Wonderful. Wonderful to sing
praises to our great God and King, isn't it? Absolutely wonderful. Open your
Bibles, if you would, to Song of Solomon, Chapter 2. Song of Solomon, Chapter 2. The
name of the message is the voice of my beloved. Let's read verses
8 to 13. 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 windows,
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. 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. The voice of my beloved. The
voice of my beloved. Two weeks ago, when we gathered
together on Sunday night, we considered verses five 7 of chapter
2, where we looked at how the bride is sick of love, and this
means she's enamored. She's enamored with the bridegroom.
She's taken away, ravished by his love towards her. Is it not
so with we who believe when we think of our blessed Savior and
our blessed Redeemer? Are we not enamored that he's
loved us with an everlasting love? It's incredible. It's incredible. We get taken
away, if you would, from the cares of this world and the troubles
of this world when we just consider that. We also considered in verse
six that it's in God's everlasting arms which we are kept. The everlasting arms of God keep
the bride. Keep the. He holds. And sustained. And let us remember this. We're
safe only in his arms. We're safe only in his arms.
What comfort this brings to the soul, the belief. Knowing that
he who sustains all things by the word of his power. holds
us and keeps us in His everlasting arms. Just ponder that. If you get down or depressed,
because we often do. You get anxious about a situation
that occurs in your life. Stop and ponder. Ponder that. I'm in the everlasting
arms. God's people can say that. It's incredible. It's absolutely
incredible. Look at his left hand is under
my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. A two-handed grip
by the sovereign God upon his bride. My, what power keeps us. Then we
consider verse 7, where we saw and consider that the bride has
experienced the sweetness of Christ's communion with her,
and the manifestation of his love towards her. And she, the
bride, greatly desires this. She desires this to continue
all the days of her sojourn upon this world. So now let us consider a few
verses tonight in our study. Look at verse 8. The voice of
my beloved, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping
upon the hills. The bride desires to hear the
voice of her beloved. Do we not desire to hear his
voice in the preaching of his word? And in the study of his word? And his voice brings to the believer
comfort. Comfort. Comfort to our souls. And notice
the church speaks of being one who is attentive to the voice
of her beloved. The voice of my beloved, behold,
he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. She's
attentive to his voice. She's attentive to His voice.
And when she hears it, she lifts up her eyes and beholds Him. And that's what we do by faith.
When we hear the gospel, when we read the Word, we look to
Christ, we behold Him upon His throne. And it brings the bride great
delight to hear the voice of God through the preaching of
the gospel and through the reading of his word. And again, when
Christ speaks in the word and by the word, there is such a
sweetness for the believer. And it comes with power and efficacy
and grace all accompanying it for the believer. And it cannot but bring delight
to us. That's what it does. Because
we delight in the one who's speaking to us through his word, the Lord
Jesus Christ, in him alone. And note that the bride knows
whose voice it is. She knows the voice of my beloved. She knows his voice. She can
distinguish it from all others. And so it is for the Lord's people.
They hear His voice through the preaching of the gospel. Turn
with you, if you would, to John chapter 10. A.W. Pink said this
when the Lord talks about His voice, us hearing His voice,
it's through the preaching of the gospel. It speaks comfort to our souls.
And His sheep know His voice. And what do they do? They follow
Him. They follow Him. They won't follow the voice of
another. They won't follow the voice of another. They won't
follow the voice of the stranger. They will only follow the voice
of the shepherd. And our master and shepherd proclaim
this precious truth. And we see that which is stated. Stated by the great shepherd
of our souls. Look at John chapter 3 verses 3 to 14. To him the
porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice. and he calleth
his own sheep by name. What does he do? And leadeth
them out. And when he putth forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. Remember over in Song of Solomon,
the voice of my beloved. They know his voice. He's revealed
himself to them. And the stranger, will they not
follow? They'll not go after false preaching. They'll hear the shepherd's voice
in the true preaching of the gospel. And they'll be able to
discern the difference. And they'll not follow another
voice. And the stranger, will they not
follow? But they'll flee from him. They know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not
what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus
unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door
of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers.
But the sheep did not hear them. The sheep did not hear them.
