-
If you would open your
Bibles with me, please
-
to the Song of Solomon 5.
-
I take the view of this book
-
held by great men of old.
-
That the Song of Solomon
-
is about Jesus Christ and His bride.
-
But there is an interpretation held
-
in some circles today
-
that says that this book
-
is about nothing more
-
than the love between a man and a woman.
-
And I want to very quickly address that
-
because there may be some of you
-
perhaps listening that
have only ever heard
-
that interpretation.
-
And so, let me remind you
-
that when Jesus rebuked the Pharisees
-
in John 5,
-
because in their search,
-
in their study of Scriptures,
-
they missed the One Whom
-
all Scripture was about.
-
And Jesus did not say there
-
that these are they which testify,
-
which speak of Me,
-
except the Song of Solomon.
-
But rather, all Scripture,
-
it communicates to us truth
-
about Jesus Christ.
-
You see, marriage itself, we're told
-
in Ephesians 5:25 is giving us a picture
-
of Jesus Christ and His bride,
-
His church.
-
And we see this allegory
-
of God and His bride all over Scripture.
-
So then, the subject matter of this book:
-
The Song of Solomon,
-
just like the rest of the Scripture
-
is a greater than Solomon -
-
Jesus Christ.
-
He must have the first
place in everything.
-
And so, this book contains
-
such beautiful, picturesque allegories
-
and parables;
-
it is meant to communicate to us
-
something of the deep and intimate
-
love relationship between Jesus Christ
-
and His bride - His church.
-
And just to clarify, by "church,"
-
I do not mean a building
-
or an organization or an institution.
-
But by "His bride," "His church,"
-
I mean the redeemed people of God;
-
the true believers of every age.
-
You see, true Christianity
-
is a love relationship
-
between Jesus Christ and His bride,
-
the believer.
-
It is about being loved by and loving Him.
-
It is about knowing and being with Him.
-
Listen to me now,
-
because someone can have all the doctrines
-
lined up like mason work -
-
stone upon stone -
-
and may be able to argue theology
-
as good as any scribe.
-
But as the Apostle Paul said
-
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,
-
if you don't have love for Him,
-
then you're still lost and under a curse.
-
Have you seen that Jesus Christ
-
is everything to you?
-
And so you love
-
and you desire
-
and you want Him
-
more than anything else in life.
-
Satisfied in Him alone.
-
You see, that is what a true Christian is.
-
Someone who loves Jesus.
-
Blessed is the man who
perseveres under trial,
-
for once he has been approved,
-
he will receive a crown of life
-
which the Lord has promised to who?
-
To those who love Him.
-
That is the only way you're
going to persevere.
-
A true Christian, when you boil it down,
-
is someone who loves Jesus.
-
Not a Jesus of their
own making, of course.
-
But you love and want Jesus Christ
-
as He is revealed in the Scriptures.
-
You want Him more than
anything else in life.
-
Let me ask you,
-
do you have a form of religion;
-
a form of Christianity
-
that really consists of no more
-
than a well set form of
doctrines in your head?
-
Or has this Word of Christ
truly penetrated your heart?
-
You see, this is life and death.
-
Listen, despite your failing;
-
despite, like the bride here in our text,
-
which we're going to look at in a moment,
-
you may at times grow cold
-
in your love for Him.
-
Can you honestly say like Peter,
-
"Lord, Thou knowest I love Thee!"
-
You see, Christianity is not giving
-
mental assent to a few
doctrinal statements.
-
Ticking off a daily list of rules.
-
You know, read Bible.
Done that once today.
-
Tick that one off.
Prayed. Done that one.
-
Kept this rule. Kept that rule.
-
But rather, Christianity
is faith working -
-
real faith always results in good works.
-
It is faith working through love.
-
We do those good things
-
out of love for Him.
-
And brethren, I am convinced;
-
I am fully persuaded of this,
-
that the primary way
in which you will grow
-
as a Christian,
-
and you will become more like
-
the Person of Jesus Christ,
-
is that you learn and you come to know
-
more of His great love to you,
-
which is what I want to happen
-
in this message today.
-
You see, the Bible says,
-
we love Him because He first loved us.
-
The more we truly of His love for us,
-
the more we will love Him.
-
So, we must ask,
-
what does love for Him look like?
-
What is it evidenced by?
-
Well, Jesus said, if anyone loves Me,
-
he will keep My Word.
-
Whoever does not love Me,
-
does not keep my words.
-
So, how do we as
Christians increase in this?
-
How do we as Christians
-
grow in obedience and
become more like Him?
-
And keep His Word and
keep His commands more?
-
What will motivate us to do this?
-
Well, if obedience to Him is
linked to love to Him,
-
then we grow in obedience to Him
-
when we grow in love for Him.
-
So then, how do we come to love Him more?
-
Well, we love Him
because He first loved us.
-
Brethren, hear me.
-
The more you know -
-
the more you personally know,
-
not just in a general sense
-
of His love for everyone,
-
but Him even more you personally know
-
and you take ownership of these truths
-
of His love for you.
-
This will cause you to love Him more;
-
to lean upon and trust Him more,
-
and act in obedience in love to Him
-
out of love for Him.
-
And so, I want you to see now
-
in these verses which we're going to read,
-
how Christ woos and He draws His bride
-
by His sovereign love -
-
a love that passes all understanding.
-
And even when in times like the bride
-
here in this text, grows
cold towards Christ,
-
His love for her -
-
His love for you, believer,
-
is passionate and unfailing.
-
And let this motivate you
-
to keep yourself in the love of God;
-
to cling to Him.
-
And so, let's look and learn of this now
-
as we read Song of Solomon,
-
and I'm going to read from chapter 5,
-
from verses 2-6.
-
We'll probably touch on a
couple more verses as well.
