that reading in 2nd Corinthians
that Brother Jim read at verse 5. It's just absolutely outstanding. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything is of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. Oh my! Oh my! I just had to repeat that. That's
just a beautiful verse. OK, open up your Bibles, if you
would, to Song of Solomon, Chapter 2. Song of Solomon, Chapter 2. We'll be finishing off the chapter
tonight, Lord willing. Song of Solomon, Chapter 2. The
name of the message is, Safe in My Beloved. Safe in My Beloved. Let's read from verse 8 to verse
17, and our text will be found in 14 to 17. The voice of my beloved, behold,
he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved
is like a roe or a young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the window,
showing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake and said unto
me, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the
winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear
on the earth, the time of the singing of birds has come, and
the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree put
forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give
a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away. Oh, my dove, thou art in the
clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs. Let me
see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice
and thy countenance is calm. Take us the foxes, the little
foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.
My beloved is mine and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies until
the daybreak and the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be thou like a roe or young heart upon the mountains of Bethlehem.
Now last week we looked at verses 8 to 13 in our study and we saw
the bride, the church, hears the voice of the beloved, her
bridegroom, her heavenly bridegroom through the preaching of the
gospel and through the reading of the scriptures, the studying
of God's word. We also looked at verse 8 and
how he cometh leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the
hills speaks of his incarnation. We also looked at how our heavenly
bridegroom is ever with us. Ever with us. He'll never leave
us nor forsake us. Never. He's ever with us. Even
while we're under dark clouds, He's still with us. He's still
with us. Ever with us. And in the verses
10 to 13, we see the bride, the church, recalling the words of
her beloved, that being Christ, and how He has told her to rise
up and come with Him. with tenderness he calls us to
do this. He calls us with love and tenderness to do this. And
know also that Christ calls his beloved my love, my fair one.
Again, fair in the text there is beautiful in the Hebrew. Beautiful. My. He sees us clothed in his
perfect spotless righteousness. and we are beautiful in his sight. Sinners are beautiful in his
sight. His blood-bought bride is beautiful
in his sight. Let's start our study in verse
14 where we see the Lord call his bride, my dove. This is the
Lord speaking here, the bridegroom speaking, O my dove, thou art
in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs.
Let me see thy countenance. Let me hear thy voice, for sweet
is thy voice, and thy countenance is calm. Our Lord, our heavenly
bygram, calls his bride, my dove. My dove. Now, the dove is considered
one of the most harmless creatures in the world. One of the most
harmless creatures in the world. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 10. I know we looked at this portion when we looked
at the word, about the dove in chapter one, but I'd like us
to read this again tonight. Matthew chapter 10, verses 16
to 19. Speaking when the Lord sends
forth his disciples. Behold, verse 16, Matthew 10,
16. Behold, I send you forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves. Sheep in the midst of wolves.
Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Harmless
as doves. But beware of men, for they will
deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in
the synagogues. And you shall be bought before governors and
kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought of how or what
you shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour
what you shall speak. But note in verse 16, harmless
is done. Harmless is done. Now a dove,
again, is a harmless creature, but a very beautiful creature.
Very beautiful. I love doves. I love morning
doves. I could sit and listen to them all day long. And to
watch the two of them, because they're always with their mates.
And it's incredible. It's absolutely stunning to watch
them. You can get carried away for hours watching these little
birds. But they're beautiful creatures. And they're very social,
it's said. And they're very affectionate
to their mate. They mate for life, they say. but they're also
very timid. They're very timid. So our Lord's
comparison of his church to the dove is fitting because we're
weak in ourselves, aren't we? We're weak in ourselves. Sometimes
apprehensive and sometimes doubting. The least little thing can sometimes
scatter us. Just like that dove. Just like
that dove. And our Lord sees us as beautiful
because we're washed in his precious blood. were washed in His precious
blood and clothed in His righteousness. And just as a dove is beautiful,
we are made beautiful by another. We're made beautiful by another,
by Christ. Therefore, He sees us again in
His righteousness, and we are absolutely beautiful in His eyes. Lord Jesus Christ has taken away
our guilt by His blood atonement. He's put away our sins. by his
own sacrifice. And Lord God has put upon every
redeemed sinner. The very beauty of his perfect
righteousness. Every one of his redeemed sins.
Every one of his sheep. Is clothed in his perfect righteousness.
That's the wedding garment. That's the wedding garment that
we're clothed in. And he conquers the heart in conversion, doesn't
he? He does. We were proud. We didn't want
to have nothing to do with the Lord before He saved us. But
He conquered our hearts, didn't He? He conquered our hearts.
