THE GARDENER AND HIS GARDEN
Gen 2 : 8-17 Sol 4: 12--16.

Pastor Jack Anderson

Introduction The Song of Solomon is more than just an historical love story, which relates to king Solomon and his Shulamite bride and depicts the love of Christ; the heavenly Bridegroom for His Blood bought Bride.

This book is full of practical lessons to enhance the believer’s life today. I want us to consider these lessons that we can glean as we look at the theme “The Gardener and His Garden”

In the midst of a barren desert the king had his garden enclosed; in this garden there was a fountain of water, and pleasant luscious fruits for the pleasure of the king.

From the beginning of time, it has been the purpose of God to have a garden in this world for his own pleasure. Because of this desire, the Lord God placed a garden, eastward of Eden.

It is not sufficient or satisfactory that man should be alone, I will make him a helper, one who is suitable and adapted and complimentary for him AMP. Gen 3:8 States that God walked in the garden in the cool of the day. We can rightly call this garden

1 THE GARDEN OF COMMUNION

In this garden, described in the book of Genesis there are a number of things to note

1. There was a tree in the midst of the garden.
2. There was a river in the garden.
3. There was fruit in abundance in the garden.
4. There was a man and a woman in the garden, a bride and a bridegroom, who had been created, and placed by God into this perfect environment.

Placed for a specific purpose to enjoy fellowship, with each other, and to enjoy the blessing of fellowship with the God who had created It was intended to be a garden of communion.

But something tragic happened in this garden. Satan, in the form of a serpent, entered the garden and this holy sanctuary for fellowship was destroyed.

Fellowship with God was broken when the bride and the bridegroom, disobeyed the word of God by yielding to temptation and heeding the lie of Satan. The result of this was that fell into a state of total depravity and the sentence of death was pronounced upon them and all their descendants.

This evil world in which we now live is a direct consequence of what happened in the first garden that we read of in the word of God.The sentence of death has been passed upon all men, for all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.

When God the creator came down to the garden, which he had made so beautiful, and saw what had happened, He expelled Adam and Eve our first parents, from the garden.

Eve would bare children in sorrow---while Adam, would now earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, thorns and thistles would come forth out of the ground, because of the curse, and man would return to the dust of the earth.

What was once a garden of communion was now a garden of condemnation. This garden was the place where the sentence of the almighty was pronounced upon man because of his sin.

1. THE GARDEN OF COMMUNION GEN CH 3
2. THE GARDEN OF CONSUMMATION REV 2 V 7

The Risen Glorified Lord says

This is the beautiful garden of paradise The New Jerusalem. When we look into this garden, again we see a bride and a bridegroom, a tree, and a river, the water or life, but sin and Satan are not to be found therein for they have been banished forever.

Access to the tree of life was restricted when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. In the New Jerusalem the curse of sin has been removed and access to the tree has been restored

Here at the close of the Bible we are reintroduced to the tree of life, which has not been mentioned from Gen 3 from the fall of Adam and Eve. Paradise is now restored in the eternal state. The Lamb of God having redeemed all that was lost in the fall.

The holy throne of God will reside in the New Jerusalem and God’s people will live and reign with Him.

He the Pearly gates will open
So that we may enter in
For He purchased our Redemption
And forgave us all our sin.

So we find a garden at the beginning of the bible, and a garden at the end.

As we read through the scriptures we find a number of other interesting gardens that are mentioned.

3. THE GARDEN OF THE CHOSEN

In due course the Lord planted another, garden it was the garden of a people that He choose from among the nations of the world, and he likened them unto a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. This vineyard was Israel His chosen earthly people.

He separated them from the nations of his world, He built a wall around them gathered out the stones, and planted his vineyard with the choicest vine, and he then looked for it to bear fruit for his glory

But sin also marred this garden, and it brought forth only wild grapes, and the garden was laid waste, It became a place of briars & thistles, and thorns.

This garden of Israel was ruined by sin ---and this sin reached its climax, when the nation rejected her Messiah. They saw no beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men. They cried out away with him crucify him, we will not have this man to rule over us. Then they nailed him to the cross.

Yet God in His amazing Grace and Great patience has not cast off his people Israel the seed of Abraham forever. Israel will be saved

In a coming day Israel will gaze upon the One whom they rejected and will acknowledge His as their Messiah and their Redeemer.

1. THE GARDEN OF COMMUNION
2. THE GARDEN OF CONSUMMATION
3. THE GARDEN OF THE CHOSEN
   When we come to the gospel records, we find another garden
4. THE GARDEN OF CONFLICT

As we look into this garden we find the lord Jesus Christ in agony of soul as he contemplates the death of the cross Having just given his last message to his disciples, He crosses the brook Kidron, and He enters the garden, he kneels down and he prays father.

If thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done then being in agony.

He prayed more earnestly, and He sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground, such was the intensity of his agony.

In the Garden of Eden we have the curse and the sentence of death pronounced. In the garden of Gethsemane we have a Saviour who removed the curse and took the sentence of death upon Himself not for his sins, for He is sinless. He took the sentence of death for the sins of the world.

