No Christian goes looking for trials and afflictions and yet it is a biblical principle that so often when we do have a trial, when we do have affliction, that is the time when we have the opportunity to bring more glory and praise to the Lord than when things appear to be going well. And in one sense it's not right, I don't think, that a Christian should pray to be continually free from trials and afflictions, but we should just accept what the Lord sees in his wisdom and providence that should come our way. I want to draw out from this passage, and particularly one verse, and we take a lot of this by application, I accept that, something that I hope will help us to live as the Lord would have us live in a world that is increasingly turning rotten. And I use that word deliberately because we associate rottenness with a bad smell. And I must admit sometimes when you're out in the world and you're with a crowd of people You see certain things and you hear certain things. You can almost smell the rottenness, but you know what I mean. It's not a literal thing there. And I say rotten because in this passage, it is full of nice odors. It's full of nice aromas. Wherever you read there, I don't think there's anything there in the sense of plants and trees that doesn't give off a pleasant smell. And that's it really, you see. the Christian living in a rotten world that does smell, it stinks today, but the Christian should be the one that gives off that sweet aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's not easy. And people, it seems strange, isn't it? The people that live in a smell like this smell quite often, and they don't like that sweet aroma. And so there is a kind of a putting down, isn't there, of these things. So we can ask the question this morning without being too indelicate, how do you smell? people smell you nice and you know I've got quite a few bottles of aftershave at home people buy them don't they and you look at the label you think that's a cheapo and you look at another one you go that's all right and you know sometimes you put a little bit on and you think well that didn't last 10 minutes and it's sometimes you put on you think I can still smell that at the end of the day and that's it isn't it the the aroma that we should have Jesus Christ is that which stays with us day and night. Now the Song of Solomon is an unusual book isn't it Commentators take different views on the exact occasion of his writing, but we know Solomon wrote it and we know in typology and among other things, it typifies the love of Christ and his bride. And the verse I want to leave with you is that last verse of chapter four. Awake, O north wind, and come thou south. Blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat of his pleasant fruits. It would seem in this chapter that the bridegroom is speaking throughout until we probably get to the last verse and people as I say take different commentators divided on that. I'm not going into that this morning. It's not relevant for the purpose of our verse. We know the last sentence was uttered by the bride because she refers to the groom. Let my beloved come into his garden and we're going to look at that. And the first thing I want you to think about this morning is that the graces of a Christian are not always evident, although they may be resident. Let me just think that one. I'll read that one again. We'll see what it means in a moment. The graces of a Christian are not always evident, even though they be resident. In other words, a Christian can be a true believer and grasp the things of God, but they give little glory to the Lord. There's not a lot happening. And he's writing here in terms of trees and plants and things, and it's a bit like having a plant in the garden, but it doesn't do anything. It's a plant, and it may look quite attractive, but it doesn't do anything. It was a great danger for all of us. Even in churches such as we have here, that we can be a Christian that comes and goes, we read our Bible every day, we pray every day, but we don't actually do an awful lot other than those things. We know we are the Lords. but perhaps that's as far as it goes. We don't show a lot of Christian graces, they're there and we can be comfortable in that up to a point. Well we know in type, the believer is described as a garden, we can find that in other parts there. There was a hymn, I nearly put it on the sheet but I'm not sure we would know it but I'll quote a couple of verses, one of them I'll quote now. We are a garden walled around, chosen and made peculiar ground. a little spot enclosed by grace out of the world's wide wilderness. And how I really want us to think this morning you know you might say well there's not a lot of deep doctrine in that well sometimes we need a pastoral message and we'll bring out a bit of doctrine later but you know something that that might be a balm to our souls, something that might encourage us that when we go out to question how we are in the things of God, not so much whether we're a Christian, although we might find that challenge later, but whether as a Christian, am I giving out those spices? Am I giving out that sweet-smelling savour unto the Lord? And if not, how and what is this? Now there are all sorts of gardens, aren't there? Very few of us would claim to have a weed-free garden overflowing with produce. A garden might be a joy to behold, but