John 10, 9, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy, I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in
hireling, and not the shepherd whose own The sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the
wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he's an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am
the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
So the bride knows the voice of the beloved. The sheep know the voice of the
shepherd. Song of Solomon 2.8, again. The voice of my beloved,
behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon
the hills. Let this sweet thought bring joy to your soul, beloved
of God. Jesus may be out of the believer's
sight, but yet the believer can discern him in his word. What a privilege it is for we
who believe that by the power of the Holy Ghost teaching us
and that by Him giving us the ability to discern the voice
of Christ from the many, many voices of error which are now
amongst us. And there's a lot of them. Many voices of error all around
us, and yet we hear the shepherd's voice through the preaching of
the gospel. And then the church calls upon
him, the bride calls upon him, others to behold him. The voice
of my beloved, behold. Behold. He cometh leaping upon
the mountains, skipping upon the hills. The Old Testament
saints were always by faith looking for the Messiah, the Messiah's
promised advent. And this speaks of his first
advent. which was much prophesied and expected by the Old Testament
saints, and which was welcomed by them. Gill brings out about
the mountains and the hills in light of his incarnation, that
this was attended with many difficulties comparable to mountains and hills,
that he, the Son of God, should become man, that he should obey,
suffer, and die for men, fulfill the law, satisfy justice, atone
for sin, and save from all enemies. Those which seemed insurmountable
were easily surmounted by Christ. Easily surmounted by the Savior. And also when thinking of mountains
and hills, think of the mountains of our sin. The hills of unbelief within
our nature. These shall not obstruct Him
from saving us. These shall not obstruct him
from keeping us once he's saved us. No. He visits his people. His love
and grace will cause him to leap over all those mountains because
he has purchased his people by the shedding of his own precious
blood. Voice of my beloved, behold,
he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. And
let us ponder this for our encouragement, that nothing kept back Christ
from coming to redeem his people. Nothing. Nothing kept back Christ
from coming to redeem his people from their sins. So then nothing
shall keep him from accomplishing our deliverance. And nothing
shall keep him from keeping us. That's comfort for the believer.
Because left to ourselves, we're messing all up. We would. The mountains of divine wrath
against our sin and the terrors of the law, which we broke, could
not restrain the Lord from coming to satisfy God's justice and
to ransom his elect, those who were held captive by the law
and justice of God. Therefore, nothing shall separate
his people. Nothing shall separate his people
from his love. Nothing. Though their rebellion
and acts are sometimes a very strong testimony of their unworthiness, nothing shall separate his people
from his love. Nothing. Now, we can all testify
that we're rebellious, even as believers. But nothing shall separate His
people from His love. Our Lord has saved His people
from their sins. And in His first advent in our
flesh, we've been redeemed by Him. And now we rejoice to hear
the voice of the Savior. and he is glorified by his bride. She lifts him up and wants him
to get all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. She ascribes all glory to him
who is the lover of her soul. All to him. And she delights in he who is
the lover of her soul. Turn, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians
1, but keep your finger in Song of Solomon. 2 Thessalonians 1,
verse 10. 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 10. When he shall come to be glorified
in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe, because
our testimony among you was believed in that day when he shall come
to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them
that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that
day. He will be glorified by his saints. He will be glorified by the bride. By those who are set apart for
holiness by God the Father, by the saints whose sins are atoned
for by the blood sacrifice of Christ, by those who are sanctified
by the Spirit and the grace of God. He shall be glorified by
them. We will glorify Him for what
He's done for us. Those whom Christ has a particular
interest in They are His. His Father's gift to Him. And
they are His. They are Christ's by purchase. And they are His by the exercise
of His power. By the power of His grace. The exercise of the power of
His grace when He died for them on Calvary's cross. and He will
save them by His magnificent grace. And when He comes a second
time, and He will, He will come in His own glory, both as God
and man, the God-man mediator, and in His Father's glory, and
He will come with all authority, all authority, all majesty, which
is bestowed upon Him as the judge of the whole earth. And he will come with glory and
power. Again our text says, the voice
of my beloved, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping
upon the hills. So we see that the church hears
a voice which instantly she recognizes as the voice of her beloved.
And in the pages of God's word, His voice sweetly sounds. And
how many are His calls to His people through the Word. How
tender are His promises as we read His promises. How tender
are they for the believer. They break us and they build
us up. And how sustaining are the assurances
in which the Savior speaks to the souls of His people. Incline
your ears. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David, Isaiah 55, 3. Incline
your ear and come unto me. Here and your soul shall live. The believer drinks in these
precious truths with joy. We delight in his voice. And we exclaim, it is the voice
of my beloved. It's the voice of my beloved. And we rejoice. Now let us consider
verse nine. My beloved is like a row or a
young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the window,
showing himself through the lattice. Nothing else is sweeter to the
believer than to know that our Savior is ever present with us. Nothing's sweeter than to know
that. That He's ever present with us. To know that He who
is the lover of my soul will never leave me. Friends may leave
me, family may leave me, but our Savior is ever with us.