With cords of love, He drew us. He drew us to Himself. The Church
of God is a dove hidden in the clefts of the rock. Hidden in
the clefts of the rock. Where are we hid? We're hid in
Christ. We're hid in Christ and Him alone.
And because we're hidden in Him, we're eternally secure. We're
eternally secure in Him. And the believer is made to be
aware through our weakness. We're made to be aware of our
constant need for Him. We're made to be aware that we
constantly need to be hidden in Him because of what we are
and who we are. But for the believer to contemplate
that we are hid in Christ, that the wrath of God has no claim
upon us anymore, the law of God has no claim upon us anymore,
justified before a holy and righteous God, hid in Christ. Why? It makes our heart just leap
for joy. We take refuge in Him, don't
we? He's our refuge. He's our refuge. It's he who
hides us in the cleft of the rock, and we hide in him who
is Christ. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Oh my. Our text continues. Oh my dove, thou art in the clefts
of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs. Let me see thy
countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice,
and thy countenance is calmly. In the secret places of the stairs,
the scripture declares, Christ is the stairs or steps by which
the saints ascend up to God. And we have access to God through
Christ, through Christ and Christ alone, and through communion
with him. Gil brings forth this, that the
secret places may have respect to the justifying righteousness
of Christ and atonement by him, hidden to other men, but revealed
to his church. Hidden to other men, but revealed
to his bride. So we see that whether the church
is in distress, whether the church is in trial, whether the church
is in tribulation, we're sheltered by Christ. We're sheltered by
Christ. And He's in the midst of us.
He's in the midst of us. We dwell in safety in Him. Let's look at the latter part
of this verse. Let me see thy countenance. Let me hear thy
voice. You're sweet as thy voice, and thy countenance is calm.
The Church, the Bride of Christ, the elect of God, are objects
of Christ's particular love and tender care. Now, let that just
sink in for us. This is amazing. The Church,
the Bride of Christ, each believer, are objects of Christ's particular
love and tender care. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. So let us never forget that all our Lord does for us, he
does because he loves us. Why did Christ leave the glories
of heaven? Because he loves his bride. He
loves his bride. Why did Christ go to the, or
even before the cross? Why was he beaten and scourged? Because he loves his bride. Why
did he go to the cross at Calvary and bleed and die at Calvary's
cross? Because he loves his bride. My,
all that Christ does for us, he does for us because he loves
us. He loves us. He delights in us. He delights in us, we're beautiful
in His sight, lovely, and He desires to commune with us. We
see this here, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy
voice, for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is calm.
He desires us to lift up our voices to Him, to cry out in
praise and adoration to Him, because He is our Redeemer, our
Savior, our Heavenly Bride. ponder the great works of His
grace to you, ponder His mercy poured out upon you, and you
will soon lift your voice up in praise to the one who has
purchased your soul. The Lord Jesus Christ, we lift
up our voice in praise and adoration for the great things that He
had done for us, don't we? The Lord is King. He's my King. He left heaven for me to redeem
me. We just praise his name and ponder
this precious truth that the Son of God delights to have as
bride. We who are, as one commentator said, such worthless worms commune
with him. He delights in that. Because why? Because we're his
people. Because we're his bride. And
think of this. We're his bride by choice. We're
his bride by choice. We're his bride by purchase. So the believer in Christ can
exclaim in wonder that he truly loves us. He truly loves us. Let's consider the next verse
and look. Take up the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the
vines for our vines of tender grapes. Now I've checked several
commentators on this verse. And this is what I found on this
verse here. Our Lord gives us counsel or
a warning to guard against and suppress the little foxes, the
little foxes which destroy the peace of his beloved, the peace
of his little dove. Now, we have a warning here before
us as believers to suppress our sinful nature. And this plagues
all of us, doesn't it? Now, we're saved from our sins,
but we're still sinners. And here's a warning for each
of us as believers to suppress our sinful nature. Sometimes
may seem little in our eyes. What are they? wrath, gossip,
slander, annoyance, irritation with one another, evil speaking.
We need to suppress these things, beloved. We need to suppress
these things. God give us grace and strength
to do so. We need to suppress these things
for the good of Christ's kingdom, don't we? Now there are other little foxes
which will destroy the peace of God's church. And they must
be dealt with as well, such as doctrinal error, and that which
is contrary to the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace.
The little fox of free willism. The little fox of salvation by
your works must be kept out of God's vineyard. Every little fox's schism and
strife and division must be put away lest they spoil the vine. For the honor of the beloved,
and for the good of our own souls, and for the good of our brethren,
we must constantly guard against these little foxes which creep
in among us. We must. She's talking to her
dear brother about this and how we were all prone to this. We must guard against these or
give us strength. And now we see in the next verse
the reply of the bride after her bridegroom has spoken. Look
at this. My beloved is mine. Oh, and I am his. Oh, what sweet words. What sweet
words for the believer. My beloved is mine and I am his.
