Turn with me, if you would, this
morning to the Song of Solomon, Chapter 2. The Song of Solomon
is a love story between a man and a woman. The bride, known
as the Shulamite woman, and her beloved, commonly believed to
be Solomon, portray in this book yearning of love, the joy of
love, the trials of love, the intimacy of love, and the delight
that mark the profound and passionate love shared between a man and
a woman. Most everyone loves a good love
story. Most men will deny it, but they
do. There's little doubt This love
story serves as a glorious picture of Jesus Christ and His beloved,
the Church. And if we fail to see this story
as that, then we fail to see this story as it was intended.
The bridegroom is symbolic. He's a symbolic representation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, while the bride represents believers,
both individually and collectively as the church called the bride
of Christ and called His body of which He is the head. Now
here in Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 16, we read and find the bride saying,
my beloved is mine and I am His. He feedeth among the lilies. So the first declaration that
I want you to see is one of possession. She says, my beloved is mine. He's my beloved and he's mine. That's not a presumptuous statement. It's a cheerful confirmation
of a fact. This is a delightful acknowledgement
by this woman. This is a joyful affirmation
of someone who knows that they belong to Christ and that Christ
belongs to them. It's not cold theology. You know,
theology without the Spirit of God is just cold. This is a warm-hearted
assurance. This woman knows, this Shulamite
woman, she says, my beloved, he's mine. He's mine. She speaks from experience, not
speculation. This isn't a theory of hers,
this is her testimony. She speaks with confidence. She
speaks with personal ownership. She knows Him to be hers. There's no doubt in her mind
that He belongs to her and that she belongs to Him. And the child
of God can say the same thing. Christ is mine. This is the confidence
of faith. This isn't just mere religion.
This is a sign of a personal, personal relationship. Have you
ever noticed in people that don't know God, how they speak of God
in general terms? They call him a higher power. He is, but that's so impersonal.
They talk about God in general, and oftentimes in a disrespectful
way, like the man upstairs. We've heard all the different
terms. But the believer speaks of Christ
personally. What did Job say? Job said, I
know that my Redeemer liveth. He's not just God. He's my Savior. He's my Redeemer. And I know
from personal experience that He lives. How do I know? Because of what
He's done for me and what He continues to do for me. As Glenn
so prayed. Thomas cried, my Lord and my
God. He's my Lord and he's my God. And he's my Savior because he's
a just God and a Savior. It's personal. This reveals a personal possession
of grace. Every believer can say, Christ
is mine. Christ is not ours by merit.
Christ is ours by mercy. It was not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. Titus 3.5. In mercy, Christ loved
and gave Himself for us. Paul wrote in Galatians 2.20. Secondly, we see a confession
of belonging. The bride says confidently, and
I am his. A love that only takes and does
not give is not love. To say that I am his, well, that
involves a full surrender. There's no reservation on the
bride's part. There's no negotiation on the
bridegroom's part. It's a declaration of belonging.
belonging to one another. He's mine, and I'm his. I'm his, and he's mine. Paul said, by the mercies of
God, we must present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is our reasonable service. What is it to present
our bodies a living sacrifice? Well, that word present in and
of itself is the language of offering. This is a call to total
surrender. Paul's not merely suggesting
sacrifice, he's pleading. He said, I beseech you. This
is a heartfelt appeal. He is saying, in the light of
God's mercy, Toward you, offer yourself fully to Him. I'm His, He's mine. We don't
have to act like it. What is the believer's motivation
to surrender all? It's God's mercy. It's God's
love and His grace and His mercy to us. Paul writes, by the mercies
of God do these things, present your body, offer your body as
a living sacrifice because of all that Christ has mercifully
done for us. Forgiveness, justification, adoption,
salvation, marriage, married to Him. as His beloved are the
mercies of God. And because of these things we
present, we offer our bodies a living sacrifice. I don't know how many times I've
read that word of living there and never really thought about
what it meant. What does it mean? What does it mean to present
your bodies a living sacrifice? Well, in the Old Testament, a
sacrifice was presented to God for the temporary appeasement
of sin. But they would have to offer
again and again, year after year. Because all it was was a picture
pointing to the Lord Jesus who would come and put away sin once
and for all by the sacrifice of Himself. And unlike the dead
animals that were offered on the altar there in the Old Testament,
this sacrifice Paul speaks of is a living one. That means that
it's ongoing. That means that it's daily. That means that it's active.