-
But I'll just read v. 2-6 now
-
and then we'll pray.
-
"I sleep, but my heart waketh.
-
It is the voice of my
beloved that knocketh,
-
saying, 'open to me,
-
my sister, my love, my dove,
-
my undefiled.
-
For my head is filled with dew
-
and my locks with the drops of the night.'
-
I have put off my coat;
-
how shall I put it on?
-
I have washed my feet;
-
how shall I defile them?
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My beloved put his hand
-
by the hole of the door
-
and my bowels were moved for him.
-
I rose up to open to my beloved;
-
and my hands dropped with myrrh,
-
and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh
-
upon the handles of the lock.
-
I opened to my beloved,
-
but my beloved had withdrawn himself
-
and was gone.
-
My soul failed.
-
When he spake, I sought him,
-
but I could not find him.
-
I called him, but he gave me no answer."
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Let's pray.
-
Oh, Father, I pray now
-
as we look at these glorious truths
-
of Your unfailing love towards us,
-
may Your Spirit teach us now, Lord.
-
We don't want to just
learn Bible trivia today.
-
But, Lord, help us to own this truth
-
that we can see saying, my beloved -
-
these words of Christ - is mine.
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Help them belong to us now.
-
I pray, Lord,
-
You would shine Your love into our hearts.
-
Help us, Lord. Have mercy.
-
In Jesus' name,
-
Amen.
-
Ok, so, in the preceding
chapters of this book,
-
the bride of Christ - the believer -
-
she has experienced many
-
wonderful times of knowing
-
Christ's love and His presence.
-
And every time when she has grown cold
-
towards Him, Jesus has never once
-
cooled His love for her.
-
And immediately before our text in v. 1,
-
the bride is once again,
-
she is experiencing a refreshing time
-
of Christ's love and sweet
fellowship with Him.
-
However, v. 2 begins with what should
-
really be a new chapter here.
-
It's kind of an awkward chapter break.
-
(He's referring to a break between
Song of Solomon 5:1 and 5:2.)
-
And so sometime has elapsed
-
between v. 1 and v. 2 here.
-
Because if you notice that,
-
after a previous season of feeling close
-
to the heart of Christ
-
and clinging to Him in love,
-
in v. 2 here, a season of night
-
has once come again upon the believer.
-
The bride here in v. 2 is once again
-
in a season of darkness.
-
Does that sound familiar?
-
And so, in v. 2 here,
-
as Christ comes to the believer's door,
-
the bride says, "I sleep,
-
but my heart waketh.
-
It is the voice of my
beloved that knocketh,
-
saying, 'open to me.'"
-
So, notice here in this verse,
-
that Christ at this time,
-
He has somewhat withdrawn His presence,
-
because at this point,
-
He is outside of her house here
-
and knocking.
-
The bride here, she has locked Him out.
-
So, firstly, I want you to notice
-
the current state of the believer
-
here in this text.
-
I want you to notice her current attitude,
-
which has caused Christ
-
to withdraw Himself.
-
She says, "I sleep, but my heart waketh."
-
At this point in time,
-
she is half asleep, half awake.
-
She's half for Christ,
-
half for the cares of
this world and for self.
-
She is compromised.
-
Brethren, maybe this sermon finds you
-
this morning in a place of compromise;
-
in a place of half-heartedness;
-
a place of struggle.
-
Maybe you've even been real busy
-
doing Christian things.
-
But in all your running around;
-
in all your busyness,
-
listen to me,
-
never forget.
-
Never lose sight of the One
-
Who you are to do all
those things for and with.
-
In Revelation 2, we hear of Christ
-
speak to the church of Ephesus.
-
And He says to them,
-
I know your works and your labor
-
and your patience
-
and how you cannot bear them
-
which are evil.
-
And you've tested them which say
-
they are apostles
-
and you've found them to be liars.
-
And He goes on commending them there.
-
How they have endured and they've labored
-
with much patience
for Christ's name's sake.
-
But then He says, "nevertheless..."
-
"I have this against you,
-
because you have left your first love."
-
You see, in doing all those things
-
and all the busyness,
-
the church there at Ephesus
became mechanical.
-
Because love to Christ
-
was no longer at the center of it all.
-
Now, what I want you to see here
-
in this text is the love of Christ
-
and His attitude toward the believer
-
when or if we ever get like that.
-
Notice here: Christ
is knocking at the door
-
of the believer's heart here.
-
And He is calling out to her
-
to open up fully to Him.
-
Maybe this sermon finds you in a place,
-
or if you're a Christian,
-
I certainly suspect there are times
-
when you feel like Christ
-
has withdrawn His presence from you,
-
where He's standing at
the door of your heart,
-
because in your compromised
-
and half-hearted state in love to Him,
-
you've locked Him out.
-
You see believers, when Christ
-
withdraws His presence like this,
-
it is not because He is angry with you,
-
but because He wants what
is best for you, believers.
-
He wants you to learn to cling to Him,
-
which is what happens to
the bride in this book.
-
By the time you get to chapter 8,
-
she knows the love of Christ
-
to be unfailing
-
and she comes out of the wilderness
-
leaning upon her beloved.
-
You know, coming to maturity
-
as a Christian,
-
it is really clinging to Christ more.
-
It's the opposite of worldly maturity
-
in which people become more independent.
-
You see, in Christian maturity,
-
we grow in being dependant upon Him.
-
And so, what is happening here,
-
is that Christ, in great
love for His spouse,
-
He is chastening the believer here
-
in a compromised, half-hearted state
-
as a father chastens those,
-
his son in whom He loves,
-
in whom He delights.
-
And brethren, we must learn to be careful
-
not to provoke Christ
-
to withdraw the sense of His presence.
