Thank you, Mark. Let me add my
welcome to Mark. I'm glad to see you here. We're
especially glad to have our guest with us this morning. We have
a lady from Shreveport, from Ken Wymer Church, Donna Caboo.
We're glad to have you with us. She is relocating to this area
and will be working in southwest Georgia. So we welcome her to
southwest Georgia and welcome to Eager Avenue Grace Church.
We hope that we can be your church. Okay, if you would, turn to Song
of Solomon, Chapter 2. I don't know if I've ever heard
a sermon preached out of Song of Solomon or not. There's a
lot of gospel in there, but for some reason or other, we don't
hear a lot about the Song of Solomon. But anyway, the title
of my message this morning is The Lily of the Valley. Webster
defines an anti-type as that which represents or prefigures
a type. The type is a figure, the anti-type
is the reality. Christ is the anti-type of many
types in the scripture. Example, Moses as mediator of
Israel was a type. Christ as the one mediator between
God and man is the anti-type. The antitype Aaron, as High Priest
of Israel, was typical of Christ the High Priest, who is the antitype,
who entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us, Hebrews 9. The Passover Lamb was a type of the antitype Christ, who is
our Passover, who by his one offering hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified. The types only shadowed the antitype,
always. They always pointed to Jesus,
of whom it is written in Hebrews chapter 12, He is the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of Spranklin that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. In other words, Christ's blood
spoke of better things than Abel's blood. Abel's blood cried out
for justice. Christ's blood at the hand of
a just God and a Savior cried out for mercy. and grace because
law and justice have been satisfied by his blood. So the anti-type
is always greater than the type. Christ is the anti-type. Christ
spoke metaphorically of himself in many ways. He says, I am the
way. I am the light. I am the truth. In John chapter
6 he says, I am the bread of life. In John chapter 9, he says,
I'm the light of the world. And in Revelation chapter 22,
he is identified as the bright and morning star. So Christ has
a lot of names. In the Song of Solomon chapter
2, he identifies himself as the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of
the Valley. Look at Song of Solomon chapter
2 and verse 1. He says, I am, the great I am, is the Rose of Sharon. and the
lily of the valley. Here he identifies himself as
the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley. In this simile
he compares himself to a rose and a lily. In what sense is
he the rose of Sharon? In what sense is Christ the lily
of the valley? That's what I want us to look
at this morning for a few moments here. The word rose in the Hebrew
is the word krokos, which is actually translated narcissus.
The original Hebrew is this, I am the Narcissus of Sharon. That's how the original Hebrew
is written. The Narcissus and the Crocus
are members of the flower and bum family. If you know anything
about flowers, especially mimis, this means that they derive their
life not from a seed but from a bulb that lies dormant in the
ground until the spring and it comes forth. Sharon in the Hebrew
is the word plain, p-l-a-i-n. And Sharon was a part of the
coastal plain of Palestine. It was about 6 to 12 miles wide,
and it stretched all the way from Joppa north to Mount Carmel,
which was several hundred miles. In fact, it covered most of the
length from north to south of the land of Israel. And it was
a watered and well-fertile valley, and it was known for its wildflowers,
especially the lily. And it was also the favorite
caravan route from the sea connecting Asia Minor, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. A literal translation of this
first verse is, I am the lily of the plains of Sharon and the
valleys. So what are the similarities
of a lily to Christ? That's what I want us to look
at this morning. In his Sermon on the Mount that Michael read
for us, Christ brought attention to the lilies of the field when
he said, Consider the lilies of the field. That's what I want
us to do today. Consider the lilies of the field.
Everyone recognizes a lily when they see it. There are many different
varieties. But I want us to consider the
lily of the field. You know, we are prone to look
past that which is familiar. But we need to consider this
this morning, and Christ said consider. So what are the similarities? First of all, the lily was a
very familiar flower in Israel. As I mentioned before, it grew
profusely along the roadside in the valleys and on the plains
of Sharon. In the fertile valley and the
higher elevations, it thrived in the wild. They were just reproduced
every year. God took care of them and planted
them and we'll see that a little bit later on. Turn with me if
you would to Isaiah chapter 35. Talking about the familiarity
of the flower, the lily, in Israel. Well, like the lily, Christ was
a familiar figure in Israel also. Luke 4, verse 37 says, And the
fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
He was a very popular figure in his day, most for the wrong
reasons, but still he was well known. The prophet Isaiah said
this of him in chapter 35, verse 1, The wilderness and the solitary
place, that is, the valley, that's the word, the valley, shall be
glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as
the rose. This word rose here is the same
as in our text in Song of Solomon chapter 2 and verse 1. I am the
rose. I am the crocus. I am the narcissus.