Behold the man upon the Cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear the mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

He paid the dept in full, and as he contemplated the rigors of the cross and the price that He would pay his sweat became as great drops of blood falling to the ground.

For me it was in the garden,
He prayed not my will but thine,
He had no tears for his own grief
But he sweat drops of blood for mine.

4. THE GARDEN OF CONFLICT

But on the first day of the week they came to the sepulcher they found the stone was rolled away and the Saviour was gone.

They were much perplexed then they heard the wonderful life changing words.

“HE IS NOT HERE HE IS RISEN

On the third day, Christ arose! death could not keep its prey, and up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph ore his foes

He arose the victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign, He arose hallelujah Christ arose.

We understand and acknowledge that the Resurrection has placed a glorious crown upon all of Christ's sufferings! And has given us the assurance that we have eternal life, and that life is worth the living Just because He lives

The Garden of communion -- Eden
The Garden of consummation-- Paradise
The Garden of the Chosen-- Israel
The Garden of Conflict-- Gethsemane
The Garden of Conquest— the Empty Tomb

In the Song of Solomon ch 4 v 12-16 we have a little picture of

5. THE GARDEN OF THE CHURCH

This garden would not only turn our attention, to the church, it would turn are attention to the devotional life of the believer.

We learn from ch 4: 16 that this garden belonged to the king. The bride says "let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits"

ch 5 v 1 the king answers I am come into my garden"

We have before us the bride pictured as a garden and bridegroom pictured as the gardener. We observe a number of things about this garden of king Solomon.

1. A GARDEN THAT IS BARRED

You are a garden locked up, you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

A garden enclosed would indicate that there was a fence around this garden that would bar anything from entering that would spoil or hinder its growth and it development.

An open garden would soon perish because It would be invaded by all kinds of wild animals. In the east was imperative to erect a fence to protect the Garden and its contents

Friends-- the Church the Bride of Christ is the garden of the Lord and as such she is to be a garden that is enclosed.

There must be a fence around the Church to keep out all of those things that would seek to come in to devour and to hinder her spiritual growth and development in Christ.

This would remind us of the need for separation from this world, which is a barren place, and lies waste waiting for the judgement of god to fall.
We are set apart by God, as a peculiar people, to be used in his service for his glory, a garden enclosed for himself.

A garden enclosed speaks to us of separation, preservation, and of sanctification. It is the desire of the lord that he might have a sanctified people. a people who are separate from the world and from all its evil

Beloved we need to have the fence around us, and it needs to be kept in good repair. A fence around our lives, around our hearts, for from the heart, flows forth the issues of life.

We need a fence around our minds to shut out all of those thoughts, which would defile us.

We need a fence around the garden, and that fence is the word of the living God, for this is the only fence, which will bar Satan from spoiling the garden of our lives and the garden of the church....

You will also notice that there is not only a fence around the garden, there is a fountain in this garden a spring shut up, and a fountain sealed

In the scriptures Israel is likened to a -garden that has no water; but the prophet speaking of the future restoration of Israel said

"thou shalt be like a well watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters, fail not.

There is a day coming when Israel will be as a spring shut up and a fountain sealed. But today the Church the garden of the lord, she is a spring shut up and a fountain' that is sealed.

The Church has a secret supply which the world cannot drink for they know not Christ as their Saviour.

The Holy Spirit is the spring shut up & the fountain that is sealed...you will remember the words of the lord Jesus

whosoever drinketh of the water, that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The moment that we trusted Christ as our Saviour, the spring bubbled up within us, the spring of the Holy Spirit.

We became a fountain sealed, sealed by the Holy Spirit, by the spirit of promise until the day when our redemption will be completed, that day when the Lord shall receive us unto himself, and we shall be like him changed unto his likeness.

There is within us a river that never will run dry. It is also interesting to notice, that the words, shut up, and the word enclosed, are both the same in the heb „ they mean barred

Pure water was and still is a very precious commodity in the Far East- so when a well or a spring was discovered the first thing that the owner would do was to claim it by building a wall around the well. Then he would cover it, to secure it from all kinds of pollution.

Then he could then drink from it, and at the same, time this well would aerate his garden, helping him to produce an abundance of fruits. We, as Christians need a covering to protect the spring of our lives from all the impurities, which are around us.

A Covering from all the polluting influences of the world, from the sin that so easily besets us.

We need to seek to keep ourselves pure from all the pollution that surrounds us. The covering we need is the Precious blood of Jesus and the daily anointing power of the Holy Spirit

We need to spend more time in the presence of the lord. Taking time to be holy, speaking often with your lord Abiding in him always and feeding on his word Forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek

1. A GARDEN BARRED
2. A GARDEN THAT WAS BLOOMING

This garden, which belonged to King Solomon, was a very fruitful garden. in verse 13, 14, - there is not only a fence, and a fountain. We have flowers that were fair to look on and there was an abundance of pleasant fruit. Campfire, Saffron, Spikenard, and all the chief spices were found in this beautiful garden

This Garden was a sheer delight to its owner King Solomon. The garden that was blooming would speak to us of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, the fruits of righteousness, which is unto God, praise & glory.