We must die to sin. We must die to self. We must
die to worldly desires, and we've got to do so every day. Living sacrifice. Our Lord said,
if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily. And follow me, Luke 9, 23. What is this living sacrifice
to God? I'll tell you what God calls
it. He calls it holy and acceptable. This living sacrifice is holy,
it's pure, and it's set apart. And most importantly, it's acceptable. How are we accepted? In the beloved,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It means that it's pleasing to
God. God will not accept leftovers or lip service. God demands a
living sacrifice to Him, and it's our reasonable service. The Greek word reasonable also
means spiritual. This is our spiritual service. The word reasonable also implies
logical. You look it up in a concordance.
This is our logical service. What is spiritual, logical, and
rational to present ourselves living sacrifices? It's the only
fitting response to His mercy. We don't belong to ourselves
anymore. We bought with a price. It's
our reasonable service to live every part of our life completely
for the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. This sacrifice is not about dying
once. It's about living for Christ
every single day. Living for Christ in every single
thing that we do. And that's what every believer
knows and strives for. Yes, yes, we still sin and we
come... Short, way short of the glory
of God. But like Paul, we count not ourselves
to have apprehended, but this one thing we do, what is it?
We forget those things which are behind, and we reach forth
into those things which are before. We press toward the mark of the
rise of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This high calling
is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.
Do you do that, Brother Dave? Do you love God with all your
being? No, but Christ did. And because of my union with
Him, so do I. I ought to. I should. It's my reasonable
service to do so. To say I am His is a mark of
true conversion. Now listen, this is important. Many want Christ as a Savior,
but they don't want to have Him as their Lord. You know what
I mean by that? They want Him to save them, but
they don't want to bow to Him. Big difference between the two.
The Lord Jesus said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not
the things which I say? That's pretty direct. It's a
good question. Why do we call Him Lord, Lord,
and then ignore His word as if it doesn't mean anything to us?
True conversion is to say from our heart, I'm not my own. I'm not my own. I've been bought
with a price, 1 Corinthians 6, 19. And then thirdly, we see
here a picture of communion. Here we see the setting of this
love between these two parties. It's not in chaos, it's not in
fear, but it's among the lilies. The lilies typify the presence
of Christ. He is the lily of the valley.
He feeds, that's, He shepherds. He's our shepherd. We are his sheep. He nourishes
and he cares for his people, his sheep. He feeds among the
lilies, not among thorns, not among wolves, but among the lilies. speaks of His tender, sweet communion
with His saints. Our Lord feeds and He provides
for us through His Word and by His Spirit. Where does He lead
us? Beside the still waters. He restores our soul. He calls
us to lie down in green pastures among the lilies. He gives us what no earthly source
He gives us peace. He gives us joy. He gives us
strength. He gives us hope. He gives us
comfort. We have great assurance in Him alone. Look over at Solomon
6. Look at verse 3. Here it says, Yeah, verse three. I am my beloved's
and my beloved is mine. He feedeth among the lilies. This time the confession of possession
is reversed. Did you notice that? In chapter
two, the relationship is still young and it's maturing and the
woman's first concern is what she gained. She said, my beloved
is mine. That's the way it is with us.
