I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to Song of Solomon, Chapter 5.
Song of Solomon, Chapter 5. Let's thank the Lord for the
evening. Our blessed Father, we are so
thankful that you've given us a heart to be here. Lord, thank
you. for the privilege to sing praises
unto your name, to hear the gospel proclaimed. Teach us this evening,
forgive us where we failed, for Christ's sake. Amen. I'd like to speak for a few minutes
on the subject of a healthy sickness. A healthy sickness. I'd like to look at Song of Solomon,
chapter 5. I'd like to look at verses 2
through 8. Now, this is a conversation that
takes place between the bride of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus
Himself, and a group that is referred to as the daughters
of Jerusalem. Now let's listen. You have to
understand now, this is a believer. This is the church. These are
the redeemed and regenerated saints of God speaking to the
Lord, and the Lord back to her. And in the latter part of these
verses, we'll hear the bride say something to this group,
the daughters of Jerusalem. Now let's listen to an admittance. of the bride herself. She says,
I sleep. Now, sin that dwells within every
believer is the culprit, is the reason for us seeing ourselves
as being careless, and slothful, and lax toward the Lord. The carnal heart, the old man,
cares nothing for the things of God but the believer. That new man created in righteousness,
that new spirit that is imparted by the Spirit of God Groans and
this is an admittance of the bride of Christ. This is every
believer admits this right here. I sleep and they groan under
that insensitivity to the Lord. Now it's not a sleep of death. I can tell you this, an unbeliever
does not think they're dead in trespasses and sins. They think
they're alive. I mean, talk to any of them. There's a justification for what
they do. They don't believe. They're not
going to admit this. I sleep. This is not a sleep
of death, but it is an unbecoming attitude of insensitivity and
indifference from the one who has tasted that the Lord is good. The bride says, I sleep, but
my heart waketh. Life is there. But it's said to be a battle
going on here between sleepy life. But it's a hopeful sign. Hopeful because there's grace
in the heart when there is a struggle against the sin of sluggishness. When you find that there is a
battle going on. If you find yourself struggling
You want to know the will of the Lord. You want that. You
desire that. You crave that. It just eats
you up. There's life there. Believe me,
an unbeliever doesn't struggle with it. A believer, though he's
finding himself often, always, I suppose, spiritually lacks
his life thereto. Sin, though it's present, and
it is, Paul said, I see in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells
no good thing, but it doesn't have dominion over a believer. The heart is awake. That's what Shulamite says here,
the bride. I sleep, but my heart's awake. How does she know? How do you
know that your heart is awake? Well, here's what she says. It
is the voice of my beloved that knocketh. The believer knows the voice
of the Lord. That's what the Lord said. My
sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. The believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ knows the voice of her beloved, knows the voice of the
Lord Jesus Christ calling to her in the tenderest of terms
and corrections. And she hears His voice in the
preaching of the gospel. She hears His voice as she's
searching the scriptures and she hears His voice through the
revelation as the Spirit of God bears witness to her heart. There's a battle that's going
on. It's a warring against the sleepiness
that she sees in herself. I sleep. My heart's awake. And what does the bride hear
him say? Well, 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. How is he speaking
to her? Well, he's speaking to her in
terms that we're able to understand. He's talking to her as being
on the outside, open to me. But here again, now I told you
last Sunday, I've seen that picture you have too. You showed this
picture of this guy standing outside this door. It has no
door knob on the outside. And this is the Lord knocking
at the heart of an unbeliever, you know, waiting for him, the
unbeliever, to open the door so he can come in. No. He's talking to the bride. This
is what he's saying. Open to me, my sister, my love. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. The Lord's angry with the wicked.
Every day He's talking to His dove, His undefiled. How'd she
get that way? He roped her, Mark, in His righteousness. That's how she's undefiled. He
bore her guilt and put away her sin. He said, My head filled
with dew. Speaking of Him being on the
outside in the moisture of the night, signifying patience, long-suffering
and obedient, humiliation, suffered on her behalf. He's talking to
her as one that speaks to her concerning Him desiring her heart
to be toward Him. Oh, how blessed to observe the
unchangeable love of the Lord Jesus Christ toward his bride.
