christ.

It is Precious and Costly. Myrrh is an oil which exudes from a certain tree in Arabia and Ethiopia. It was considered very precious in the middle east, and was costly to buy. If you remember it was one of the valuable gifts that were given by the wisemen to Christ when he was but a babe [Matthew 2:11].

Now consider how precious Christ is to his Church. He is so precious to her that she has no greater joy than to fellowship with him. The world may find 'happiness' in gold, jewels, costly array, automobiles, costly homes..etc. But the true Church sees these things as chaff only, and Christ as the true kernel of joy.

In fact if you remove Christ from the believer, he has no joy at all. If a Christian is in the dark night of the soul, and Christ is not felt or known, no matter where the Christian may be, he is not happy. You may sit him in the midst of grand rejoicing, and his earthly life maybe going on very well, yet he is in despair without Christ, for there is nothing Good to the Church apart from him.

And in a true sense the Church would rather have Christ than any thing on earth. It would give up everything rather than forsake him. This has been testified to be true by countless martyrs who loved their life not unto the death, and gave their own blood up, rather than Christ.

But we also said that like myrrh, Christ is also costly. How much is he worth? When God, in his love for the world, gave his only begotten son, he gave all. For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead. He gave the one by whom and for whom the universe was made! God gave the very one who holds it all together, in whom all things consist. Christ is more costly than all the earth, more than all the planets and stars and moons and comets meshed into one. Oh the price of Christ! His worth is beyond compare.

PERFUME: One of the chief uses of Myrrh was perfume. We find such an example in the third chapter of our Book: "Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh" – Songs of Solomon 3:6. It is said that myrrh gives off a very pleasant aroma, and such is Christ to his Church. His Spirit is a delight and pleasant to the soul. He is sweet, he is kind, and he is gentle. He is meek and lowly in heart, and he gives perfect peace to them who trust in him.

But not only is he a perfume to us, but also to God. For he offered himself as a sacrifice to GOD in our behalf, and that sacrifice was a sweet smelling aroma to the senses of God [Ephesians 5:2].

Yet this is not all, for not only is he a perfume to us and to God, but he is a perfume upon us. He perfumes our works, our prayers, our songs, all of our worship, and makes it acceptable unto God. Without Christ all of our religious efforts would stink in the nostrils of God, but with Christ we become a sweet savour to God [2nd Corinthians 2:15].

A Beautifier. While we speak of myrrh as a perfume, we should also consider it as a beautifier. For the ancient women used it as such. Queen Esther used it for six months as she prepared to be introduced to King Ahasuerus [Esther 2:12]. They believed that myrrh removed wrinkles and blemishes from the skin. As you know Christ is a beautifier to his people. He removes every spot and wrinkle and makes his people very lovely. I think there is no more lovely of a people on earth than those who have been beautified by Christ's love. They seem to glow with his presence, and their faces are marked by kindness and grace. But not only in human eyes does Christ beautify his Church, but in the eyes of GOD he does too. For he removes their stains of sin, and covers them with his righteousness [Ephesians 5:27]. And when the Father looks over the bride of Christ he says, "I find no fault in her at all" [Songs of Solomon 4:7].

A PRESERVER – If we think back to the Gospel of John we should remember that myrrh was used in the Burial of Christ. It was Nicodemus who brought it along with aloes to use in wrapping the body of Jesus before it was placed in the tomb. This was the custom of the Jews because myrrh was seen as a preserver, as something that prevents corruption. And what is it that prevents us from corruption? That keeps us from falling back into our state of spiritual death and decay? It is Christ who keeps his Church by his own power.

Not only this, but the ancients used myrrh to keep diseases at bay. Some would carry a little around their necks to keep from becoming infected by disease. And who is it that keeps us from the disease of sin? That keeps us from falling? Again it is Christ

THE CURE: But now we must add that it was also taken internally to cure and to treat disease. You may remember that they attempted to give myrrh mingled to with wine to Christ as he hung upon the cross, in thoughts that it may ease his sufferings. But he refused it, seeing that he was appointed to suffer, and by his sufferings we are healed. It is Christ who can heal all of our souls diseases. He is able to cure the drunkard, the drug addict, the prostitute, liar and thief of their disease of sin. If they take him internally.

IN THE HEART. Where? In our text "Between the breasts" means in the heart. This is the true religion of Christ, it is a heart religion. For in the heart Christ must dwell, or we are none of his. It is not a head religion, where men merely know doctrines. You can spend years in the best theological colleges, and receive your "Masters of Divinity", and yet not know Christ. It is not a mouth religion, where we only talk of Christ, and parrot what we have heard, but it is a know soul salvation, that lives in the very heart of the believer. It is experienced, it is felt, it is known; for the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Salvation is KNOWING Christ personally. And until Christ is taken internally as a cure for your sins, you shall not be saved.

A BUNDLE OF MYRRH. Now if we return to our original text we would see that Christ is called a bundle of myrrh. What is being taught us by this phrase? A 'bundle' represents a great amount. And that is a good representation of Christ seeing Christ was given for the sins of the whole world, and his grace is sufficient to all who will believe upon him. The blood has not lost any of its power, and Christ has lost none of his strength, he is still mighty to save! He is still able to deliver. The crimson flood of Christ's blood can still cover the highest mountain peaks of man's sin.

UNENDING FELLOWSHIP. But also this bundle signifies to us that Christ is of such an abundance that we do not have to worry that it may ever end. The supply of Christ shall never run low. In our text it reads that he will lie with us "all night", but all night is not in the original text. It literally reads that he will lodge with us, that he will make his dwelling with us. And he promises never to leave us nor to forsake us, but that he will go with us even to the ends of the world.

PERSONALLY – And this brings us to the final point. The Text reads, "A bundle of myrrh is MY well-beloved unto ME". Again this salvation is personal. Christ is a personal Savior. Can you say, "Jesus is MY well-beloved". Is he yours? Do you have him in your possession? If so, then he is your 'well beloved', and you know what I have preached tonight is true, "He is a bundle of myrrh" to his children.

But if you are here and you do not know Christ personally, you cannot fathom what I have said. And I know that I can never make you by words understand what Christ is to the believer. You must experience him yourself, and then you will know. As God said, "Taste and see that the Lord is good". I want to urge you to taste and see, I want to compel you to trust in him. For you see it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Without the myrrh of Christ you shall stand before a holy God in your rags of sin, spotted with all your evil, with the stench of your iniquity rising from you; and God will undoubtedly command you to depart from him, and be cast into the flames of hell.

But today, while it is called today, you may be washed, you may be sanctified, you may be justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of the living God. Believe upon Christ, throw yourself upon him, cling to nothing else. Let loose of your works, and your hopes of being good, let go of your sin and trust in Christ as your Savior. Here is his promise to you:

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned" - Mark 16:16