Where Is Christ to Be Found?

Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. - Song of Solomon 6:1-3

    “Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.) I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.”

    It is written, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But before any sinner can or will call upon the name of the Lord in true faith and be saved at least three things must take place.

    1. Before any man can or will trust Christ and be saved he must hear the gospel of the grace of God (Rom. 10:14-17).

    It is not enough that he hear and understand the religious opinions of men. He must hear the gospel! Martin Luther was exactly right when he said this passage of Scripture presents us with four impossibilities: (1.) It is impossible for a man to call on Christ unless he believes on Christ. (2.) It is impossible for a man to believe on Christ unless he has heard of Christ, unless he has heard the gospel of Christ. (3.) It is impossible for a man to hear of Christ without a preacher. And (4.) it is impossible for a man to preach Christ, truly to preach Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, unless he is sent of God to do so.

    No one ever has been saved and no one ever will be saved apart from hearing the gospel of the grace of God in Christ preached by a man who is sent of God. But what is the gospel? It is the good news of effectual atonement and accomplished redemption in Christ. The only true gospel is that gospel which answers the question – “How can God be just and justify the ungodly?” There is but one gospel. And that gospel is the gospel of Christ’s substitutionary, effectual redemption. The only way God can be both just and the Justifier of the ungodly, “a just God and a Savior” (Isa. 45:20), is by the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, that sacrifice by which the Son of God fully satisfied all the claims of divine justice in the room and stead of his people.

    2. Before any person can or will believe on Christ and be saved he must be regenerated by the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:1-9).

    Faith, like all other graces is the gift of God. Faith is not the cause, but the result of the new birth. While we recognize that no man in the Bible is to be looked upon as having eternal life until he has faith in Christ, we also recognize that before any sinner can or will have true faith he must be given life by the sovereign power of God the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is a resurrection from the dead. It is a new creation of life. The new birth is an implanting of a new heart and a new nature. It is not the work of man, but the work of God (John 1:12-13).

    3. Before anyone can or will come to Christ, calling upon him in true faith, before any man can be saved the gospel of the grace and glory of God must be revealed in his heart (2 Cor. 4:6; Matt. 16:17).

    The only way any person can ever know and understand the gospel is if God himself reveals the gospel (John 3:3; 16:8-11).

    In the passage now before us, the daughters of Jerusalem had heard of Christ. Though he was revealed only under the types and shadows of the Old Testament, they had heard him well described by one who knew him and loved him. They heard of the excellency of his character. They heard of the efficacy of his work. They heard of the exceeding greatness of his love.

    They had heard of Christ; and that which they heard created in their hearts a desire to know Christ for themselves. So we see these daughters of Jerusalem asking where they might find the Lord. “Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? That we may seek him with thee.” Where is Christ to be found? That is the question I want to answer in this chapter. No question could be of greater importance to eternity bound sinners. This I know—“The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him (Lam. 3:25). Are you seeking him? Those who seek the Lord feel their need of him. They seek him earnestly, with all their hearts. Those who truly seek the Lord shall find him (Jer. 29:13). And those who seek the Lord must seek him in the place where he is most likely to be found. If we would know Christ and worship him, we must seek him; and it is wise to seek him in the place where he is likely to be found.

    A very earnest question

    Here is a very earnest question. – "Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee" (Song 6:1). Here the daughters of Jerusalem, being anxious about their souls and anxious to know Christ, asked for help. They came to one who knew the Lord, and said, “Where can we find him?” They are like those Greeks who came to Philip, and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” Really, the question is this. —Where can we find that Beloved One in whom sinners are accepted, justified, and forgiven? Where can we find that One who is so great and yet so gracious? Where can we find this Friend of sinners?

    What inspired the daughters of Jerusalem to ask this question? They saw and recognized the blessedness of the Lord’s people. They call the church of God the “fairest among women.” They heard the faithful testimony of a believer about Christ. Though in this particular place, the Lord’s church was much to be blamed; (Her sin and neglect were great. Her heart was greatly troubled.), yet she had born loving and faithful witness to Christ. It is as though she had said, “Though I do not now enjoy his presence and a sense of communion with him, I can speak of him. I can talk of my Beloved;” and she did. She plainly declared what she had seen and heard, tasted and experienced of the Savior’s love and grace (1 John 1:1-3).

    Truly, there is no better medicine for a despondent heart than to talk of Christ. There is no better cure for spiritually troubled believers than to talk of Christ. Believers may not always sense his presence, but we can always talk about him. And those who speak of him with love and faith will not be long kept from his fellowship. (See vv. 4-9).

    Why did the daughters of Jerusalem ask this question? We are told plainly that they wanted Christ for themselves. —“That we may seek him with thee.” Theirs was not an idle curiosity about religion. They wanted Christ. They were determined to find him. It is as though they said, “If there is such a God and Savior as this, we cannot rest until we find him. We must have him. Without him, we will surely perish! We are resolved, we are determined to have Christ.

    Wealth and honor we disdain, earthly comforts all are vain;

    These can never satisfy, give us Christ, or else we die!”