A lot of times when we come to the Lord, we're looking for how
He can bless us. But as we grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord, things change and we begin to say, how
can I be a blessing to Him? Her starting point is somewhat
self-centered affection, captured in the phrase, my beloved is
mine. It reveals a possessive, self-focused kind of love. It's
a love that's rooted in immature faith. Her love centers more
on what her beloved does for her than on who he is. But here in chapter six, she
first says, I am my beloved's. The relationship is deep, and
likely trials and separation have matured this relationship. Chapter 5 reveals that. Matter
of fact, you don't even have to turn the page back. In verse
1 of chapter 5, The bridegroom declares his arrival into the
garden. In verse two, the bride is in
bed and the bridegroom knocks, asking to be let in. She hesitates
to open the door, making excuses about being undressed and resting,
and a delayed response to love's call often results in missed
opportunities. There's lessons for us to learn
here. This portrays the tendency of us as believers to grow spiritually
sluggish. I have at times, and so have
you. Complacent, hesitant to respond
when the Lord calls. And then in verses three through
six, when she finally opens the door, what does she find? She
finds that he's gone. She deeply regrets her hesitation. In verses seven and eight, she
searches for him in the streets. She's mistreated by the watchman. Her longing is intense and she
urges others to help find him. And then in verses nine through
16, when she's asked what makes her beloved so special, she offers
an exalted description of him. And she says, from head to toe, He's altogether lovely. She declares
Him as altogether lovely. And this spiritually illustrates
the sorrow and emptiness that arises when fellowship with our
Lord, our beloved, is broken. For those who truly belong to
Him, the soul aches for restoration. Now I want to take just a few
minutes to consider verse 16 here of chapter five, and then
we'll move on. It says in verse 16, his mouth
is most sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. And first here we see the sweetness
of Christ's words. Never been so sweet words. In his voice, there is power,
but there's sweetness. He spoke the universe into existence. What power! He spoke peace to
the storms. What power! Peace, be still,
he said. And the storms became calm. In his word, there is comfort
given. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll what? I'll give you
rest. What comfort? Because rest is
what we need, and rest is what we by nature don't have. The
Lord Jesus spoke comfort when he said, let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In his words, truth is found. They said they sent these men
out to catch the Lord in some kind of falsehood, and they came
back and they're shaking their head. They said, no man spake
like this man. He's full of grace and truth.
And secondly, we see the beauty of his person. He's altogether
lovely. He's lovely from head to toe. Christ is lovely in his deity. The fullness of God dwells in
him, Colossians 2.9. He's the brightness of the Father's
glory, Hebrews 1.3. Christ is lovely in his humanity,
is he not? He was tempted in all points
like this, yet without sin. That's our only hope of redemption. He was meek and lowly in heart,
Matthew 11.29. My, the Lord was lovely, altogether
lovely in His sacrifice. He was wounded for our transgressions. He wasn't just wounded for no
reason, He was wounded for our transgressions. He took the sins of His people, His bride,
His beloved, and he put them away. He laid down his life for
his friends, she said. John 15, 13 says the same. Oh, he's all together lovely.
Thirdly, we see the intimacy of our relationship with him.
This is my beloved. And then she said, this is my
friend. He's my beloved. Not just the
Savior, but he's my Savior. This is not religion. This is
not religion. This is a relationship. This
relationship is deep, and this relationship is forever. Christ
is not only my Redeemer, but He's my friend. A friend who
sticketh closer than a brother, Proverbs 18, 24. He communes
together with us. He reasons together with us.
He drew himself near to us. He goes with us every step of
the way. How do I know that? Well, you
can read about it over there as two of his disciples walked
the road to Emmaus. It says it came to pass that
while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew
near and went with them. Salvation is also a public declaration. Now hear me on this. The bride
is not ashamed to confess Him before others. Every believer
is willing to say, this is my beloved. And they want the whole
world to know. If you're ashamed of Christ being
your beloved, then I have doubt. that the Lord's done anything
for you. Child of God, if you hadn't confessed the Lord in
baptism, what hinders you? That's the question. That's what
the Ethiopian eunuch asked. What hinders me? And what did
Philip say? You remember what Philip said?