Ever with us. Sometimes we're in need of revival.
We are. We get set in our ways. We get
mired in the things of the world. We need to be refreshed at times. When the Savior gracefully reveals
Himself to us, He stands it behind our wall, notice the text says. He looketh forth at the windows,
showing Himself through the lattice. This was the condition of the
church in the Old Testament. Christ was with them, but they
did not clearly see Him, as He stood behind the wall of the
law. He showed Himself through the windows and lattices of their
sacrifices and ceremonies, in types and pictures. And in a
sense, this is the condition we are in, as long as we are
here upon this earth. We see Him through a glass darkly. We only know that which He reveals
to us, and that's just a little we bit. And He reveals Himself to us,
and lest we get too proud in a lifetime of walking with the
Lord, we're just scratching the surface. We're just scratching the surface. But one day, the beloved of God
shall see him face to face, face to face. We see it through a
glass darkly. And these words before us can
also be applied to us when we're under a cloud, be it a trial
or a temptation. And let us always remember that
Christ is near, but sometimes because of our own sin, he appears
out of sight. And our hearts become cold. And we may even become frustrated
with some situations that we're in. And the wall between us and
Christ is a wall that we've built. That we've put up. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 59. The wall separating us from Christ
is always our wall, our sins. Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2. Behold,
the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither
is ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His
face from you, that He will not hear. Our dear Savior stands
behind our wall as one who is waiting to be gracious, ready
to be reconciled, willing to forgive. Turn, if you would,
to Hosea, chapter 14. Hosea, chapter 14. Verse 1 to 4. O Israel, return
unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Take with you words and turn to the Lord and say unto him,
take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, so we will render
the calves of our lips. The shower shall not save us,
we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more
to the works of our hands, ye are our gods. or in thee the
fatherless findeth mercy, I will heal their backsliding, I will
love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from him. He graciously
looks in at the window and shows himself through the lattices
to comfort us, to break us in these situations, to make us
open to him, because we are stubborn sometimes and stiff-necked, even
as believers. But the Lord is always gracious
to us, isn't he? Always, always gracious to us. And we, his people, are thankful
that he never leaves us nor forsakes us. Never, never. The windows and lattices by which
he shows himself are the ordinances that he has given us. Also, we
read His Word and seek His face in prayer, and the Lord Jesus
gives us glimpses of His face, and we are refreshed and revived
by a word of comfort from Him. We hear the Gospel preached in
the house of God, and we sing His praises, and we remember
Him in the Lord's Supper, and we think of Him when we hear the Gospel of His
great salvation preached and proclaimed, and we're comforted
by Him. Comforted. And let us also be comforted
by this, beloved God. He, the groom, is nearer than
when she, the bride, first saw him. He's even at her very home. This will bring great comfort
to the believer. Great comfort. Let's look at verse 10. 10 to
13. And we will see the bride remembering
and repeating what the bridegroom said to her. And it's made a
very powerful impression upon her. 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 putteth forth her
green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good
smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. He calls
her outwardly by his word and inwardly by his spirit, telling
her to rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. He calls
her outwardly by the word, being preached by the preaching of
the gospel, and inwardly by the Holy Spirit of God. This is what
happens to every single believer. And it's wonderful. He says,
rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Oh, it's wonderful. Note the sweetness in these verses.
They bring forth the grace of Christ and the condescension
of Christ, and only a cold heart would feel no affection in them.
Our Lord has represented us, calling upon His church to arise
and come forth with Him. And remember who's doing this,
who's saying this. The blessed Savior, the Redeemer
of His people, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. Note the
bridegroom calls the bride his love, his fair one. This brings forth that he has
the tenderness, he has tender affection in regard for her. He has tender affection in regard
for his bride. This will melt the coldest heart.
