This causes her to fall into introspection, which becomes the seclusion as a wall that keeps her away from the presence of Christ (2:9). The Bible tells us to look away unto Jesus (Heb. 12:2), but introspection always directs us to look into ourselves. Introspection is an inward inspection of our inner condition. In our introspection we may ask, “Am I still perfect? Am I still so good in the eyes of God, or have I degraded a little bit?” Such introspection increases the self, resulting in a kind of seclusion as a wall to separate us from the presence of Christ.
Since we have this introspection, there is a wall built up between us and our Lord. We find that He is outside and we are within, and this discovery causes us to be more introspective. We may ask, “Why don’t I have the Lord’s presence? It seems that I am within the wall, and He is outside the wall. Why?” This becomes a cycle in which the self is growing and increasing. The self then becomes a prison to imprison us.
This kind of spiritual sickness is not experienced by the cold ones but by the ones who are burning for the Lord. The more burning for the Lord you are, the more your self may be built up. The more you pursue after the Lord, the more you attain to something, the more you may build up your self. Eventually, the self becomes a center. Your whole life with all of its details becomes centered on your self.
This peculiarity of introspection becomes one of the “little foxes” that ruin the flourishing resurrection of Christ in the churches (S.S. 2:15). Our peculiarity frustrates our experience of Christ’s resurrection. A brother’s peculiarity may be his quick temperament, which has been built up over many years. But every time we are willing to have our self with our peculiarity crucified, resurrection will follow. Resurrection is signified in 2:11-13 by the passing of winter, the ceasing of rain, the appearance of flowers, the time of singing, the voice of the turtledove, the fig tree ripening, and the vines blossoming and giving forth their fragrance. If we are unwilling to be crucified and we remain in our peculiarity, this “little fox” will destroy our experience of Christ’s resurrection.
Hence, Christ comes as a gazelle leaping upon the mountains and as a young hart skipping upon the hills, showing forth His resurrection power over difficulties, to call her repeatedly to rise up from her down situation and come away to Him from that situation which separates her from Him (2:8-10, 13b). According to our condition and situation, we surely need to cross out our peculiarity. But to get into the cross and remain there is not easy. If you have a quick temperament and are with a slow person, some may advise you to exercise patience. But the more we exercise our own effort to cross out ourselves, the more Satan will come in to stir up our reasonings. This is related to spiritual warfare. In order to receive the crucifixion of Christ, to be put to death, we need the power of the resurrection of Christ (Phil. 3:10).
It is difficult for us to reach the cross (signified by the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice) and remain there. At this time Christ is seen by His lover as a gazelle leaping upon the mountains and as a young hart skipping upon the hills. The way to reach the covert of the precipice is rugged. To receive the crucifixion of Christ to put us to death is a rugged way, not easy to reach. Even after reaching this place, it is hard to stay there. Do we want to stay in the covert of the precipice? Do we want to stay in the clefts of the rock upon the high mountains? This is why we need the power of the resurrection of Christ. Philippians 3:10 says that we are to be conformed to His death by the power of His resurrection. Christ is a gazelle full of leaping power and a young hart full of skipping power. This is the power of resurrection. Our being crucified is not by our natural life or natural strength but by Christ’s power of resurrection.
All the experiences of Christ are related to His death, His resurrection, and His Spirit. His death goes along with His resurrection, and His Spirit is the realization of His resurrection. In order to know the power of Christ’s resurrection, we must learn to turn from our mind to our spirit continually (Rom. 8:6). When we turn to our spirit, we have nothing to do but pray. When we turn to our spirit and pray, immediately the Spirit is with us as the power of resurrection. Then as we take the cross, those around us may not know that we have been crucified and are in resurrection. This may cause us to sing, “Hallelujah, Christ is Victor!” When we enjoy the power of His resurrection, He is the Victor in our experience, and we are the conquerors. The way to experience Christ in His crucifixion by the power of His resurrection is by the Spirit Himself who is in our spirit. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.”
In order to experience Christ and to gain Christ, we need to know the all-inclusiveness of Christ. We also need to know that we have a regenerated, human spirit and that today the Spirit of God has become the consummated, life-giving Spirit of Christ as the power of His resurrection. We must know these three things. Then we can experience Christ and gain Him.