He said, if thou believest with all thine heart, well, I don't
believe with all my heart. Well, what hinders you from doing
that? He provided everything for you. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do you believe that?
And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went
both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized
him. Love that story. Fourthly, this is our testimony
to others. The bride is speaking here. Who's
she speaking to? She's speaking to God's people.
She says, all daughters of Jerusalem. When God has done something for
a man or a woman, listen, they want to tell everyone about it.
They just do. The Lord saved me. He can save
anybody. He can save you. And that's our
testimony to others. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, look
to my beloved. He can be your beloved too. Christ
being our beloved is our testimony to the world. Now listen, the
world watches our devotion. What do they see? Do they see
that Christ is truly lovely to us? I sure hope so. I sure hope so. I often ask myself
that question. Do I portray Him as being altogether
lovely to me? All are commanded to consider
Him. May our lives provoke others to ask, who's your beloved? Oh, if they ask, I'd be glad
to tell them. I'll tell them anyone. The Lord Jesus is not
partially lovely. He's altogether lovely. There's no flaw in His words,
no flaw in His work. There's no flaw in His walk with
us. He's worthy of our adoration
and our allegiance. His loveliness is ultimately
revealed on the cross. That's where you see it most
clearly, on the cross. It wasn't his own sin that put
him there. It was my sin and your sin that
put him there, believer. He laid down his life for who? His friends. His friends. His beauty is seen in His sacrifice
and His love for His friends. His beauty is seen in His sacrifice
and His love. Now, when a couple are truly
in love, young couple, we often see it. It shows. It's not private
only, but publicly it's seen. Sometimes a little too much. People notice their affection,
their loyalty and love. People see their joy with one
another. So the question is, when folks
see me, do they say, I know who His Beloved is. His Beloved is
Christ. Now turn over a page and look
at Psalm of Solomon chapter 7, verse 10. Look at the confession of possession
here. It says, I am my Beloved's, and
His desire is toward me. You know, there are few statements
in the Bible as full and personal and comforting as this one. Again,
we see a continual progression here. This mirrors the spiritual
growth in a believer. First, we rejoice in what Christ
is to us. Then we grow into giving ourselves
to Him. Then we finally rest in the truth
that not only is He ours and we're His, but that He desires
us. Not because we're worthy. but
because He loves us. Why do we love Christ? You know
the answer to that. Because He first loved us. That's
what John told us very plainly. In the beginning, our love is
real, but it's immature. It's based on what Christ does
for us. Lord, I sure could use this,
and I sure could use that, and I need help with this, and I
need help with that. How many believers think and
still believe today? We need to grow up. We need to
grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord. We want salvation.
We want peace. We want provisions. And He's
the only one that can give them, not downplaying it at all. And
our love is sincere, but it's often self-centered. And oftentimes,
young couples in love, well, they need constant reassuring. There's love, but they have fear
of losing it. Do you still love me like you
used to? Yes, I still love you like... Well, you don't seem
like you do. Well, I do. We've all experienced
that. And I'm talking here about believers,
not religion. Those in religion love religion,
not Christ. Those in religion serve their
church, not Christ. They talk about what their church
does for God instead of talking about what God does for sinners.
Our focus in belonging to Christ is first, and our tune changes. Our words become prioritized,
and we no longer say, first, my beloved is mine. We say, I
am my beloved's. I belong to Him. I've been bought
with a price. And as we grow in grace and we
learn to surrender ourselves to Christ, it's no longer about
His blessings. It's about obeying, serving,
and pleasing Him. And then we come to the part
that every single believer struggles with. His desire for me. I can believe almost anything
if you By nature, we believe almost
anything if it's said to us sincerely, but boy, we struggle with this
one. His desire is for me. Christ not only saves me, He
desires me. Our struggle is, how could He
desire me? I see how He could desire you,
but how could He desire me? There's no striving for love,
no rejection of fear, only peace and joy and being loved. That's
what I'm trying to tell you. His desire is for you. You're
His beloved. The goal is not only to love
Christ, it's to be secure in His love. It's to know that He
desires me. He desires me to be His beloved. You ever heard any better news
than that? Well, I'm not going to personally
comment on this wondrous truth of the Lord Jesus being desiring
of the likes of us, but I'm going to read you some of the words
of God himself. I don't want you to turn there.