-
We're told in the New Testament
-
to be careful not to quench the Spirit;
-
not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
-
As Paul said to Timothy,
-
take pains to walk in a clear conscience.
-
Take pains. This sometimes hurts.
-
You have to cut things off to do it.
-
Do not walk, believer, in unconfessed sin.
-
But quickly confess it and forsake it.
-
Do not live with a defiled conscience.
-
You see, in the Song of Songs
-
we're given this principle several times
-
where the bride of Christ, see,
-
she exalts these daughters of Jerusalem.
-
Now these are less mature or new converts.
-
And this is really the maturer believer
-
exhorting the younger.
-
And she exhorts them that ye stir not up,
-
nor awake my love until he please.
-
Now, the idea here is like,
-
supposing I'm sat at home on my sofa,
-
and I'm asleep and my
wife is cuddled up to me,
-
my right hand is under her head
-
and my left hand doth embrace her.
-
And she's just enjoying
that loving position,
-
and then the children come running in
-
and so my wife Zoe says,
-
shhh... don't wake your daddy up.
-
Because she likes this position.
-
She wants to stay there.
-
So, she doesn't want them
-
to stir up, giving me any reason
-
to remove myself from
that position of love
-
before I would naturally wake up.
-
The teaching there for Christians
-
is be careful - be very careful
-
not to stir up Christ
-
to withdraw His presence from you.
-
Now, the next thing I want you to notice,
-
believer, in this text
-
is that in our coldness to Him,
-
I want you to notice how He acts
-
towards you.
-
Notice here, in v. 2, the bride,
-
she is being awakened from
her sleep at this point.
-
She is being awakened from a state
-
of spiritual slumber.
-
And when you fall into that state,
-
the only reason you will awake
-
is because Christ knocks.
-
And she is being awakened here by Christ
-
banging out on the door
-
calling out to her.
-
You see, the knocking here,
-
it's in the sense of Revelation 3:20
-
where it's not like a
gentle and polite knock,
-
but it's like a hammer.
-
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
-
This knock is from One Who
-
out of great love to you, believer,
-
is desperate for you to open up to Him,
-
so that He can come and be with you
-
and you with Him.
-
But also notice, Jesus doesn't just knock.
-
But in your half-hearted state
-
of neglect to Him,
-
He calls out to you
-
and He says, "Open to Me,
-
My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled.
-
For My head is filled with dew;
-
My locks with the drops of the night."
-
And brethren, how often is this
-
that when we fall into a state
-
of spiritual slumber,
-
and it feels as though Christ
-
is distant from us -
-
it's not that we can't hear Christ
-
knocking at the door.
-
It's not that those promises
-
suddenly disappear from His Word.
-
It's not that you can't hear the voice
-
of your Beloved crying
out to you to open up.
-
But in the Christian's determination
-
to hold on to some idol;
-
to hold on to some
pathetic state of compromise,
-
which is between the believer and Christ,
-
the bride locks Him out.
-
And even when He knocks
-
and pleads for you,
-
you are still stubborn
-
and won't repent straightaway
-
and return to your first love.
-
And so you stay in bed
-
and you make excuses
-
which we'll see in a moment,
-
like the bride does here.
-
You know, so often,
-
I've heard believers
who are in this state,
-
where they have some compromise
-
in love to Christ,
-
and they say things like,
-
I feel like Christ has withdrawn
His presence from me.
-
I feel like He's distant from me,
-
and He's not revealing Himself to me.
-
But you know, He's
hiding His face from me -
-
as if Christ is to blame.
-
Let me ask you, what
would you think, believer?
-
If you went to the house
-
of one of your married
ladies in your church.
-
And all over the house,
-
you could see notes
-
that the husband had given to his wife,
-
saying come away with me, my love.
-
I just love you so much.
-
I want to be alone with you.
-
And your friend, she got a text message
-
from her husband.
-
And you're sat next to her
-
and so you sort of lean over
-
and have a sneaky read
-
like ladies often do.
-
But it said the same thing.
-
Now what would you think if that wife
-
then turned around to you and said,
-
I think my husband is ignoring me?
-
I think he's gone cold on me.
-
Believers, listen to me,
-
Christ never grows cold
in His love for you.
-
The next thing I want you
to see here in this text
-
is look with me in v. 2.
-
That in the times the believer
-
has been cold towards Christ,
-
I want you to take notice here
-
of Christ's plea for you
-
to open your heart fully to Him.
-
Look at His plea here.
-
There's no fault on His part.
-
He begins by saying to you,
-
Open to Me.
-
Believer, that should be reason enough
-
for you to open the door,
-
because of Who He is
-
Who is knocking at your heart
-
and calling out to you.
-
This is the great I AM.
-
This is the God Who spoke
-
the universe into existence.
-
I mean, I'm sure there must be
-
some person whom you somewhat
-
admire and esteem.
-
And if he, or perhaps, she contacted you
-
and wanted to come over
-
and have some fellowship with you,
-
and you'd be really, really excited
-
about this person coming to visit.
-
And you're changing your schedule
-
to fit him in.
-
Maybe as we're in a church here,
-
maybe for you it would
be a famous preacher
-
like a John Piper
-
or a Paul Washer.
-
Brethren, is it not more exciting
-
that God wants to
have fellowship with you?
-
That He wants you to come away
-
and be alone with Him?
-
You know, it should make us wonder
-
that God would even knock at our door.
-
It should astound you,
believer, in amazement,
-
that God would want
anything to do with you.
-
You see, when you're just content
-
to go on casually in your slumber
-
and neglect communion with Him,
-
then at least two things
have become manifest.
-
Number one, you've lost a sense
-
of Who God is.
-
To leave Him at the door
-
and carry on in our compromised state.