He feedeth among the lilies. Here before us, the church proclaiming
that Christ is theirs, but more importantly, we are his. We are
his. My beloved is mine. Every believer
can say this. This is wonderful. Christ is
mine. But more importantly, I am his.
I am his. And he feeds us among the green
pastures of his word, doesn't he? Feedeth among the lilies,
the green pastures of his word. Now every born again believer
can say, Christ is mine. Every born again, blood-bought
believer can say, Christ is mine. What a blessing, what a privilege. Not everybody can say this, but
God's people can say this, his bride can say this. Different
ways in which something may be ours, an old time preacher bought
this out and I thought this was, these five points were pretty
neat. Five different ways in which something may become ours
by formation or production. These things, these are things
which we construct, things which we make with our hands and they
become ours. By purchase or exchange in this way, We obtain many things
which were previous to the property of others and now become ours. By inheritance, in this manner,
we become possessors of property of deceased relatives or friends,
and these become ours. By conquest, in this manner,
things are acquired by war, and then they become the items of
the conqueror. And by gift. I guess in this
manner Whatever is bestowed on us is by the generosity of others
And then those things become ours Among all those ways There's
only one in which Christ can become ours. His salvation is
a gift from God It's a gift from God not of works lest anyone
should boast And then think of this We are his by creation We
are His by creation, beloved. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. So everything
in this world is His by creation. Everything. But God's blessed people, His
church, His bride, We're His by purchase. We're His by purchase. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 9. He's bought us. And He bought us with His own
precious blood, beloved. On Calvary's cross. So we're
His by creation, but we're also His by purchase. And this can
only be said of the elect of God. Only can be said of the
church of God. Hebrews chapter 9, verses 11
to 14. But Christ, being come in the
high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, But by His own blood,
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. Oh, He purchased us. He purchased
His bride with His own precious blood. And note there, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. The sinless one dies for
sinners and obtains eternal redemption. He didn't try. He obtained it. And we're receivers of this wonderful
grace and mercy, this wonderful salvation. His people are receivers. Heaven obtained eternal redemption
for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of the heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctified through the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot, there it is, perfect, spotless, sinless. He offered himself up without
spot to God. Purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God so Christians are the property
of Christ He created us. He purchased us and beloved he
conquered us He conquered us. Oh my We are bought with a price
aren't we? He has conquered us and he has
conquered all our enemies to all of them Scripture declares
in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20, for ye are bought with a price.
You're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. And we are His gift
from the Father. Turn, if you would, to John 17.
We were given to Him, given to Christ by the Father in eternity.
Now think of that. When we ponder who we are, and
what we are, and how we are, then we see this wonderful verse,
John 17, 6, which declares this, I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
When did that happen? In eternity. In eternity. Think of this. If Christ is mine,
then His power defends me and keeps me. All of it. If Christ
is mine, then His power defends me and His power keeps me. If Christ is mine, then His wisdom
and knowledge guide me and direct me. If Christ is mine, then His
blood cleanses me from all sin. And if Christ is mine, then His
righteousness justifies me before God. And the church cries out, Christ
is mine, and I am his. My beloved, my beloved, the believer
proclaims that Jesus Christ has loved me so much that he gave
himself for me. The Holy Ghost has confirmed
it by regenerating us and uniting us to him forever. And so the bride cries out that
the Lord Jesus Christ has purchased me by his own precious blood.
And that God the father chose me in Christ. And gave us to
him that we should that he should give eternal life to his people.
And this is all from everlasting. From eternity. The church cries
out that the God the spirit made us his. By the conquest of His
grace upon our hearts, we were proud rebels. Proud rebels, weren't
we? All of us. All of us who believe
were proud rebels. He conquered us by His grace. My. Aren't you thankful He did? Aren't you thankful He didn't
leave you where you were? My. Wonderful. Mercy. Christ is mine
and I am His. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
18, 20. Jesus had declared that his beloved,
his bride, was in his view as a lily among thorns. The bridegroom, the heavenly
bridegroom declares in verse 2 of Song of Solomon, as a lily
among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. She's amidst the
thorns She's a lily among the thorns.
We saw that when we looked at that part of that verse, we saw
that that's us in the world, isn't it? But where's the Lord?
It says, Matthew 18, 20, for where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst. He's right here.
He's right with us. He's in the midst. My. And that's where verse 16
it says my beloved is mine and I am his he feedeth among the
lilies. He's in our midst. He said to feed among them. His
eye is always upon His bride and He feeds us in the green
pastures of His Word by the preaching of the Gospel and by the reading
of the Scriptures. And all this comes by the Holy
Spirit illuminating the Scriptures for us. Because if the Holy Spirit
doesn't illuminate the Scriptures, we won't learn anything. But
He does. He teaches us. In these words
of the bride before us in verse 16, My beloved is mine and I
am His. He feedeth among the lilies.
