“I am the rose of Sharon.”
Song of Solomon 2:1
Whatever there may be of beauty in the material world, Jesus Christ possesses all that in the spiritual world in a tenfold degree. Amongst flowers the rose is deemed the sweetest, but Jesus is infinitely more beautiful in the garden of the soul than the rose can be in the gardens of earth. He takes the first place as the fairest among ten thousand. He is the sun, and all others are the stars; the heavens and the day are dark in comparison with him, for the King in his beauty transcends all. “I am the rose of Sharon.” This was the best and rarest of roses. Jesus is not “the rose” alone, he is “the rose of Sharon,” just as he calls his righteousness “gold,” and then adds, “the gold of Ophir”—the best of the best. He is positively lovely, and superlatively the loveliest. There is variety in his charms. The rose is delightful to the eye, and its scent is pleasant and refreshing; so each of the senses of the soul, whether it be the taste or feeling, the hearing, the sight, or the spiritual smell, finds appropriate gratification in Jesus. Even the recollection of his love is sweet. Take the rose of Sharon, and pull it leaf from leaf, and lay by the leaves in the jar of memory, and you shall find each leaf fragrant long afterwards, filling the house with perfume. Christ satisfies the highest taste of the most educated spirit to the very full. The greatest amateur in perfumes is quite satisfied with the rose: and when the soul has arrived at her highest pitch of true taste, she shall still be content with Christ, nay, she shall be the better able to appreciate him. Heaven itself possesses nothing which excels the rose of Sharon. What emblem can fully set forth his beauty? Human speech and earth-born things fail to tell of him. Earth’s choicest charms commingled, feebly picture his abounding preciousness. Blessed rose, bloom in my heart forever!
“我是沙仑的玫瑰。”——《雅歌》2:1
无论物质世界存在何种美，耶稣基督在灵性世界中拥有的美，都要加倍。在百花之中，玫瑰被认为是最甜美的，但耶稣基督在灵魂的花园里，比玫瑰在尘世的花园里还要美丽得多。祂是万千美人中最美的。祂是太阳，其他一切都如同星辰；与祂相比，天地都黯然失色，因为君王的荣美超越一切。“我是沙仑的玫瑰。”这是最美、最稀有的玫瑰。耶稣基督不仅仅是“玫瑰”，祂是“沙仑的玫瑰”，正如祂称自己的义为“金子”，并补充说“俄斐的金子”——至高无上的金子。祂的确美丽，而且是至美至尊。祂的魅力丰富多彩。 玫瑰赏心悦目，香气怡人；同样，灵魂的每一种感官，无论是味觉、触觉、听觉、视觉，还是灵性的嗅觉，都能在耶稣基督里找到恰当的满足。甚至连回忆他的爱都令人感到甜蜜。摘下沙仑玫瑰，一片一片地摘下来，放在记忆的罐子里，你会发现每一片叶子都会在很久之后依然芬芳，让整个屋子都弥漫着香气。基督完全满足了最有学识的灵魂的最高品味。即使是最业余的香水爱好者也会对玫瑰感到满意：当灵魂达到真正品味的最高境界时，她仍然会满足于基督，不，她会更能欣赏他。天堂里也没有什么能胜过沙仑玫瑰。有什么象征物能完全展现他的美丽呢？人类的语言和世间万物都无法描述他。即使将世间最美好的事物混合在一起，也难以描绘他的珍贵。 神圣的玫瑰，请永远在我心中绽放！
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