I want you to just listen to these words. Zephaniah 317. You can write it down and look
at it later. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. Oftentimes we see in the movies,
you know, a man's trying to swoon his beloved and he sings to her. He's gonna enjoy, the Lord's
gonna enjoy what they were singing. Isaiah 62 verses four and five. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken, neither shalt thou land any more be termed desolate,
but thou shalt be called Hezbollah. In the margin, that means my
delight is in her. What are we called? His delight,
his desire. And thy land, Bela, you know
what that means in the margin? If you have a margin in the Bible,
it means married. I mean, it's bright. For he delighteth in thee, and
thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. As the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over you. That's too good to make up. You
can't make this up. Christ said of His bride in Hosea
2, verse 19 and 20, I will betroth thee unto Me forever. Yea, I
will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment,
and in loving kindness, and in mercies. And I will even betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord."
The Lord Jesus said in John 17, verse four, Father, I will that
they, talking about his people, his church, his bride. He said,
I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where
I am. We want to be with the one we
love. But they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me,
for Thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world. And
in chapter 5, verse 45-27, we're told that Christ loved the church,
and what did He do it for? He gave Himself for her. Christ
did so that He might present her, the church, holy and without
blemish, perfect before Him in love. That's why Christ gave
Himself. For he desires his bride. That's not universal love. That's distinguishing, particular,
electing love. Beloved, what an endearing title. That's what you are in Christ,
beloved. You're His beloved. He's your
beloved. You're accepted only in the beloved.
Christ doesn't just forgive you. He desires you. He doesn't just
use you. He delights in you. He doesn't
merely put up with you. That's what we think a lot of
times. Well, the Lord's still putting
up with me. No, He rejoices over you. Dear believers, say it with joy
and peace of mind. I am my beloved's and my beloved's
mine. I am my beloved's and his desire
is for me. From shame to delight, Christ
loves us at our worst. While we were yet without strength,
Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners, the
Lord died for us. I'm my beloved's. He pursued
us in our rebellion. He rejoices over us with singing. This isn't romantic fantasy. This is redemptive reality. Because
of Christ's finished work, our shame is removed. We don't pray
to a cold-hearted king. We commune with a loving bridegroom. We worship our beloved, not out
of duty, but from delight. We don't walk in this life as
orphans. We walk as desired sons and daughters. When a woman marries a man, she
takes his last name, or at least she should. We take the name
of our beloved, don't we? What is it? Christian. That's become a dirty word today,
isn't it? We take his name. Our new name
is Christian. Not just Chris, Christian. Not Christopher, Christian. Christ is our identity. He doesn't just redeem us, He
wants and desires us. We're deserved by the divine.
We're the desire of the beloved, that being God's beloved son.
This is how we know that he delights in us. As believers, we're crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, we live, but not
us, but Christ liveth in us. And the life that we now live
in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved us. Did you hear that? Who loved
us. and gave, did you hear that?
Gave Himself for us. Now that's love. Beloved means
deeply loved, cherished, dearly held in affection. It's a term
of endearment, expressing emotional attachment, devotion, and value.
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life
for his sheep. Our bridegroom is the good shepherd. He laid down his life for the
sheep. While we were yet without strength, Christ died for the
ungodly. Can you say from your heart,
I'm his and he's mine? It's a covenant declaration. May God be pleased to make it
the anthem of our hearts.