We are to "produce fruit" as a Garden Enclosed!

Christians are to bear the image of the their Saviour. Nine types of fruit are mentioned that were being produced in this garden.

Christians are to bear the image of the their Saviour. Nine types of fruit are mentioned that were being produced in this garden.

In Gal 5 The Apostle Paul is exhorting Believers to walk in the Spirit so that they would not fulfill the works of the flesh and he lists nine types of fruit that is produced by the Holy Spirit

These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which should grow in abundance in the heart of every believer who has been separated unto God.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to produce fruit that will bring glory to God, but His work can be choked and stifled and the fruit retarded.

We can hinder the development of the Lord’s Garden, by producing weeds when the Spirit is trying to produce fruit for the Glory of God

How often we produce weeds by the things that we say and do, and by those things that we neglect to do. Then there can be the weeds that come into our experience and they make us become bitter.

Those hurtful words that were spoken against us, and we have been bitter ever since. The weeds of those petty things, that creep in among the believers and cause strife & division.

These things can hinder the work of the holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of the local church. This garden before us was blooming; its flowers and its fruit were a delight to the king who owned it.

When our lives are blooming with the fragrance of Christ and with fruit of the Holy Spirit in abundance, how delightful it must be for the King of Kings to see the beauty and the spiritual development of those for whom He died

1. A GARDEN BARRED
2. A GARDEN THAT WAS BLOOMING
3. A GARDEN THAT WAS BENEFICAL

This Garden was not only beneficial to king Solomon, it was beneficial to all who came to it for refreshment. It was a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon"

The source of supply to aggregate the garden was from the Lebanon, the mountain range of Palestine. The water came from the mountain top streams, down the mountainside, into the garden.

It would then sink into the ground; and eventually a spring would surge up to the surface of the earth. The soil would be refreshed, and every part of the garden would then be aggregated.

In this we have a beautiful picture of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit of God descended, from above, filled our innermost being, with the waters of life.

Having received the life giving flow of the waters of God, there should flow from us an abundance of the waters of life, displaying a Christ-likeness, that will be a blessing, and a benefit to others.

A GARDEN THAT WAS BENEICIAL
A GARDEN THAT WAS BLOWN UPON

Awake oh north wind, blow upon my garden! Someone has rightly said that the south wind, and continual-sunshine only make a desert.

It takes the cold north wind with its chilly breezes, to blow as well as the south wind of summer to produce perfection in fruit bearing and to give a fragrance to the flowers

Illustration A dear old brethren preacher tells of being home on furlough from Africa. He decided that he would take back with him some rose cuttings to plant in his garden in Africa.

He goes on to tell how that they blossomed forth beautifully, but as he walked in the garden there was one thing that was missing, there was no lovely fragrance like the roses had back home because there was no north wind to blow on them

It is the same in the garden of the life of the believer. We need the south wind to blow and the sunshine, the mountain top experience, but if that were all that we had we would have so little to offer unto God.

We would think that we were self-dependant, and there would be no sweetness, fragrance, or sacrifice of praise unto the Gracious God who has blessed us in so many ways.

But when the north wind of adversity blows hard upon us and we are faced with trials, and bitter suffering, and when we are in the storms of battle. it is then that we are drawn closer to the lord.

It is then that our dependence is upon him. It is then that we praise him for his faithfulness. For when the winds are blowing against us-the-lord steps in and he tempers the storms with his love mercy and his grace,

Illustration C. H. Spurgeon—told of a man, who had the words " God is love on the weather vane outside his house.

That’s an odd text to put there said his neighbour, do you mean that God’s love is as changeable as the wind? Oh no I mean whatever way the wind blows, my God is love

Think it not strange, when the north wind blows on you-- remember that trails are more precious than gold. When the north wind blows the garden of our lives is a place of beauty for the Lord to behold.

The Lord works out all things for our good and he will perfect that which concerneth each one of us for his ways are perfect. it will only be in the glory that we will appreciate all that the lord was doing for us.

A GARDEN THAT WAS BLOWN UPON
A GARDEN THAT WAS BLESSED ch5 :1

I am come into my garden.

The king came and tasted and enjoyed the fruit from His Garden.

May we be Gardens that are well pleasing to the Lord.

1. A GARDEN That is BARRED keeping out the little foxes that spoil the vine
2. A GARDEN THAT is BLOOMING with the beauty and the fragrance of Christ
3. A GARDEN THAT is BENEFICAL being a blessing to others
4. A GARDEN THAT is BLESSED—with the presence and the Power of Christ and the Favour of God

   I am Blessed I am Blessed
   Every day I of my life I am Blessed
   When I get up in the morning
   Until I put my head to rest I am Blest
   I am Blest I am Blest