And it shows the believer, the bride of Christ, at the same
time what confidence she might put in Him who is the lover of
her soul. Is there any love like this? Is there any love like the love
Christ has for His people? We who are married love our spouses
and family. But does that love even come
near the love that Christ has for his church? Doesn't even come close. And
that's a deep love. Doesn't even come close. He so
loved his church. He so loves the bride that he
gave himself for her. He died for her. And now he lovingly
intercedes for her in glory. The love of God before us here
passes knowledge. We can't comprehend it. We can't
plumb the depths of this love. We can't. Think of that person
who you love the most in this world. Whom you have the most affection
for. Whom you would die for. And that love does not even come
close to the love that Christ has for his people. For each
one of his sheep. Let's bring it right home. For
each individual sheep of God. This is wonderful. This is a
love which passes knowledge. The Lord Jesus Christ calls the
church, His blood-bought bride, to rise up and follow Him. And we know from Scripture, Thy
people shall be made well in the day of His power. It is God
who makes us well. He calls the church, His blood-bought
bride, to rise up and follow Him. The winter's past, and the
rain is gone, the singing of the birds being come, and the
flowers appearing on the earth, with the voice of the turtle
being heard in the land. Think of this in light of the
darkness we were once in, which we looked at this morning. Winter's
past. What a beautiful figure is here
bought forth. We were in darkness before the
coming of Christ. Darkness covered the earth and
the people sat in darkness and they loved the darkness. Again,
this is our natural state, the natural state of every son of
Adam. Before Christ, by the manifestation of His grace, the power of His
Holy Spirit regenerates us, and we're born again. Look at verse
12. 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. Who but Christ
causes the flowers to appear upon the earth? Who but Christ gives the green
figs or the tender grapes? Only Him. Who but Christ makes
the vines with the tender grape give a good smell? None but our
precious Lord. none but our precious Lord. In
every way and in every stage, He is the life and the light
of His people. In every way and in every stage,
He is the life and the light of His people. What sweet effects
fall the regenerated soul as it is in Christ alone that a
sinner is converted. And by Christ alone. It's by
Christ alone that the saint is comforted. And it is Christ alone who is
the only hope for our salvation. Here in our text we see the Lord
Jesus Christ coming to his church by his word, by the manifestation
of his presence, by his power and by his grace. He brings a
time of refreshing to His own beloved people. In His wisdom
and grace, the Lord sends upon His church some long cold winters. He does sometimes. But He also sends the springtime
of revival to His beloved people. And let us remember that in all
our circumstances, Christ's love and attitude towards us, His
church, is unchanged. Unchanged. His chastisements
are the chastisements of a loving heart, and He calls us His love
and His fair one. Our Lord's love for us is immutable,
unchanging, and in no way dependent upon
us. Now that's the opposite of religion, isn't it? That's because
it's grace. That's because it's all grace.
Religion tells you your salvation is dependent upon you and what
you do. Grace says all your salvation is dependent upon Him and Him
alone. And it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. He who is the lover of my soul,
The believer cries out, he who is the lover of my soul went
to Calvary's cross and bore the wrath of God in
my place. The sinless one, the perfect
one, died in my room instead. The believer says that, proclaims
that. It's all unmerited favor, undeserved. absolutely undeserved. And our Lord's love for us is
immutable, unchanging, and in no way depended upon us. Why
did He go to Calvary to redeem His people from their sins? Because
He's loved us with an everlasting love, unchanging, immutable. My soul through many changes
goals, His love, no variation, no. My soul, through many changes,
goals, his love, no variation, no. In that comforting for us
as believers, that his love never changes. Sometimes our love changes
and we can get cold. Let's be honest, we can we can
get discouraged. But his love towards us never
changes. Never. It's absolutely wonderful. I was talking to a dear brother
this week. And he said, sometimes I just feel like quitting, brother. But I can't. Because he keeps me. And he stirs that love in my
heart time and time again. And He lovingly draws me back
to Him with cords of love. And He does. And it's magnificent. It's wonderful. It melts our
hearts. It absolutely melts our hearts. Let us remember that in His eyes,
we are always fair and lovely. We are always fair. and lovely
in His eyes. Only because He's made us so.
And we know why. Because we're clothed in His
perfect, spotless righteousness. And when Christ comes and makes
Himself known, then His people rejoice. They sing. and bring forth the fruit of
praise from their lips, from their hearts. 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
is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her
green figs, and the vine with the tender grape gives a good
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word. Oh, what a Savior You are,
Lord Jesus. What a Savior You are. You who
are the lover of our souls. You who are the lover of Your
people. And You've loved us with an everlasting love. And that
love brought You from heaven and die upon the cross in our
place. Oh Lord, may we ever keep that
in mind. May we keep that to the forefront.
May we keep looking to Thee. May You sustain us and keep us.
We love Thee because You first loved us. And we pray in Your
name.