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy in singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency
of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the
Lord and the excellency of our God. Well, where is it do we
see the excellency of God? Where do we behold the glory
of God? in the face of Jesus Christ,
in the face of this lily of the valley that we're studying this
morning. It is obvious here that the prophet
Isaiah is speaking about the first advent of Christ, the coming
of Christ. And we know that God the Son
left his throne in glory and tabernacled among men and walked
in the valleys and the plains of Sheol that they might blossom
as a rose. Of course, he's speaking here,
this is a reference to the church. is how the church is going to
be birthed in Israel, in the nation, in the Palestinian nation
and blossom forth all over the earth. So as the lily was a familiar
flower in Israel, so was Christ, a familiar personality. Another
similarity of the lily and Christ is this. Men did not plant the
lilies of this field. They grew wild. Each spring,
the bulb would break forth in multiplied flowers to adorn the
countryside of Palestine. But they were the product of
God's providence, and not the hand of man. They were the product
of God's providence and care. And Jesus said of this care in
Matthew 36, in verse 30, that Michael read, he said, the lilies
of the field, for they tall not, neither do they spin. And yet
I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed
like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
into the fire, how shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of
little faith? So God nurtured the lilies of
the field, they grew wild. Well, like the lilies of the
field, Christ is not the product of man's hands. The hand of Jehovah
raised him up. Turn to Jeremiah 23. Jesus was not the product of
man's hand. God raised him up. Many scriptures
attest to this, that God raised him up. In Jeremiah 23, verse
5, the prophet writes these words, that I will raise unto David
a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." God here tells
us this lily of the valley is a righteous branch, and it would
be his mission and one only he could accomplish to establish
righteousness whereby God could be just when he justifies the
ungodly. Now turn over a few pages to
Ezekiel chapter 34. We have another reference to
this of Sharon in the Miscellany of the Valley. Ezekiel 34, verse
29, God speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, says in 34,
29, And I will raise up unto them a plant of renown, and they
shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land. neither bear
the shame of the heathen any more. Here God calls this lily
of the valley a plant of renown, and that renown means worldwide
renown, known throughout the world. This plant of renown would
satisfy spiritualism of hunger and thirst as the bread and water
of life. He would give them victory, he
says, over the heathen. The shame of the heathen was
their bondage to the heathen as captives. Well, the spiritual
intent is our bondage to Satan. Christ would deliver his people
from spiritual bondage. By this lily of the valley, life
and death, our spiritual needs were satisfied completely in
Christ. And Satan's bondage has been
broken for those who are in Christ. In both of these verses, God
said, I will raise. I will raise. The needs of God's
elect were so great And the consequences of failure so dire that God could
only trust this work to the God-man. And this brings me to another
simile of the lily of the valley in Christ. The lilies of the
valley were regal, stately flowers. They dominated the landscape.
They were eight to ten feet tall. Some varieties stood that tall
and were filled with trumpet-like blooms. You've seen the lily.
familiar with, they have blooms that look like trumpets, small
trumpets. Well, without a sound, these
lilies herald forth the glory of God in creation for all of
us to see, just like they did in the days of Israel. As the tallest of flowers, they
dominated the landscape around them. Well, such a lily is Christ. He is the rose of Sharon and
the lily of the valleys. Jesus said this unto them in
Matthew chapter 6 that Michael read, and I say unto you that
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these
lilies. Even Solomon, Israel's richest,
most magnificent and glorious king, was not arrayed like one
of these lilies. This one is the Christ who is
before all and by whom all things consist. This one lily of the
valley, the God-man who is God, the second person of the blessed
Trinity, co-equal with the Father in the essence of his deity,
who inhabited heaven, this man took into union with his deity,
true sinless humanity, body and soul. Think about this. This
man who was before all things, and creator and sustainer of
all things, owned the title. of lily of the valleys. This
God, this man who is from heaven, this rose of the plain of Sharon,
laid aside his glory and took on him the nature of man, body
and soul, without sin, as the lily of the valleys, to walk
among men in the valleys of this world. In this simile we see
the glory and the grandeur of this man whom the writer Philippians
said, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was found in fashion as a man.
