SERMON VI..

SOLOMON'S SONG II. 12.

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

CHRIST, the heavenly Bridegroom, invites his Bride to go forth to the hills, and to the mountains, to rejoice · with him in the verdure and bloom of a lovely spring. If is not the spring of nature that she is invited to enjoy. It is the influence of grace, the spring of spiritual life, which the plastic breath of the Holy Ghost, the comforter, has caused to put forth and blossom in the soul of sinners.

Rise up my love, my fair one, he saith, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the spring is come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.' Let us dwell for a short time on the last few words of our text, and,

I. Take a nearer view of the turtle. II. Listen to its voice in the land.

I.—The Bridegroom speaks of a dove, whose voice is heard in the land on the verdure of spring. We have already seen, that by the dove, in some places of our song, the Shulamite, herself is intended; but that is not the case in the passage before us. Some commentators have supposed that the Lord here describes

the dawn of the period of the New Covenant; and the turtle dove they imagine to be the voice of the preacher in the desert, the herald John. But under what similitude could this man, clothed in camel's hair, be less appropriately represented than under that of a dove? We are of opinion, that by the dove the Holy Ghost, the comforter, can alone be understood. As the Son of God condescended to choose the lamb for his symbol, the Spirit, in like manner, selected the dove. To whom does not the wonderful scene at Jordan at once occur? And the Spirit of the Lord belongs essentially to that spring of grace; for it is produced by this bird of heaven. That the spirit in the text is denominated the turtle-dove, is of little importance. The Lord compares the life of grace to the blossoming spring of nature, and to this simile the turtle dove was more appropriate than the domestic pigeon.

In order to discover the full meaning of this significant symbol, it will be necessary to take history as our guide. Three times the sacred volume presents to us this image; and each time the circumstances, the epochs, and the designs are similar. In the first place, Moses informs us, that the Spirit of God moved (literally rendered, brooded) upon the void and formless earth. The Spirit, in as far as it assisted in the formation of the earth, and in preparing it as a theatre of peace and joy, is here likewise compared to a bird (beyond a doubt the dove) with her wings expanded, as if brooding on her eggs. Some hundred years later the dove appears to us again, and it is remarkable, under decidedly similar circumstances and at a similar epocha. Again, her wings are expanded over a waste

and void; again she moves over the face of the waters, but they are the thundering waters of the delugethose devastating floods of wrath, in which, according to the Scriptures, the first world was destroyed. Over the vast watery grave of the former world she flies with the green olive-leaf in her mouth, the lovely harbinger of joy, hastening to convey to Noah the intelligence he so much longed to receive. And what does her appearance with the green leaf in her mouth announce ? It announces the termination of the Divine judgment, the coming of a new creation; it proclaims the commencement of a time of grace; of a reign of peace, which, under, a new covenant, rich in promises, shall spring up for sinful man. For the third time the dove

is seen on the banks of Jordan, resting on the head of our Savior, when, in the great act of baptism, he solemnly and formally took upon himself our guilt, and silently acknowledged it as his own; and now, tell me, my friends, if this third appearance is not of similar import with the first and second. Once again she moves over the waters, but they are those of John's baptism, in whose waves our Surety had just made, in the name of our souls, the great confession of sin; and in our stead had solemnly declared himself worthy of death, and of the Divine wrath. Once again she appears above a waste and void, above the desolation of humanity, but whose ruin now rests on our substitute. Once again she appears at the commencement of a new creation of that which the Spirit purchased by the blood of the lamb, will produce upon the earth; and again she is the harbinger of peace, joy, and mercy. We hail thy appearance, O sacred dove, upon yonder silent

desert, and as a beautiful messenger of peace, over the baptismal waters of Jordan, that proclaim aloud our sinfulness, and our worthiness of condemnation and death. We might well have expected the eagle to flit across the heavens, with the cry of Woe! woe! and announcing eternal destruction to the world and its inhabitants; when behold, instead of the eagle, the dove appears above the waste and void-grace! grace! is the burden of her song, and peace and joy her welcome salutation! We bless and receive her with shouts of joy! O ye, who mourn and quake, why are ye cast down? The lion on the top of Sinai, and of Ebal, has ceased to roar; the olive branch becomes green in our banners, and on the horizon of the new covenant days the dove is seen to hover.

Do we ask on what ground the Holy Ghost has chosen the Dove for its symbol? So many points of resemblance present themselves to our view, that, for the sake of brevity, we must restrict our reflections to those which are most striking and important. The dove, this tender, faithful bird, has been at all times, and amongst all people, an emblem of constant love; and in this respect, the Comforter may, with great propriety, be compared to it. How astonishing is the love of the Eternal Father, who tore from his bosom his -only Son, the child of his heart, to sacrifice him in the flaming fire of his wrath, and to expose him to the rage of hell, in order to snatch from the abyss of eternal torment a race obnoxious to death, and meriting destruction. Deep and unfathomable is the love of our Redeemer, who left a throne of majesty, to ascend the accursed tree, there to pour out his precious blood for the

servants of Belial and of sin; to redeem, with this inestimable ransom, us wretches, against our will (for we desired Him not), from the power of Satan and of hell. No less great, wonderful, and unsearchable is the love of the Spirit, who has voluntarily undertaken to destroy the dragon's brood, to cleanse the dwellings of impurity, and the dens of rapine and of murder; and who, in the execution of his office, visits scenes of the most disgusting depravity and lewdness. What chambers of pollution are our hearts! Like the cities of the plains, how full of corruption and uncleanness; but if the Spirit once enters these Sodoms and Gomorrahs, he departs not again till they are thoroughly purified. How joyfully he causes the light of heaven to shine into these habitations of darkness, and stores them with the treasures of truth and wisdom contained in the Scriptures, and from that fullness which is in Christ Jesus. How unchanging and untiring is this love: those who once become its objects can never be severed from its influence: 'I will send you another Comforter, said the Savior, that he may abide with you for ever.' But, alas, how often do his people stray from Him, and lose themselves again in the world; yet he never forsakes them. How could he? he pursues them into the vortex of dissipation, and leaves them no peace in their sins. He chastises, warns, invites them; he causes lucid intervals to break in upon them in the midst of their revels: and never ceases to call after them, Turn ye! turn ye! till they hear his voice, and return dejected and afflicted to the fold from whence they had wandered. Let none suppose that he will receive them with the bitterness of reproach, or over

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