-
And number two, when this happens,
-
we have developed an over-inflated opinion
-
of who we are.
-
To leave Him outside
-
and be cold to His calling
-
to have fellowship with Him in everything.
-
And so let's look at the second part
-
of Christ's plea here
-
for you to open up to Him.
-
Look what He says to you here.
-
He says, "My sister."
-
You see, like Abraham and Sarah,
-
Christ is not only the believer's husband,
-
but He is also the
believer's elder brother.
-
But whereas Abraham at times,
-
denied and forsook his bride,
-
because he wanted to protect his own life,
-
a greater than Abraham
-
willingly laid down
His life for His bride.
-
And when the Bible speaks
of Christ in this way,
-
as our Brother,
-
it is speaking of His humanity.
-
In all things, Christ was
-
made like unto His brethren.
-
You see, Jesus was and is fully God.
-
Without beginning and without end.
-
But at a point in time,
-
He became humanity.
-
You see, we do not have a God
-
Who is distant like Allah.
-
We do not have a God
-
that only knows in theory how we feel
-
because He knows all things
-
like a sort of academic paper.
-
Because, let me remind you brethren,
-
that when He took on humanity,
-
Jesus - He did not become this
-
super bullet-proof human being.
-
But He became fully man.
-
And so He felt firsthand what we feel.
-
He experienced what we go through.
-
He hungered; He thirsted like we do.
-
He sat thus exhausted by the well.
-
When Jesus went to the tomb
-
of His friend Lazarus and Lazarus died,
-
even though He knew He was
-
about to raise His friend Lazarus,
-
it says, "Jesus wept."
-
He wailed there.
-
Why?
-
I mean, if He was about to raise Him,
-
why did He weep?
-
The answer is because He loved Lazarus.
-
Jesus, being fully humanity,
-
He experienced what we feel
-
at the death of a loved one.
-
Last time, I preached that somewhere,
-
I got an email from
somewhere claiming that
-
God does not have feelings.
-
My Bible says we do not have
-
a great high priest Who cannot be touched
-
with feelings.
-
As it says there in the book of Hebrews,
-
we do not have a high priest -
-
a representative -
-
who is unable to sympathize
-
with our infirmaties; with our weaknesses,
-
but One who was in all points tempted
-
like we are tempted, and yet without sin.
-
And so therefore, we have
-
a sympathetic God.
-
We are told there to go boldly
-
to His throne of grace to find help
-
in time of need.
-
You see, is it not true
-
that often when the
believer is being tormented,
-
when the believer is struggling,
-
in that time of need,
-
they feel like they can't go
-
to His throne of grace in that state.
-
But you must own this truth
-
that this is the time He tells you
-
to go boldly to Him.
-
The One Who knocks at
your door here, believer,
-
He's not angry with you
because you've fallen,
-
but He has pity on you.
-
He wants to help you.
-
Let me say it again,
-
when Satan comes to you with temptation
-
and all manner of assault
-
and accusations against the Christian,
-
don't become deceived.
-
When you're struggling, believer,
-
don't think that you can't go to Him
-
in that state to His throne of grace.
-
Because the time of need
-
is the time He tells you
to come boldly to Him
-
to find help.
-
And then look what He calls you next
-
in His plea for you to open up to Him.
-
He then calls you, "My love."
-
Listen to me, believer.
-
You must get out of this trap
-
of basing His love for you
-
on your performance.
-
It's so easy to fall into.
-
You know, when you think
-
you're doing really good.
-
You get up for prayer early.
-
You read your Bible.
-
You share your faith with someone.
-
You know, you're
just giving, sacrificial.
-
Or, you know whenever you speak
-
the right words just
pour out of your mouth.
-
And you have no problem
-
believing Christ's love for
you on days like that.
-
That's just pride.
-
But then on another day,
-
you're kind of like the
bride here in our text.
-
You're in a state of spiritual slumber.
-
And you think,
-
surely Christ must love me less now.
-
What is the greatest command in Scripture?
-
Jesus said: To love God
-
with all your heart, soul,
mind, and strength.
-
Did Jesus do that perfectly?
-
Of course, He did.
-
He always did what is
pleasing to the Father.
-
Well, Jesus said as the
Father has loved Me,
-
even so I have loved you.
-
With that exact same love
-
and that intensity of that love
-
God the Father has for God the Son,
-
and the Son has for the Father,
-
that is how much Jesus loves you.
-
I mean, did the love of Jesus
-
for the heavenly Father -
-
does it only go thus far and no further?
-
Is there any limit to the infinite love
-
between the Father and the Son?
-
This world was made for God to share
-
this love with you.
-
To show how much the Father loves the Son.
-
And He does that by loving
us in the same way.
-
You see, believer, there may be times
-
when you're cooled in your love for Him.
-
But what was His love towards
you like in those times?
-
Listen to me now, believer,
-
Jesus - He always passionately loves you
-
with all of His heart,
soul, mind, and strength.
-
With all of His thoughts,
-
with all of His emotions.
-
So how can we not fully open up to Him?
-
And so then,
-
Christ's appeal for you to open up
-
fully to Him - it continues.
-
Look what He calls
you next here, believer.
-
He calls you, "My dove."
-
A dove is a clean,
-
a gentle and beautiful bird.
-
A symbol of innocence and peace.
-
Notice the tender way, believer,
-
in which Christ sees you;
-
how He looks upon you
-
with the deepest of affections.
-
And a dove, of course, in Scripture
-
is a symbol of the Holy Spirit
-
who resides in the believer's heart.
-
You know, and He's beginning to awake
-
the bride here from her state of slumber.
-
Let not conscience make you linger
-
nor of fitness fondly dream,
-
all the fitness He requireth
-
is to feel your need for Him.
-
And this He gives you -
-
this is the Spirit working in you,
-
when we feel our need for Him.