it's something more than sight here. He's not writing so much about sight as about smell. I didn't do this, but commentators tell us there are 36 types of plant referred to in this book. And it would be very interesting to try and recreate that garden, wouldn't it? With those 36 different types. I guess you couldn't do that here because some of them wouldn't survive in this climate. But here the garden might look beautiful, but that wasn't it. The cry was to raise the perfume, raise the aromas, release the spices. And that's the challenge then this morning, is to think whether we are content to simply look the part rather than produce the active ingredients to give pleasure unto the Lord. You know, there are many plants that have hidden qualities of perfume, isn't there? That's not evident, and this is it. We can have the graces of the Lord, that they're resident, but they're not always evident. As some of the plants in the garden, they are there, but it's not always evident until, as our text says, the wind blows. Or maybe they're crushed. And it is so with the Lord's people, isn't it? We need, and one hesitates to say it, but it is true, we find it in the New Testament, we need sometimes the wind of affliction to blow across our lives in order to release those things of spiritual graces that are there, but they're not evident. So that's the first point. Second, you know, to glorify the Lord in this way, We need external help. You have a plant in the garden, it can't decide for itself to let off its perfume. It has to flow from its nature or whatever it does. I had quite a sizable herb garden at one time. And then I removed all the herbs and I put them somewhere else and I planted a willow tree where the herb garden was. And now as I mow the grass, and I did this during the week, as I mow the grass around that willow tree, after I've gone round a couple of times I get an aroma because there are still some herbs that are kind of rooted there and so I can smell particularly lemon balm and sage. But that was always there but what caused it to come up and I could actually smell it was the disturbance, the disturbance of the mower, the cutting, the affliction to that piece of ground released those nice smells. And so it is with the child of God. We need disturbance to release those graces and the sad thing is sometimes when we disturb we don't release those graces and that's something we have to think about. Another verse of that hymn that I quoted. Awake, O heavenly wind, and come. Blow on this garden of perfume, spirit divine. Descend and breathe a gracious gale on plants beneath. Not many of us like the wind, do we really? It can be cold, it can be destructive, and we've seen that in many places in recent weeks and months. But I notice in this text there are two winds, aren't there? There is the north wind. Oh, north wind, come, and south wind, blow upon my garden. You know, for us, the north wind, if there's a north wind coming, it's going to be cold, isn't it? I think they say tonight it's going to be cold. The wind has turned from the north. And when we get further into the winter, we know it can be very cold to have a north wind. And that's it. Sometimes the hand of God's providence brings us into great affliction sometimes, but it is here as we read in Peter, that we might be found unto praise and honor and glory. You know, we don't want affliction, we don't want trials. But when they come, we have to find a godly approach to them. Lord, I didn't ask for this, but Lord, in thy providence thou hast sent it. Lord, help me now to take this matter back to thee in prayer. Help me to live through this in that right way. that it might be found unto praise and honor and glory, not mine, but unto him. Was it not in distress that Job gives us his great book? Was it not in distress that we read of the trials of Job? We learn about early bodily resurrection. We learn about the multiplication that God gave to Job and the blessing that was his at the end of the life. Is it not through his distress that we learn certain doctrinal points? Was it not through the distress of guilt and repentance that David could ask the Lord to renew unto him the joy of his salvation? And there'll be many other examples you can find in scripture where people were brought to a difficult situation. Paul was found that a number of times as he puts his pen to paper, we think of Romans chapter seven. Oh, wretched man that I am. And yet, as he realizes he is a wretched man, he's writing great doctrinal truths. There is a great sweet aroma coming up from the page because Paul has been brought low. But then there's a south wind, isn't there? The warm wind that gently wafts across the garden, bringing a refreshing breeze with the perfume of the rose or whatever it might be. And so it is, my friends, there are times when God, the Holy Spirit, as it were, blows upon us. He breathes upon us and we might know something of the felt presence of God as we ponder his love and his mercy to our souls. And we can become overwhelmed with these things. And I was preaching recently, I have preached it here haven't I, on silence. And I was saying there are times when even Christian song can give way to silence because we are so overwhelmed with what we've been singing. You know at the end of a meeting there might just come unusually an absolute silence. because we realize we're in the presence of