He just speaks so tenderly toward her. He's truly the refreshment
of his people. But though we admit our failure
to love him as we ought, he never fails to love us and love us
to the end. That's what he said. And as he
calls in tenderness, I want you to listen to the answer. of ingratitude
from his beloved." Now, again, this is the admittance of every
believer. This is a believer's answer.
And anyone that would say, I would never answer like that, well,
you have reason to doubt. I can tell you that right now.
This is the word of the bride. She says, verse 3, I've put off
my coat. How shall I put it on? I've washed
my feet. How shall I defile them? Now, this is what I say to us. What ingratitude. What a frivolous
excuse. Here is the bride hearing the
voice of her beloved. She said, I sleep, but my heart's
awake. How do you know, Shulamite? I
hear his voice. I hear his voice. Open to me. Well, I've already taken my clothes
off, I've got my pajamas on, and I've washed my feet. And I'd mess my feet up if I
got up. I'd rather not. Here is the surety
himself. He who came into this world,
the servant of Jehovah, earned by his absolute obedience the
righteousness that he imputes to those that believe him, those
who are his elect, those to whom he shall call by his Holy Spirit,
laid down his life a ransom for his sheep, And how can we respond
with such indifference? Let me ask you that belief. Can
we truly deem ourselves children? And act like that? And answer
Him? What? Would I so foolishly deny
to find myself often with that attitude right there? Can I be so cold? Let me ask
you this. How can he be so loving? But
for the grace of God, open to me. I just don't have time. I don't have time. I've got too
many other things to do. I've already laid down. You're not worth it. That's what she said. I've already
taken my clothes off. I've already lain down. I've
already gone to bed. I've washed my feet. Let me ask you this. I mean, you think about if somebody
that you know and love and they get laid down and a knock comes
at your door and they call to you. Marvin, it's, you know,
Marvin, it's me. It's Glenda. I had to go, I'm
locked outside, can you open? Oh, I've already taken, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry. I've already washed my feet,
I really, I, no. My beloved put his hand by the
hole of the door and my bowels, my heart was moved for him. He knocked And she heard Him. You that know Him, how often
have we... Now let's just be honest about
it now. How many times have we heard
the gospel? We've heard the voice of the
Lord preached. And our minds would just be out
here somewhere. We've heard it. We're hearing
it. I mean, you're listening to what I'm saying. And it's
consistent with what you know is so. It's speaking of the Lord
and His sovereignty and man and His depravity in Himself. And it's all just right. It's
the voice of the Lord. But really when it comes right
down to just a giving of our all to Him. Do we not admit,
I sleep. I sleep. My heart's awake. I
know I hear. I'm hearing it. I know it here.
And I hear what He's saying. I hear the glorious message of
redemption. But didn't even consider the
voice of the Spirit of God speaking and me listening and responding
in my heart as I ought. And in listening to what I'm
saying, listen, I'm preaching it right now. I'm preaching this
and I think to myself, how ungrateful, how ungrateful can I be? I've taken off my coat, I've
washed my feet, I just don't want to get them dirty. That's
what she said. How shall I defile them? But
he who had every right to cast the one who had given him such
an answer into hell, would not leave the object of his mercy
to herself. What did he do? Well, he put
his hand by the hole of the door. It was a place where, the best
I can understand, a place where you could reach in and it was
almost like a place of a key or some place to be able to unlock
the door. It wasn't just a place where
anybody could just... It was a place where the door
could be unlocked and there was a way that you could do it. He put his hand by the hole of
the door. But here now, it's the opening
to the bride's heart is what it is. Her heart is insensitive
to him. She hears the knock. She hears
him talking. And she gives an excuse, I just
don't have time. And he moved upon her in power. Put his hand by the hole of the
door. And those to whom the Lord comes
in sovereign mercy, they cannot resist. Now we hear him speak,
But when he puts his hand in the hole of the door of our heart,
he opens it when we wouldn't. How wonderful to see the source
of our longing toward him. Have you ever found this? I know
you have. There's times that you'll read
a scripture and it just, I mean, all of a sudden you read something
and it just seems like for the first time your heart just was
ignited over that. You just didn't realize that. And your heart just rejoiced
and you just, like those two on the road to Emmaus, it just
burned as he opened unto us the scriptures. And it's like that
prodigal son that came to himself. You write this down. Whenever
our hearts burn within, whenever we find in just a moment, and