-
And then, look, He calls you,
-
"My undefiled,"
-
Or as the New American Standard
-
translates it, "My perfect one."
-
Notice, He's not knocking at the door
-
in wrath for you.
-
He calls you now His undefiled.
-
Because from the moment someone
-
truly repents and puts
their faith in Christ,
-
God is never angry at the believer again.
-
Because as we've just sung there
-
on that cross, the wrath of God
-
was completely satisfied.
-
He was punished in our place.
-
Jesus cried out upon that cross,
-
"It is finished!"
-
Do you see that?
-
It is finished.
-
Or are you still trying to finish it?
-
Because seeing that is eternal life.
-
Seeing what He has done there -
-
that He has completely and perfectly
-
satisfied the wrath of God
-
on behalf of all those who will trust Him.
-
He paid the penalty for
the sins of His bride -
-
past, present, and future.
-
You know, when I first went to a church,
-
I was told there that when you believe,
-
Christ paid for the sins up to the point
-
that you become a Christian,
-
and then you were sort of left then.
-
That didn't bring me much joy.
-
Of course, it's false.
-
But He's taken away our sins
-
as far as the east is from the west,
-
the Bible says.
-
So far has He removed our
transgressions from us.
-
I mean, think about this.
-
How far is the east from the west?
-
You just keep going.
-
He says, "For I will be merciful
-
to their unrighteousness."
-
This is what He's doing here at the door.
-
"...and their sins and their iniquities
-
will I remember no more."
-
You see, He brings us under conviction
-
to chasten us as a father chastens the son
-
in whom he delights, in whom he loves.
-
But once you rest in His finished work,
-
He never comes to you in wrath again.
-
I mean, God did not go to such an expense
-
to pay for your sins,
-
so He could just frown
at you all day long.
-
But everything Christ does is perfect.
-
You see, when He saves someone,
-
He perfectly saves them.
-
When God adopts someone as His child,
-
He perfectly adopts them.
-
When God forgives someone,
-
He perfectly forgives them.
-
It's not like man often does,
-
where they say I forgive someone
-
and they bury the axe,
-
but they leave the hatchet showing
-
so they can dig it up at a later date.
-
"I have blotted out as a thick cloud
-
your transgressions,
-
as a thick cloud your sins.
-
Return unto Me, for I have redeemed you."
-
Look, believer, despite your feelings
-
of neglect of Him,
-
He's not knocking to you in anger here.
-
He calls you, "My undefiled."
-
These hands that knock here
-
have holes in,
-
pierced for your sin, believer.
-
Is that not enough to you?
-
This should really motivate you
-
to just yield yourself to Him.
-
There's a dear brother in England we met,
-
Leslie Smith.
-
One thing he told me: yield.
-
Because Satan comes with all accusations
-
and thoughts, different things,
-
and people start toying with it,
-
but the moment you yield to Christ,
-
it's over.
-
And it's so true.
-
Take captive every thought.
-
And then in the third part
-
of His plea to the believer
-
to open up the door,
-
Christ says, "For My
head is filled with dew,
-
and My locks with the drops of the night."
-
He's left in the cold outside here.
-
And a night and dew in Scripture
-
is sometimes symbolic
of trial and affliction.
-
In Daniel 4, when Nebuchadnezzar
-
was at his lowest state -
-
he was said to be wet
with the dew of heaven.
-
And brethren, Christ feels the hurt.
-
You know, since I've been in the U.S.,
-
I've been able to contact my wife on Skype
-
almost every day.
-
That was, except last Monday,
-
because we were so busy,
-
we were doing various outreaches,
-
and with all the time differences
-
I was unable to speak to her that day.
-
Each time I turned on my laptop
-
hoping to see her,
-
it was a time when either she wasn't there
-
or she was in bed.
-
On the morning before we left
-
the house to go to the outreach,
-
I put on my computer,
-
and I was so excited to speak with her,
-
but she happened to be out.
-
Then, when we came back
-
from the outreach,
-
I was getting all excited again,
-
longing to speak to my wife.
-
I'm getting flutters in my heart
-
as I switch the computer on.
-
But she'd gone to bed.
-
It was kind of late there.
-
But it just really brought home to me
-
just how much more
-
God longs to hear from us
-
and speak with His bride.
-
And how He feels it
-
when we don't come to be alone with Him.
-
While we're here, if you'll just look
-
at Song of Solomon 2:14.
-
At the end of v. 13,
-
Christ says, "Arise, My love,
-
My fair one and come away."
-
And then He says there in v. 14,
-
"Oh, My dove,
-
that art in the clefts of the rock,
-
in the secret places in the stairs."
-
These are the little cracks
-
in the rock, if you like,
-
where doves would hide for protection.
-
The analogy here is, as we sang there,
-
Jesus Christ being our hiding place.
-
Coming to hide in Him.
-
But notice here what He calls you.
-
"Let me see thy countenance."
-
Let me see your face.
-
He wants to see your face.
-
"Let me hear thy voice,
-
for sweet is thy voice
-
and thy countenance (your face)
-
is beautiful."
-
Because Christ doesn't
just put away your sin,
-
but He gives you the perfect,
-
the beauty, the righteousness
of Jesus Christ.
-
If ever I feel cold and dry in prayer,
-
I come back to these verses.
-
That Christ, He says,
-
let Me hear your voice.
-
Let Me see your face.
-
You know, Keith Green sang:
-
"Oh, Lord, You're beautiful.
-
Your face is all I seek.
-
And when Your eyes are on this child,
-
Your grace abounds to me."
-
Well, brethren, this is a song.
-
The Song of Solomon.
-
And God is singing the
same thing to us there.
-
Believe it.
-
He sees you as beautiful.