God. Or you're at home and you're having your private prayer time and you read a verse and it does jump out the page and it does grab hold of your heart and you realize, you know, something afresh of the greatness and the depth of the love of God and the grace of God. That's like the south wind blowing, isn't it? And when you feel these things, it generates praise unto the Lord. Maybe like Paul sometimes, he says, you know, something personal or private. but it's not to God, it's something that's pleasing unto him. And Paul writes about this in Romans 5, he says, he describes it in this way, that this is the love of God, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. I remember a quote from Spurgeon, I didn't put it down here, but I think I got it right. He describes that verse, he says, sometimes when it rains so much, The water flows down the roof and into the gutter, but the gutters can't contain it when there's a storm and it spills over. And he says that's like that in the Christian's life. There are times, not every day, perhaps they may be rare, they're too rare, when the love of God so enfolds us that it is not surprising that it overflows. And my friends, these are not things we can raise ourselves. No more than a garden can cause the wind to blow. My garden can't say wind blower me. We just can't be, but, but we may ask the Lord, but you see, John tells us this and he's talking about the gospel with Nicodemus, but he says the wind blowers were at Leicester and they'll hear us the sound thereof, but can't not tell whence it cometh and wither it goeth. We need the North winds as well as we need the South winds for our souls. Good. Thirdly, We are actually to pray for such things. We don't pray for affliction as such, that would be perhaps untoward to do that, but notice the words of our text, Awake O Northwind. The writer is saying, come on, blow upon my garden. Here is one seeking that and seeking it for the very reason that the spices might flow to please their loved one. That tests our love for the Lord, doesn't it? Lord, grant me an affliction so that I can cope with it in such a way that my life will give off that which is pleasing unto thee. To ask for affliction, that we might please God, that's a real test of faith, isn't it? As I say, we're not called to pray for affliction, but we are called to pray for that which pleases the Lord and might be a disbursement of these spiritual graces. You remember the hymn, I meant to have marked it out, I marked the number in our book, it's 698. It was John Newton's hymn, where he says there, I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace. You see, he's got the same thing going. He wants to grow, he wants the spices to flow, that I might know more of his salvation and seek him earnestly. And so the hymn goes on, he said, I had hoped in some favoured hour, at once he'd answer my request. By his love-constraining power, subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart. The north wind, the Lord gave him the north wind. He was asking for the south. Let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part. Lord, why is this? I trembling cried. Will thou pursue thy worm to death? Tis in this way, the Lord replied. I answer prayer for grace and faith. We need to be careful what we pray for. Newton was praying, I mean, this is his story. He prayed for faith, he prayed for grace, and the Lord sent him the north wind. But, last verse, these trials, these inward trials I employ, from self and pride to set thee free, and break thy schemes of earthly joy, that thou mayest seek thy all in me. And isn't that really what we should be about? To seek out all in our great and glorious God. You know, once we understand a little more of these experiences, we say they are a vital part of the Christian life. That we might seek the Lord, that we might always, that he might abide with us and enable us, as the hymn writer says, to shed this fragrance along this thorny road. I notice in verse 12 of our reading, it says there, a garden enclosed is my sister. In other words, shut up as a fountain sealed, it says. The garden was closed. And yet when we get to verse 16, it is open. speaks to us of surrender as the bride surrenders to the groom. So we see here we are to surrender to the Lord. You know it is a dangerous thing and sometimes it's done subconsciously but although it's done subconsciously it is done and that is we try to shut the Lord out of certain parts of our life. That bit kind of, don't exactly shut him out but I just don't want him there. We have to be very careful. That's not being a Christian, is it? That's not releasing the spices. That's not pleasing unto the Lord. We sing in the hymn, don't we? All to Jesus, I surrender. And I think if we sing the chorus, it says something like, I surrender all. There can't be a partial surrender, can there? It's not surrender. A little quote from Robert McShane, who wrote hymns we have in our book there. Everything is valuable in Christ's eyes only as it bears on eternity. That's something to think about, isn't it? All the things we're busy doing, sometimes we have to stop and say, what does this bearing have on eternity? On a soul being helped, on a soul being converted, on someone being convicted, on enabling God's people to get on with their lives in a way that is right and all the things that we can do, how will this bear on