The words of the bride before us spring forth from a heart
full of assurance. Full of assurance. Contentment. One that is full of joy as the
bride beholds in awe that she is her beloved. And that ties right in with that
scripture Brother Jim read about our sufficiency is in Christ. Oh my. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Verse 16, My beloved is mine
and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies.
Do these words describe your condition? Do you know that He is yours?
Does your soul feed upon this blessed truth here before us? I pray that if you say no, that
God would make it so for you. Just as He has for His people. Let's look at the last verse
of this chapter. Until the daybreak and the shadows
flee. Flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be thou like a row or a young heart upon the mountains. Bethar. The church in this verse is looking
to her beloved with great confidence and joy. That he will be to her
all she needs. We sing that wonderful song.
Jesus Christ is all I need. He's all I need. Is it so with
you? Oh, a believer says, Amen. So
with me. So with me. He's all I need. He's our one support. And the
believer is fully dependent upon Him. Fully dependent upon Him. And He keeps us and watches over
us. Now think of this, the Old Testament saints long for the
Messiah to come. When the law of ceremonies and
types and shadows of good things to come should be done away and
lost in that substance which is Christ. Because they were
just types and pictures. But Christ is the substance.
They all pointed to Christ. Turn if you would to Luke chapter
2. Luke chapter 2. Oh, in this verse 17, it's about
us waiting for the Lord. Until the daybreak and the shadows
flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe, a young
heart upon the mountain of Bethlehem. Look at Luke chapter 2, verse
22. We read here in the opening of
Luke that there was those who Departed not night and day from
the temple. They were waiting for the consolation
of Israel Luke chapter 2 verse starting in verse 22 And when
the days of her purification according to the law of Moses
were accomplished they bought him to Jerusalem and to present
him to the Lord So Mary and Joseph bring Christ to Jerusalem to
present him before the Lord as It is written in the law of the
Lord every male that opened at the womb shall be called holy
to the Lord And to offer sacrifice according to that which is said
in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young
pigeons. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. He's waiting for the consolation
of Israel. He's waiting for the Messiah. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. That he'd not see death, beloved,
until he saw the Messiah. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents bought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he up in his
arms and blessed God and said, now let us thy servant depart
in peace according to thy words for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
he's looking at he's looking at christ and he's for mine eyes
have seen thy salvation he's looking at god incarnate in the
flesh beloved a little baby who would grow and would die for
the sins of his people. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Have your eyes seen the salvation
of the Lord? Oh, my. If not, I pray that God
will give you eyes to see Christ. Because God's people say, oh,
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. By faith, I look to Christ and
Christ alone. And look at this, which thou
hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten
the Gentiles in the glory of thy people, Israel. And Joseph
and his mother marveled at these things which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary, his mother, behold,
this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel
and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword
shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, prophetess
of the daughter of Phenuel, the tribe of Assur. She was of great
age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity.
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which
departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and
prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of Him to all
that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. They were waiting
for the consolation of Israel. And there He was. There He was. And look at our text. Until the
daybreak and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be
thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains of Bethlehem.
We look for Christ's return, don't we? Oh, and we know, we
know that we will see him either at
our death or if we're alive when he returns. And he's coming. He's coming. Oh, my. We look for the consolation of
Israel. We look up to our great God and
King. And is this not the cry of we
who are God's saints today? Do we not long for the return
of our great God and King, the Lord Jesus Christ? when He will
finally appear to gather His people to Himself in glory. And
surely the cry of each believing heart is, even so, come quickly,
Lord. Come quickly. And let us remember
that this life is our night time. And day shall soon be upon us,
beloved. Day shall soon be upon us. Shall
soon break upon us. Look, it says in verse 17, until
the day break and the shadows flee away. My one day one day
We'll be in that land of eternal day And the shadows will flee
away there flee away And we'll be with our great God
and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ forever forever All the shadows
of darkness will flee away all the shadows of our trials and
tribulations and will flee away on that great and glorious day.
Comfort one another with these precious words. We need to be comforted. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank Thee again for Thy mercy and Thy goodness. O Lord Jesus,
we look to Thee, our Beloved. And the redeemed sinner can cry
out, that You are mine. Not by anything
we've done, but simply by Thy grace which has been bestowed
upon us. And more importantly, I am Yours. O Lord, we look to Thee. We await Thy coming. We await
for the time when you'll either come for us in our death, or
when you'll come again. And we eagerly await. And we love Thee, in Jesus' name.