it just seems like to me that the moments are so fleeting,
I wish that they'd be more often. But there's times I've been here
studying, and I would read something, and I've read it before, and
it was as if the Spirit of God just took that particular verse
at that moment and just broke my heart with it. And I found
myself weeping, just sitting here weeping, you know, by myself,
right here. And it was just so precious,
and I thought to myself, Lord, Lord, what a precious thought. That was so good, that was just
so refreshing. He put his hand by the hole of
the door, and whenever we find ourselves rejoicing like that,
in a moment, It is because He put His hand by the hold of the
door of our heart. And truly we say to Him, Lord,
I realize now for a moment, Lord, turn Thou me and I shall be turned. For Thou art the Lord my God. And listen to this, she wouldn't
get up. She's too lazy, we're just so lax and we're just so
insensitive. Put his hand the hole of the
door and she said, and my bowels, my heart were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved
and my hands dropped with 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 and my soul failed
when he spake. I sought him. But I could not
find him. I called him, but he gave me
no answer. Now here's the bride recovered
by grace. It was by grace that the Lord
first came to us and called us out of darkness, called us out
of spiritual darkness. That happened one time. But I'm
telling you, He has to recover us and recover us. and recover
us. Wash our feet that are defiled
by the walk in this world just like He did wash the feet of
His disciples. Now, now He has ignited her heart. My bowels were moved within me
and she desires now to do what just before she was just too
sleepy spiritually. to do, just too insensitive,
just too lax. Now she wants to rise and open
to Him. And she puts her hands, the scripture
says in verse 5, I rose up, she puts her hand on the lock where
he had his hand. 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. Where did that come from? Look at verse 1 of chapter 5. I'm coming to my garden, my sister,
my spouse. I've gathered my myrrh with my
spice. He's in the meeting and fellowshipping
with his people. And the sweet spices speaks of
the grace that he bestows. upon them. He reached in and
touched that lock by the hole in the door. He unlocked it.
He ignited her heart. And she came, now in these terms
to respond, she says, now, my hands dropped with myrrh, my
fingers with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock.
She came to where he had been. And now she smells something
of the savor. of his mercy to her. She can smell that savor of life
and knows it's the Lord. And spiritually, she touches
the bolt. That's what she said right there.
She put her hand upon the handles of the lock. That's what she
did. She touches the bolt of the door that he opened. And
now she speaks. As if her hands, the hands that
touched the place that He touched, her heart, and it has His scent
upon it. She can smell the mercy of God. She smells the savor of His kindness. And she opens the door with anxious
anticipation, thinking, He's going to be there. He'll be there.
But He's not. She can't find Him. And the fellowship
that she thought would always be there. I can just... I can
just... I'm being sensitive. That's alright. I can... It's
slackness. Well, I'm just a sinner. I remember
a guy telling me one time in Franklin. Franklin. I asked him about something and
had some problems. And I asked him, I said, How
are you doing? Well, I'm just a sinner. I'm
just a sinner. You know, I can't help it. I
thought, no, that's not a good answer, is it? There's no excuse. No, I know we sleep. I know we're
lax. I know we're slack. And I know
we think that it's just going to always be that way. The Lord's
always going to be there. We'll always be able to... There'll
always be that fellowship. But Scripture says here, he slipped
from her awareness. I know this. The scripture says
that she opened, in verse 6, to her beloved,
but the beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone. Thanks
be unto God that he's never completely gone. He said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. Psalm 136 says, O give thanks
unto the God of gods, for his mercy endureth forever. But let me tell you what he's
done. Wisely and mercifully, he has held her eyes spiritually. You know the two on the road
to Emmaus, their eyes were holding. that they couldn't see. Mary
Magdalene, her eyes, she thought the Lord was the gardener. And
her eyes are holding from beholding Him. And now she says, my heart
faileth. My heart is gone out. My heart is departed. He hides
His countenance from her perception. and she doesn't know and now
she feels I'm ready to die. My heart fails. Now she realizes her great need
of him and he's gone from her perception. To her he's gone. She doesn't know where he is.
She thinks back, she realizes How silly, how foolish I've been.
I heard His voice. I heard the voice of the Lord.
I heard Him speak. And I know what He said. And I was just too lazy to obey.