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. those who beheld their glory. And as the source and supply
of respite and reprieve, the lily of the valley brought redemption
with him from heaven for those whom the Father gave him. This
lily walked through the valley of the shadows of death, fearing
no evil." He is the lily of the valley. Well, have you considered
this lily, this God-man who humbled himself and became obedient unto
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name that is above every name. What is that name? The rose,
the lily of the valley, the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the
valley. This man of the plain heaven, and this man of the valley
earth, the God-man. All right, look at Solomon chapter
2 and verse 2. As the lily among thorns, so
is my love among the daughters. Jesus compared himself to the
lilies of the field, and he compares his church to the same. As the
lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. My love
speaks of his church. He's talking about his church,
who Christ loves. Here Jesus says, I am the lily
of the field, but he only says of her that she is as the lily.
He says, I'm the lily, but she is as the lily. What's the difference? What's the significance? Well,
what Jesus is, he is in himself, underrived, and from himself. He is the eternal, omnipotent,
omniscient, self-existent creator. Whereas what the church is, she
is holy in him, of him, and by him. Because of her union with
him, she has an interest in him, and as 1 John 4, 17 said, as
he is, so are we in the world. Whatever Christ is right now,
that's what we are. So what is that? Let's examine
that. Is he and he alone the lily of
the valley? In him we are the lily of the
valley also. As there is a lily among thorns,
so is my love. Is he the Lord our righteousness?
Jeremiah 23, verse 6 says, He shall be called the Lord our
righteousness. And then Jeremiah 33, verse 16
says, She shall be called the Lord our righteousness. He being
Christ, she being his bride, the church. As he is, so are
we in the world. Is he the fairest of ten thousand?
Is he the holy, harmonious, undefiled, lily-white, pure and holy Son
of God? So is my love, Christ says, the
church in him. This rose of Sharon, this lily
of the higher plane of heaven, who is the Lord from heaven,
1 Corinthians 1547, condescended into the valley of the shadow
of death and walked among the thorns. The daughters. Daughters
being daughters of false religion. Many religions in the world. Many daughters. But he walked
among these thorns, seeking his own from among them. He is the
lily among thorns, he said, and so is my love the church among
the thorns. You know, every one of us who
are justified by his blood walked among the thorns. We lived among
the thorns. We still do. And he came to seek out and to
save those who by nature act like thorns, who are ungodly,
alienated, and enemies in our minds by wicked works, going
about to establish a righteousness of our own. And he came and satisfied law
and justice for those he represented who lived among the thorns. the
lilies that lived among the thorns. And the Father freely imputed
to every lily among the thorns what Christ accomplished for
us in his substitutionary death on the cross. And then he sent
his Holy Spirit to quicken those for whom he sanctified, sacrificed
himself to save. And he didn't come to change
the thorns to lilies. You can't do that. A thorn is
a thorn, and a lily is a lily, and they always will be. A thorn
among the lilies is always a thorn, but he came to reveal the difference
and make the distinction between the two so that we can know where
we are. Listen to what Ezekiel chapter
16 says of the glory of this church that he found among the
thorns. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness,
or my glory, which I put upon thee, saith the Lord. This is
what Christ did for his church. He is the rose of Sharon and
the lily of the valley. He tabernacled among the thorns
and the thistles to call out his love to himself. As the rose
and lily draw attention to themselves by their beauty, so this rose
of Sharon and the lily of the valley draws attention to himself
by his beauty. But did not Isaiah say he hath
no form nor comeliness? And when we see him, there is
no beauty that we should desire. Didn't John the Apostle write,
He came unto his own, and his own received him not? He sure
did. But he also wrote this, But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. So there is a beauty in Christ
that some seek. but he hath no form nor comeliness
in any beauty that we by nature should desire, unless God quickens
his people, his sheep, his lilies, they will never recognize this
lily of the valley. So it is by the beauty of this
lily of the valley that sinners behold the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. It is under the preaching of
the true gospel that God the Holy Spirit guides his elect
into all truth. What truth? the truth that identifies
and distinguishes a lily from a thorn. It is by the gospel
priest that Christ is distinguished from all counterfeits. It is
by the gospel priest that sinners are shown their complete salvation
and final glory in heaven to be totally the work of Christ,
of this lily of the valley for them. The question is this, am
I a lily among thorns or am I a thorn among lilies? Bill mentioned
this this morning. In every congregation, in every
true church, there are both. There are thorns and there are
lilies. There are wheat and there are tares. There are counterfeits
and true believers. Well, how can we tell? Wouldn't
you like to know whether you are a lily or a thorn? Well,
in verse 2, he says, As the lilies among thorns, so is my love among
the daughters. Am I the object of Christ's love? If God loves me, he always has
and always will, because God never changes. Am I the object
of God's love? Did God appoint Christ to be
my mediator and surety and representative? Did he take the whole responsibility
of my salvation upon himself? Did he meet and satisfy every
demand of God's law and justice against me? Am I justified only
by the righteousness of Christ imputed and charged for my account? Have I repented of former idolatry
and dead works? Do I stand in opposition to the
thorns around me, or am I indistinguishable among them? Does my testimony
concern in how God justifies the ungodly opposed that of the
thorn? Remember, we are either lilies
or thorns. The distinction is clear. There
is no in-between. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2 and
verse 19, if you would, please. Christ is the head of the church,
his body. He is the lily of the valley.