-
Your face is all He seeks.
-
We go back to chapter 5.
-
But believer, when we neglect
-
secret communion with God -
-
Jesus said not if, but when
-
you pray in secret.
-
Or when we leave our first love
-
to be busy in some cold,
-
compromised way,
-
Christ feels this.
-
The Bible speaks of His
Spirit being grieved.
-
Grief is an emotional hurt.
-
You see, God is not
some feelingless robot.
-
The Bible says He is
longsuffering towards us.
-
Now, that implies that He feels
-
the suffering towards our cold behavior.
-
This is the same God, brethren,
-
Who wept over Jerusalem.
-
Now, look in v. 3 here at the bride's
-
half-hearted response.
-
After she hears her beloved outside
-
knocking and pleading with her
-
in great love for her
-
to open up the door,
-
she just makes excuses.
-
She says, v. 3, "I have put off my coat.
-
How shall I put it on?"
-
This refers to the full middle-Eastern
-
robe or garment.
-
Basically, she's gone to bed.
-
"I have washed my feet.
-
How shall I defile (or dirty) them again?"
-
You know, if I get up to answer the door,
-
I'm going to have to wash my feet again.
-
I'm cozy in bed now.
-
But brethren, how many times
-
have we been cold to Christ -
-
locked Him out, so to speak,
-
because you want to do your own thing
-
or hold on to some idol?
-
But even when you hear Him knock
-
and call out to you,
-
when you're reminded of Who He is,
-
and you're reminded
of His great love to you,
-
and you're reminded of
what He's done for you,
-
and how He is grieved;
-
how often do you, like the bride,
-
still make excuses
-
and start reasoning
-
to continue in a half-hearted state
-
of compromise?
-
You know, one thing I heard
-
that really helped me
-
is we know right and wrong in His Word,
-
but what tends to happen is
-
the believer at times will be deceived
-
and start reasoning,
-
when it's a simple yes or no.
-
Will you obey Christ or won't you obey?
-
And once you boil it down to that,
-
and you stop reasoning,
-
and just yield to Christ,
-
it's over there.
-
How often have you
heard a sermon like this
-
speaking of God's love for you
-
in spite of your failings?
-
And you're convicted, and you're thinking,
-
yeah, I'm going to commune with Him now,
-
put Him first in all of my affections.
-
I'm going to rise up early
-
and meet Him for secret
communion and prayer,
-
but then it gets to Monday or Tuesday,
-
and you're making excuses
-
in order to keep Christ out
-
and carry on in your compromised way.
-
"I have put off my coat.
-
How shall I put it on?
-
I have washed my feet.
-
How shall I defile (or dirty) them?"
-
Notice also here,
-
that in the bride's thinking here,
-
in making excuses to carry on in her state
-
of compromise - in her reasoning,
-
she has come to the conclusion
-
that to fully open up to Christ -
-
to submit to Him fully -
-
would somehow be a great trouble
-
or burden to her.
-
She's been deceived at this point
-
into thinking she's better off
-
with whatever carnal security
-
she's getting from whatever is between
-
her and Christ.
-
Listen to me.
-
Anytime we do not put Christ
-
at the chiefest of our affections,
-
it is because we have been deceived.
-
How often does one think of sin
-
or toying with sin as if it's a virtue?
-
No one would ever do it otherwise.
-
No one sins unless they feel
-
it's going to benefit them in some way.
-
And v. 4, and the bride continues to say,
-
"My beloved put His hand
-
by the hole of the door,
-
and my bowels were moved for Him."
-
Jesus Christ - He is the everlasting door.
-
And the Bible says,
-
while were yet sinners,
-
He made His way into our hearts.
-
You see, this hole in the
door here in this text,
-
you would have basically a large door
-
with a wooden bar across it
-
and various pins and locks.
-
And there's a hole you
can put your hand into
-
to remove some of those pins
-
and some of those locks.
-
Although, there's more to it than that.
-
You have to open it on the inside also.
-
As we can see there,
-
the bride still needs to open up.
-
But notice here, that when the bride
-
is locking Christ out here,
-
and even when He knocks
-
and calls her in love to
her to open up to Him,
-
and she makes excuses,
-
He doesn't just leave her,
-
but He finds this little gap
-
and undoes some of those pins.
-
Basically, He makes it easier here
-
for the bride to open up fully to Him.
-
Christ begins here to effectually move
-
on the bride's heart.
-
And so she's going to rise now
-
to open up the door.
-
And Jesus often does this.
-
When Peter denied Christ,
-
the only thing that made
Peter turn again to Him,
-
was Christ praying for Peter
-
that his faith fail not.
-
As I read Octavius Winslow said,
-
it takes as big a miracle
-
for a believer when we fall in any way
-
to come back to Christ - to turn -
-
than for the new birth in the first place.
-
When Peter was at his lowest ebb
-
in running from God,
-
Jesus went after Peter
-
and won him by His love.
-
And believer, when you fail,
-
the only reason you return to Him
-
is because He effectually draws you
-
by His love.
-
If He left you to yourself,
-
then you would be long gone.
-
His love is a love that
will not let you go.
-
It says in chapter 8:
"stronger than death."
-
Death is pretty strong.
-
It's quite final.
-
So rest your weary soul in Him.
-
In v. 5, after Christ effectually moves
-
the heart of the bride here,
-
she says, "I rose to open to my beloved,
-
and my hands dropped with myrrh,
-
and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh
-
upon the handles of the lock."
-
I want you to notice here first of all
-
that repentance always results in action.
-
Repentance involves all
of your inner being,
-
being moved with compassion,
-
with longing for Christ,
-
and so it will be evidenced
-
by a turning from the present state one is
-
and to the living God.
-
There is no such thing
as a true repentance
-
that does not involve action.