I was just too insensitive. I just didn't care enough. And
He in mercy moved my heart to be ignited toward Him. And now
I want him. Now I want him. Now I want his
fellowship. And he's going to withdraw himself. The scripture says that she said,
I sought him, but I could not find him. I called him, but he
gave me no answer. Not that he didn't hear, But
the Lord often sees best to try our faith by long delays. And
we find ourselves knocking and asking and seeking, and by the grace of God we must continue
in patient waiting without a reply, without an answer, and really
no knowledge of when He will answer. Again, his tarrying is
not because the prayers of his people are not heard or accepted
in Christ, but his wise delay is according to his sovereign
will to give us according to his good pleasure. If he's pleased to exercise our
faith, causing us to learn patience, Let me ask you this, is he not
doing as he will with his own? Does he have the right to make
me wait? Does he? What right does a pot have to question the potter? Beggars of a sovereign God, We're
beggars and we're not choosers of His time, His place or His
manner of answering. Who am I? I am what I am by the
grace of God. I'm just thankful I heard His
voice. I'm just thankful that He gave me a heart that He would
rekindle. I'm thankful that He would call
me His beloved, His dove, His undefiled. He would
tell me that his head was filled with the dew of the night. But remember, his delays in prayer,
in the answering of prayer, is not his denial to answer. It's
not. Our flesh, Satan, and the world
would shake our confidence in the God of all truth by pointing
to our seemingly unanswered prayer. He hears. He knows. The Scripture says in verse 7,
The watchmen that went about the city found me. They smoked
me. They wounded me. The keepers
of the walls took away my veil from me." Here the bride encounters
faithful ministers of the gospel. They're watchmen. Watchmen that
watch for the souls of God's sheep. And I'll tell you what
they're going to do. They're going to be honest with
God's sheep. Let me ask you this. It's what
I'm telling you. Am I being honest with you? Are
we not like this? Does the Lord not have to rekindle
our hearts? Are we not so lax? Does sin,
doesn't it so easily beset us? The sin of unbelief, doesn't
it? Doesn't it? Isn't it refreshing just to meet
together again, hear the gospel preached and put his hands... Lord, speak to my heart. Lord
rekindle my heart. Lord let me be sensitive to you. He exercises patience, teaching us patience. So what did she do? She said
I went out in the city. The watchman found her. And what
did they do to her? Well, they smoked me. They wounded
me. The keepers of the wall took
away my veil from me." Whoa, were they being mean to her?
No. Absolutely not. We need... Look back at chapter 4, Psalm
416. What does the Lord say? Now, when the gospel is preached,
the gospel that tells men who God is, who Christ is, and who
men are, were sinners, saved by the grace of God. He's God.
Army of heaven among the inhabitants of earth, He does what He will
with His own. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? He's the surety
of God's sheep, the Savior, the Redeemer. God and man came into
this world, laid down His life for His people, for His sheep,
that's what He said. And the gospel is proclaimed,
and what happens? The Lord says, Awake, O north
wind, the Spirit of God. Come thou south. Come, north
wind of conviction and the south wind of encouragement and blessing.
Same Spirit, blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow
out. Let my beloved come into his garden, she says, and eat
his pleasant fruits. When will that happen? When will
the bride say, come and Lord fellowship with me? I tell you
what, when the gospel is preached and the Spirit of God blows in
convicting power and soothing confidence in the Lord, we desire,
I need to be smitten. That's what they did. They found
me, they wounded me, they smoked me. But it's the chastening power
of God's mercy. If you be without chastisement,
you're none of His. You're not His. If the Lord doesn't
chasten you, it causes you to admit what you are, a sleeper
that is awake. You don't know Him. He's going
to teach you that. Faithful watchman. Preachers
of the truth, they will not allow God's people to hide behind any
veil of indifference or sin. What did they do? They took away
my veil from me. They exposed me. That's what
they did. And we need that. We need that. God's people are thankful for
that. And then in the last verse, verse 8, I charge you, O daughters
of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that
I am sick of love. The bride is heartbroken because
of her insensitivity toward the Lord Jesus Christ. How could
I have done this? How could I have acted so insensibly
to him. It's like David, Psalm 51, I
acknowledge my transgression and my sin as ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight. She seeks help anywhere she hopes
to find it. She speaks to a group called
the Daughters of Jerusalem. Now, I've read a lot of interpretations
of who these daughters are. Some say they're young believers. They give them all kinds of,
you know, There are examples of the law or something. Let
me tell you who I think they are. I think they're nominal
professors. What I mean is they're just,
they're just, they're tares. You'll understand that term?