    A very confident answer

    In verse 2 the Lord’s redeemed gives a very confident answer to the daughters of Jerusalem. —"My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies." Here the spouse, the church, the child of God was given yet another opportunity to speak of her Beloved. While she was pointing the daughters of Jerusalem to Christ, she was also ministering to her own heart. Though she had, for the time being, lost the sense of his presence by her own slothfulness, she now speaks very confidently. She says, “I know where he is. I know where the Lord reveals himself. I know where he is to be found.” And then she shows them. —“My Beloved is gone down into his garden.” Though this text speaks of Christ coming down to his garden to visit his people with grace and mercy, he has now gone up to heaven, the garden of God, where he sits upon the throne of universal dominion (Heb. 10:12).

    Do any ask, “Where is Christ to be found?” The Lord Jesus Christ is to be found in the midst of his church and people. He had said, “I am come into my garden” (5:1). And now, the spouse seems to say, “How foolish I have been, fretting and worrying myself about where to find him, seeking him where he is not to be found. He told me where he is. He is in his garden!” His garden is the church considered as a whole. The beds of spices and the smaller gardens may refer to the many congregations of the Lord’s people. The spices and the lilies may be taken to refer to individual believers.

    The church is the Lord’s garden. He bought it with his blood. He encloses it with his providence. He plants it by his grace. He protects it by his power. And he dwells there. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ dwells in the midst of his people. He is always with his beloved (Matt. 18:20; 28:20; Phil. 4:5). The Son of God still walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (Rev. 1:9-20).

    If you are interested in your immortal soul, if you seek the Lord, you must not neglect the public assembly of his people to worship him and hear his Word. More often than not, when the Lord intends to save one of his sheep, he causes that sheep to gather with his people in the house of worship. What is the Lord doing in his garden?

    There, in the assembly of his saints, he feeds his flock by the ministry of the Word. He has chosen pastors according to his own heart, who feed his sheep with knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15; Acts 20:28; John 21:15-17; Eph. 4:8-16).

    He also feeds himself in his garden. That is to say, he gathers the products of his own grace in his people and finds satisfaction and pleasure in the fruit of his own labor. “The Lord taketh pleasure in those that fear him.” Matthew Henry said, “He has many gardens, many particular churches of different sizes and shapes; but while they are his, he feeds in them all, manifests himself among them, and is well-pleased with them.”

    The Lord Jesus gathers lilies in his garden, lilies with which he is pleased to entertain and adorn himself. Of course, these lilies are his own people, the flowers of his grace and mercy. There was a great gathering of his lilies, his elect people, by his death upon the cross (Eph. 2:4-6; John 11:51-52). Today, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of the gospel, Christ is still gathering his lilies. He gathers his lilies from his garden when he calls them up to glory. Soon he is coming to gather all of his lilies (1 Thess. 4:13-18). One of the old writers said, “He picks the lilies one by one, and gathers them to himself. And there will be a general harvest of them in the great day, when he will send forth his angels, to gather all his lilies, that he may be forever glorified and admired in them.”

    A very comforting assurance

    In verse three, the church, the bride of Christ speaks a word of very comforting assurance to her own heart.—"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies." Though the Lord has withdrawn from her the sense and manifestation of his presence, she was comforted by faith in his Word. She was assured of her relationship with him, because she knew it depended not upon her faithfulness but his faithfulness. She says, “I am my Beloved’s; and my Beloved is mine: He feedeth among the lilies.” In spite of her own sin, negligence, and unbelief, she expresses three things about which she was sure. From these she draws great comfort.

    First, she says, “I am my Beloved’s.” She had acted shamefully toward him. Therefore, in love he chastened her for a while. But she knew that her standing was not upon her works, but upon his works. Her acceptance was not by works, but by grace. Therefore, she takes a fresh hold upon that firm and everlasting covenant, which stands unbroken in spite of our many sins (Ps. 89:30-35).

    She says, “I am,” even now, “My Beloved’s.” Let every believer look upon Christ with such confident faith, knowing our own sin and corruption, and declare, “I am my Beloved’s by an eternal gift, by a loving election, by a special redemption, and by a distinguishing grace. Yes, I am his! Nothing that I have done or ever shall do can change that fact.” What comfort there is in such an assurance!

    Second, she declares, “my Beloved is mine!” This is even better. Since Christ is mine, I neither want nor need anything else. He is all I need. Here is the glory and beauty of faith. It believes Christ, even when he is not seen and his presence is not felt. Child of God, your salvation depends not upon feeling or experience, but upon Christ! He is yours, because the Father gave him to you. He is yours, because he swore that he would be. He said, “I will be for thee.” He is yours, because he revealed himself to you. He is yours, because you trust him, because he gives you faith to trust him.

    Third, she says, “He feedeth among the lilies.” She seems to be saying, “I know that Christ is mine and that I am his. And I know that he feeds among the lilies. He meets with his people in his garden, talks with them, and communes with them, and reveals himself to them. Therefore, I know if I am in his garden when he comes among his lilies, I will meet with him again.”

    Let us ever rest confidently upon our great Savior’s covenant faithfulness (2 Sam. 23:5). And let us ever cherish the privilege of gathering with his saints in his garden, where he still “feedeth among the lilies” (Heb. 10:25).