-
And notice in v. 5,
-
when the bride rises up to open
-
to her beloved, she says,
-
"My hands dropped with myrrh,
-
and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh,
-
upon the handles of the lock."
-
Although as we see in the next verse
-
that by this time when
she finally responds,
-
Christ has further withdrawn His presence
-
from her, but notice here -
-
don't miss this.
-
Before He did, He put His hand
-
through the hole in the door to her heart
-
in the previous verse.
-
He left her here with
the fragrance of Himself,
-
so that she would long for Him.
-
And how true this is, believer,
-
that even when it times Christ withdraws
-
His presence from you,
-
because of your disobedience
-
and stubborn will to carry on
-
in a compromised state,
-
He graciosly leaves you, believer,
-
with a longing - with
a yearning for Himself.
-
And in v. 6, the bride
finally rises and says,
-
"I opened to my beloved,
-
but my beloved had withdrawn Himself
-
and was gone.
-
My soul failed when He spake.
-
I sought Him, but I could not find Him.
-
I called Him, but He gave me no answer."
-
For the bride's own good here,
-
Christ has withdrawn the
sense of His presence.
-
Of course, He's still with her,
-
watching over her.
-
But He's done this to teach her a lesson
-
that she cannot be half-hearted
-
towards Him.
-
And after finding her
in this prolonged state
-
of compromise,
-
when despite His pleas of love
-
for the bride,
-
she was continually cold to Him,
-
and so He left her with the fragrance
-
of Himself so that she would yearn for Him
-
and cause her to seek Him.
-
And so, when she finally rises
-
from her state of spiritual slumber
-
and opens the door,
-
she finds that her beloved
has withdrawn Himself,
-
because listen to me.
-
Christ does not want us to continue
-
in this half-hearted state of devotion,
-
nor does He want our
three-quarter devotion.
-
But He wants us to desperately seek Him
-
with all our heart.
-
And so that when you find Him,
-
He doesn't want us to have the attitude
-
of slip back into the previous attitude
-
that we can just take Him or leave Him;
-
pick Him up and drop Him
-
whenever we like.
-
But as you go through this book,
-
the Song of Solomon,
-
you see this Christian life
-
where the bride comes to maturity,
-
and He teaches the bride
-
by chastening her in this way,
-
to cling to Him;
-
to lean upon Him.
-
Again, growing in Christian maturity
-
is growing in dependence upon Him;
-
clinging more to Christ.
-
And notice here, she sought Him
-
by calling Him in prayer,
-
but He gave no answer.
-
Let me ask you a question, believer.
-
Have you ever woken up
early in the morning,
-
and you feel like you must get up to pray?
-
And you know it's God tugging
-
on your heart to spend time with Him.
-
Or maybe it's late at night.
-
But you just roll over.
-
You stay in bed.
-
Because you're reasoning within yourself.
-
Well, I need to get more sleep
-
because if I get extra sleep,
-
then I'll have more strength
-
to live this coming day
in my own strength.
-
That's what it is, isn't it?
-
The Lord woke me up at 4 a.m. this morning
-
and preaching this, I thought,
-
I better get up.
-
But what happens?
-
After putting Him off like
the bride in our text?
-
You eventually wake up
-
and you still pick your Bible up
-
and pray as duty.
-
You try to make a deal with God
-
saying well, if I do my bit,
-
then You do Yours today.
-
But then you find that God
has withdrawn Himself.
-
And so for the rest of the day,
-
you can't find Him.
-
As John Bunyan said,
-
"he who runs from God in the morning
-
will scarcely find Him
the rest of the day."
-
Or, have you ever felt
-
like Christ is bringing conviction
-
over you for something,
-
but despite His many pleas to you,
-
you make excuse after excuse
-
to hold on to it?
-
And when you finally come to your senses,
-
and you let go of what is between
-
you and Christ,
-
you find He has withdrawn Himself.
-
And you can't find Him.
-
You see, the lost, carnal church member
-
experiences something like this
-
when after living like a spiritual,
-
lukewarm sluggard,
-
they reject Christ's mercy and conviction
-
time after time.
-
And when they finally open the door,
-
they find He's gone.
-
And so, the lost, carnal church member,
-
they think well, if that's the case,
-
I may as well go back to bed again.
-
I may as well carry on
-
in my lukewarm slumber.
-
But look here, what happens
-
to the true believer
-
when Christ does this.
-
The true believer, like the bride here,
-
Christ brings us to our senses,
-
so that he or she will desperately
-
seek Him and try to find Him,
-
and will not stop until we do.
-
Because the beloved
-
has the words of eternal life -
-
to whom else is she going to go?
-
And then in v. 7,
-
the bride in her search for Christ,
-
she runs about the streets.
-
She's wounded by these false teachers.
-
"The watchmen that went about the city,
-
the smote me.
-
They wounded me.
-
The keepers of the walls
-
took away my veil from me."
-
You have wolves in sheep's clothing here
-
who when they find
the true bride of Christ
-
in desperation and despair,
-
they only smite her and wound her more.
-
They rudely rip off her veil
-
or a cloak or a shoal -
-
it's not quite clear what it is.
-
But basically, they're
showing no respect for her.
-
And listen to me,
-
you need to make sure
-
you're in a Biblical fellowship
-
with true believers.
-
This is so important.
-
If you need to, move.
-
Sometimes, I speak to people
-
all the time who are looking
-
for a true church; a true fellowship
-
who can find nothing where they are.
-
But what I've noticed is
-
when someone's a true believer,
-
they'll crawl over
broken glass to find it.
-
But in some cases,
-
people can't find a true fellowship
-
because they don't love the brethren.
-
No church is perfect enough for them.
-
We know that we have passed
-
from death to life
-
because we love the brethren.