They're tares. They're tares among the wheat. And you know
how I've told you this. If I can't back up something,
I dare not say it. Let me show you why I say that.
Look at Song of Solomon 2.2. Song of Solomon 2.2. Here's the
Lord describing His bride. As the
lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Now here's
a comparison. The lily among thorns, so is
my love among the daughters. The Lord is talking about His
It's bride among a group. Now these thorns, there's the
lily among the thorns. Look at Ezekiel 2.6. Hold your
place in Song of Solomon as I close. Ezekiel 2.6. Ezekiel 2.6, And thou, son of
man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though
briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions. Be not afraid of their words,
be not dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. There's briars and thorns and
tears in this world, and God's people are in the midst of them.
And here's Shulamite. She is sick of love. She is missing the Lord and she
comes to a group that's throughout this book called the Daughters
of Jerusalem. And they're always spoken of.
My question would be to those that would say they're young
believers. Why would the church be speaking to someone else who
is the church? Shulamite, the bride, is the
bride. It's her love, the love of the
Lord, of the beloved Savior. He speaks of His beloved, my
love, my sister, my undefiled. Now she, the church, is speaking
to someone else. Well, there's only one other
someone else. It's either sheep or tares. Everybody
is either a sheep, either an elect or a non-elect. There's
only two groups. There's only sheep or goats.
There's only two. So if the bride is speaking to
someone else, then she's speaking to someone other than herself. But I want you to listen to the
answer that the Daughters gives her. She says in verse 8, I charge
you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell
him that I am sick of love. And listen to her answer, the
daughters of Jerusalem, back to the church. What is thy beloved
more than another? Beloved, O thou fairest among
women, what is thy beloved more than another, beloved, that thou
dost so charge us?" Do you know what she just asked? She said,
if you see him, Shulamite, the bride, said to the daughters,
if you find my beloved, tell him that I'm sick at love. And
here's what the daughter says back to her, you that are the
fairest among women, you that are robed in His righteousness,
you that have the savor of His love upon you, the scent of His
mercy to you. What is it about your Beloved
that is more than another Beloved that you do so charge or ask
us?" Here's what they're saying. Who is He? Who is He? You're asking us if we find Him.
Who is he? The bride had told the daughters
of Jerusalem to tell if they found the Lord that she was sick
of love. Oh, when a renewed soul is made
aware of what they are by nature, they are never at peace except
they be near Him. I mean, she, who would not open
to Him, would find herself going to the daughters of Jerusalem
and asking them, we need some help. We need some help. She
is, her heart has failed her. Three statements in closing.
Love, sickness. You tell him that I am sick of
love. Now this is a sickness only a
believer knows something about. Let me ask you this first. What
does a believer know about how he got that love sickness? How
did he get it? I am sick of love. How did you
get that sickness? Well, I'll tell you how he got
it. The Spirit of God created a new man. And in that new creation,
love was imparted. Love. The scripture says Galatians
5.22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith. How did you get that love sickness? The Lord gave me a new heart. That's how I got it. Second question,
how do I know that I have this love sickness? Well let me ask
you this, do you find yourself with a sickness for your sin? Can you say with the Apostle
Paul, oh wretched man that I am? Does your heart burn within you
as you realize that the presence of the Lord is in this place,
the hearing of His gospel? And does that same heart fail
when you behold an attitude of sleepiness toward Him? Then your
heart is sick of love. Then lastly, will this love sickness
ever end? No. We're going to go through
this world, seeing through a glass darkly,
knowing in part, prophesying in part. And until the Lord calls
us home, we're going to struggle, but we're going to love Him.
We're going to sleep, and we're going to see it. And I'll tell
you this, the more you grow in grace, the more sleepy you see
yourself to be. That's an evidence of growing
in grace. You see something in yourself. But I tell you this,
there's coming a time when Almighty God is going to free us from
sin, Satan, self, and this world. And in that day, we're going
to see Him as He is. And I'm going to tell you something,
we'll love Him. as we've never loved Him before,
and we'll be like Him. May the Lord bless the Word to
our heart, for Christ's sake. Amen.