eternity? It's a good thing and a good exercise to apply that to the things that we hold dear. There can be good things, but they're not actually giving off, enabling us to give off that sweet savour unto the Lord. You know, the Lord won't always blast us with the north wind. He will not put on us more than we can bear, the scripture says, but he will give us that which is best in his own eyes. Remember if we are knocked by the winds of affliction, another verse says he will not break the bruised reed. And it's not a bad thing to be bruised at times. The wind may blow, we may be bruised, but that's all part of God's eternal work for our souls. We're only here for a little time, aren't we? This is preparation for eternity. What's a little bruising here to be pleasing unto the Lord, enable us to release those spices compared to all of eternity. Richard Sibbes wrote a famous book entitled The Bruised Read. In there, he explains how we are bruised before conversion, that the spirit might make way for himself, leveling out our pride and showing us our sin and leading us to Jesus Christ. But he also goes on to show how the Lord bruises his people, those that he plans to use in noteworthy ways. He empties us of self and enables us to see ourselves as he sees us. Notice the early part of this verse says, blow upon my garden, my garden. As if the bride there was talking, she changes her view very quickly. It says to let my beloved come into his garden. And that's it, isn't it? Someone's like, oh, this is my life. What am I going to let the Lord do here? But it's not, no, we have to change that and say, this is his life. We've been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Let's move on. Fourthly, well, what spices should flow? Sometimes you go out in the garden, particularly perhaps in the springtime, it's been raining, maybe the grass has been cut, and there are many different fragrances, aren't there? You know, sometimes from the flowers, sometimes just from the grass itself. But there are Romans there that were not there a while ago but the rain has come or the wind has blown. And so it is with us when the winds blow what exercises, what aromas, what graces should be shown? What is it not faith? Faith should be shown when we're in a trial and difficulty. Faith to say, well, this has come in the providence of God. Faith to say, well, the Lord is going to deal with this in whatever way. Faith to say, I'm going to bring this to the Lord in prayer. And love and joy and patience and steadfastness and all those things that are listed in the fruit of the spirit, all of those things are that which is pleasing unto the Lord and should rise from us. I guess perhaps the greatest perfume is found when you crush a plant. Not just the wind, we'll take it a stage further. When it's actually crushed, and I suppose that is the bruising, isn't it? We were digging up some horseradish this week and dug it up, nothing about it, there's no smell about it or particularly, it's just a muddy lump of old root, isn't it? And you take it indoors and Heather was washing it and then she puts it through the mincer. Wow. You know, your eyes start to burn and then the tears flow, it's worse than an onion. You know what it is and what has happened. It has only released that smell because it has been crushed. It was there all the time. It's an extremity, isn't it? And some of you find the same, of course, with onions. And my friends, when a Christian is crushed, we should give off such aromas, such spices, such graces that are obvious. Some will show great love, others great endurance, as the Lord pleases. Think of those Protestant martyrs, we've been thinking of some of them when we're thinking of the Reformation, those that laid down their lives. When I was in Raleigh, I was a trustee of the martyrs memorial in the town. There were four martyrs there that were burnt at the stake. And each year also we'd go up to Brentwood and we think of William Hunter. He was only 19 years old when he was burnt at the stake and his mother had to watch what was happening. And, you know, you think, okay, it was an awful thing to do. But as one said to another, you know, these flames in our bodies will water the earth, that it might be a seed that will grow up to a great revival, a great time of blessing. And indeed, that is what happened. From those fires, from those awful things that were done, great reformation come to our land. We think of the Cold War. We think of those Christians in the Soviet bloc who went through so much. You think of those today, and where can you go today where you you find a Christian isn't being persecuted. The Grace Baptist Mission yesterday, they gave us warnings that the information they send us should not be put on our websites or anything like that. And whereas there used to be perhaps one or two missionaries that that would apply to, now it applies to nearly all of them. Because no matter what country they're in, they're having men quite often to keep a lower profile in order that they may continue with the gospel work. My friends, those martyrs, those people in Chinese jails and Pakistani jails and those that have been kicked out of their villages in Nigeria and Vietnam and so many places, they are in many cases sending up a sweet savour unto the Lord. And in one sense, and I mean this with all respect to them, they're in a better position than we are. because