-
This is one of the chiefest evidences
-
that you are a Christian.
-
I was told that, I think,
-
it was Frances Havergal who said
-
if you miss one meeting
-
which you otherwise have no real excuse
-
not to attend,
-
then there's a red flag there.
-
You must find, like the bride did,
-
earlier on in this book,
-
where Christ feeds His flock.
-
It's no good having an Internet pastor.
-
And then in v. 8,
-
she says, "I charge you,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
-
if ye find my beloved,
-
that you tell Him that I am sick of love."
-
The idea here is that she is lovesick.
-
Just like if a husband
is called to go to war,
-
and his bride is left at home
-
yearning for him.
-
Notice here, the bride,
-
she desperately wants Him now by her side.
-
And brethren, let me finish
with this this morning.
-
Maybe this finds you
-
in a state of compromise
-
like the bride in v. 2 and v. 3.
-
Locking Christ out.
-
Making excuses not to
fully open up to Him.
-
And He even tugs on your heart.
-
But now, even though
-
He has withdrawn His presence,
-
but you're desperate for Him.
-
This is Christ working on you.
-
If that's you, be encouraged.
-
I don't want to end on this note.
-
The bride doesn't stop here.
-
I can show you many places
-
where she finds Christ
-
and she clings to Him.
-
In v. 9, the daughters of Jerusalem
-
say to the bride,
-
"What is thy beloved more
than another beloved,
-
O, thou fairest among women?
-
What is thy beloved more
than another beloved
-
that thou dost charge us?"
-
Now, it could be that the bride
-
has left such a bad example,
-
that they're saying here,
-
why should we seek Him
-
if He's so special?
-
And we are all an example - good or bad.
-
But I don't think that is the case
-
here with this text,
-
because these are the
daughters of Jerusalem.
-
They call her, "O, thou
fairest among women."
-
They have great respect
for the bride here.
-
I think this is a sense of when you hear
-
a testimony of someone like
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Darlene Rose, Corrie Ten Boom,
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and they've seen Christ in heights
-
of His love.
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They've experienced more than you have.
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So you want them to recount their stories.
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And you say what is thy beloved
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more than another beloved,
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O fairest among women?
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O, maturer Christian than me.
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Stir me up to seek Him with you,
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as she does in 8.1.
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And then the bride continues,
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"my beloved is white and ruddy,
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the chiefest among ten thousand."
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White here white as a lily,
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as pure as a lily, I think,
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is what this is teaching.
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And ruddy, a ruddy rose.
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Basically, my beloved is pure love.
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And then in such picturesque language here
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she describes Christ.
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She describes every part of her beloved -
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how glorious He is
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and she rounds it off in v. 16
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by saying, "His mouth is most sweet.
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Yea, He is altogether lovely."
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He is wholly desirable.
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Everything about Christ is desirable.
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There is not one flaw in Him.
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"This is my Beloved,
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and this is my Friend,
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O daughters of Jerusalem."
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I want you to notice there
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that by v. 16, she knows Christ
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once again to be close to her.
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She has the assurance
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that He is her friend.
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What caused this?
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The answer is by focusing
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on what Christ is like;
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on His character.
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She took her eyes off self
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and once she saw the character of Christ,
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she knew His love once again for her.
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Again, 6.1, I'm only going to go two more.
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They ask her once again,
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"Whither has thy beloved gone,
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O fairest among women?
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Whither has thy beloved turned aside
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that we may seek Him with thee?"
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This is a prayer meeting -
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seeking Christ together.
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But notice her answer.
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"My beloved has gone down
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into His gardens,
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to the beds of spices
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to feed in the gardens
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and to gather lilies."
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The reason He went from your door
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is to pick flowers for you.
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The lily also in chapter 2,
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you know Christ is compared to a lily.
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And then the believer
is compared to a lily.
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A lily among thorns,
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so is my love among the daughters.
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The thorns are the false converts.
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Picture this. This is how
Christ sees this world.
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This barren wildnerness of thorny ground.
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Good for nothing but burning.
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And then, there's this one precious lily
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in the middle of it all.
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That is how Christ looks upon you.
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Because He's taken away your sin
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and He's given you His perfect
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beautiful righteousness.
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At the death of a Christian,
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what happens?
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Christ is gathering lilies.
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He's picking flowers for Himself.
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So let me leave you with this.
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Am I speaking to lilies?
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Or am I speaking to thorns?
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Have you come to this place
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where you've seen Christ's love?
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Or do you still see Him
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as a hard taskmaster?
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Again, it is finished upon that cross.
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Just surrender to His love.
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You pass from death to life.
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If you will just surrender
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to what He's done -
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His finished work.
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If you come to Him,
He will not cast you out.
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But come to Him on His terms.
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Yield to Him.
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Surrender to His love.
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Stop trying to save yourself
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and say, "Lord, save me."
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So let's close in prayer.
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Father, I just thank You
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that You chose to love us
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before You laid the
foundations of the world;
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that Your love to us is
without beginning, without end;
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that even before we were in the womb,
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You knew us, Father.
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I thank You that Yours is a love
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that will not let us go -
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a love that is stronger than death;
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that many waters, many floods,
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cannot quench the flame of Jehovah.
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I pray You would use
these words now, Lord,
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to help us to put You first;
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to seek You first.
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May Your Spirit teach us these words,
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so they become our intimate friends.
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May we own these words, Father,
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and know that Your desire is towards us
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and that we are Yours
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because You sought us and bought us
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at a price.
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I pray, Lord, for anyone
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who does not know You;
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for anyone who is struggling
with assurance even,
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that they would own these truths this day.
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That they would come to the Father
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through Jesus the Son
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and give Him the glory.
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Great things He has done.
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In Jesus' name,
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Amen.