So is she. Listen to what Paul wrote to
the churches at Ephesus about this union with Christ. Ephesians
2, 19. Now, therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners. but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are builted together for the inhabitation of God through
the Spirit. That is what we are in Christ.
As to lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
All that Jesus is, in his glorious head, so shall the church be
glorious in his glory, and lovely in his loveliness. For we are
members of his church. We are members of his body. Well,
one last thought here. The world. Jesus called the world
in Matthew 13 and the parables, the field. The world as a field
is filled with thorns. But among the thorns are lilies
planted there by God. Although by nature they are tempted
by and act like thorns, they are lilies, and they are loved
of the Lord. The prophet Micah describes all
of us by nature this way. Listen to this. The best of them,
by nature, is as a briar. The most upright is sharper than
a thorn hedge. That's the description of every
sinner before God saves him. Even the most upright, it says.
I don't care how many good works you've done. Before God saved
you, all your works were wicked works, fruit unto death. You
were as a thorn hedge. But side by side, the lilies
grow with the thorns in the world. They look like the daughters.
They sound like the daughters. They act like the daughters of
this world. But they are loved of God. and Christ will have
his lilies, all of them. He will not lose a one. He tabernacled among them to
reveal the Father's will and purpose for them and to meet
every requirement of God's law against them to secure their
final glory. He will not lose one for whom
he died. He calls them out of every hill
and valley by his gospel and makes them willing in the day
of his power to look to him, the lily of the valley, for all
their salvation. Well, there are thousands of
varieties of lilies in the world. Every color and hue imaginable
is available to those interested in them. I personally believe
that the lilies of which Christ spoke here were lily white. They
were white. They weren't multicolored. They
were the picture and symbol of Christ's purity and that of His
church. And like the genetically altered
lilies of today, men try to alter the person of Christ to fit their
persuasions, and we were guilty of that in our own self. Through
our ignorance, we thought to conform the impeccable Christ
to some perverted way of our thinking. We sought to conform
Him to our own thoughts about Him. We didn't know Him by nature,
and we created in our mind some notion of God which was nothing
more than an idol of our imagination. That's what God's Word calls
it. That's what God saves his people from, idolatry. We act
by nature just like the daughters of false religion do. But he
is the Lord our righteousness, robed in his spotless garment
of salvation, who as the Son of righteousness comes with healing
in his wings that we might be found in him, not having our
own righteousness which is of the law. but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith. Philippians 3 verse 9. Okay,
one other verse. Turn to John chapter 4. John's
Gospel chapter 4 and verse 35. John 4 verse 35. John chapter 4 verse 35. Christ
speaking to his hearers here on the mount, sermon on the mount. He said, There are yet four months,
and then come at the harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift
up your eyes, and look on the field, for there are white already
to harvest." Christ's lilies are white unto harvest. He has
redeemed them. He has planted them in the field.
The enemy has planted thorns among them, and they languish
in this awful state of lostness. Who will tell the good news of
the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley? We'll listen to
one command from Christ. He said, Pray ye therefore the
Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into
his harvest. With this thought in mind, if
he had not sent a laborer my way, where would I be today? I am the lily of the valley.