quite often we sit here and we just come in and out don't we do our stuff that we do and they are having opportunities that we don't have to give praise and glory unto the Lord. You know some plants only smell in the evening don't they? So you look to older people and you think well perhaps they ought to be giving off a bit more of an aroma of graces. We do see that don't we? We've seen it in years past. I've known some elderly people when I was younger and you look at some of them brethren and sisters and you think what? They were just holy people. They were just holy people. They didn't have to say much or do much. You just knew that they were holy people. Well we don't seek an early evening as it were but we do seek the fragrance. But fifthly, you know Christ knew the winds of affliction more than any other more than any other he suffered the scripture says more than any man physically and spiritually he was bruised wasn't he he was crushed on the cross of Calvary he knew loneliness more than anyone he knew this as man and he knew it as God think for a moment then when Christ hung on that cross, when the ultimate wind blew, as it were, when the wrath of God fell upon him to appease almighty God for our sin, what sweet aroma comes to us today from Calvary. You know, when we think of Calvary, you know, it's a most wondrous thought. Beneath the cross of Jesus, I fain would take my stand. You know, as the incense in the tabernacle rose as a sweet-smelling savour unto God, so Christ was offered as a sacrifice for sinners. Earlier in this little book here, it says, thy name is as ointment poured forth. The sweetest name I know. What does the hymn say? We shall sing it, I think, shortly. Thy name shall shed its fragrance still, a long life's thorny road, shall sweetly smooth the rugged hill that leads me up to God. See, we're meant to give that aroma. We're meant to be like Jesus Christ, but the greatest one is Christ himself. Think for a moment, the sweetness of forgiveness. We take it for granted. You've been forgiven your sin, past, present and future. You're no longer going to hell. You're going to glory. You've been given eternal life and there's millions in the world who haven't, but you have. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of the perfume of his grace and the love showered upon sinners. In London yesterday, I suppose it's inevitable you see people that are in a distressed state. I walked past one lady, she was lying on the path with a duvet cover over her. She was obviously in distress, she was using drugs or whatever, there were people trying to help her. And without any disrespect to her, there was a smell. It was horrific as you passed by. And I thought, isn't that me? Isn't that us as sinners? It says that we and our righteousness was as filthy rags. And that dear lady, there is potential there. We don't know in God's grace that she might become a Christian. We don't know. But at the moment, you know, she's in that state as it were, but we were in that state spiritually just the same as she probably is. Our filthy rags, the stench of our filthy rags. And yet the Lord comes, doesn't he? And he takes us and he loved us so much. died on the cross that we might be those that are now a sweet smelling sacrifice of praise unto the Lord. Well there we are we've looked at a few things this morning the graces of a Christian not always evident but they are resident we need to be those people that release the spices as it were to glorify the Lord we need that external help we need the winds to blow We are to pray that we might be enabled to release those things. We've looked a little at the spices that flow, the graces that should flow, and we've seen something of the Lord Jesus Christ who was broken in order that we might be made whole. A little bit of application then, we've covered much of it. My friend, let's seek the Lord that the Lord might stir our souls that the fragrance of his presence may be known. Let's not be content with mere blooms as it were. but to seek fragrance. Paul writes in 2 or 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 15, for we are unto God a sweet savour or a sweet aroma of Christ. We are unto God a sweet aroma of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. That's what we are to God. We're meant to be that. That really sums up pretty much all I've said this morning. Let's make sure that we are. And then let's remember secondly, that this sweet fragrance is primarily for the glory of God. Doesn't matter if other people see it or not. They will, they will know that you've been with the Lord Jesus, but it's really unto him. It's his garden. I have come into my garden. I have gathered my myrrh and spice. For we are unto God. It says in that verse, I've just quoted in Corinthians, we are unto God, a sweet perfume. And then finally this morning, are we able to pray such a prayer? You know, if you're not a Christian, the north wind still blows. And who do you go to when you have those trials and afflictions? Do you see, are you enabled to see Christ as one who is altogether lovely? Without him we are lost, aren't we, for time and eternity. And yet with him we have all things in Jesus Christ. May the Lord enable you to seek him. May we all carry the sweet fragrance of Christ and tell as we read, I think it was in verse six there, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away. Amen.