God's Wind on the Church (1)

August 16th, 2024
by Richard Sibbes

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.—Song of Sol. 4:16

(1) We see here that Christ sends forth his Spirit, with command to all means, under the name of 'north and south wind,’ to farther the fruitfulness of his church. What winds are to the garden, that the Spirit of Christ, in the use of means, is to the church. In comparing how Christ commands the winds, we may observe that all creatures stand in obedience to Christ, as ready at a word, whenever he speaks to them. They are all, as it were, asleep until he wakes them. He calls the wind out of his treasures when he pleases.
(2) We see here that Christ speaks to winds contrary one to another, both in regard of the coasts from whence they blow, and in their quality. Both are necessary for the garden: where we see that the courses that Christ takes, and the means that he uses with his church, may seem contrary; but by a wise ordering, all agree in the wholesome issue. A prosperous and an afflicted condition are contrary: a mild and a sharp course may seem to cross one another; yet sweetly they agree in this, that as the church needs both, so Christ uses both for the church's good.
Hence it is that the manifold wisdom of Christ makes use of a variety of conditions, that the Spirit of Christ is mild in some men's ministries and sharp in others. Sometimes the people of God need purging, and sometimes refreshing. Whereupon the Spirit of God carries itself suitably to both conditions. The Spirit in the godly draws good out of every condition, sure as they are that all winds blow them good. If Christ can bind up or let loose all kind of winds at his pleasure, then if means be wanting or fruitless, it is he that says to the clouds, 'Drop not,' and to the winds, 'Blow not.' Therefore, we must acknowledge him in want or plenty of means. The Spirit of Christ in the use of means is a free agent, sometimes blowing strongly, sometimes more mildly, sometimes not at all. It is wisdom to yield to the gales of the Spirit.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
The Love of Christ (Bowels Opened), pp. 5-7
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