If you would, the song of Solomon.
Song of Solomon. Now everyone loves to listen
to love songs, don't we? Everyone likes to hear a love
song. I don't know many people who
don't like to hear a love song. A lot of people love to hear
them. Even if you're not in love with someone, you still love
to hear them. And sometimes we remember songs and go, oh, I
remember that song, that old song. Well, we're going to look at
a song tonight that the Scripture declares the
song of songs. The song of songs. And this will
just be the introduction to our message. We won't get past verse
1 tonight. But oh, there's so much here.
There's so much here. Study will be taking sometimes
one verse at a time, sometimes two or three at a time, depending
on the context and what's within that verse or verses. Now this is a study I've been
looking forward to for some time. This book has always been very
dear to me, and I've always received a blessing when reading it. The words in this book are wonderful,
wonderful. It is here in this book that
we will see the wonderful picture of Christ and His bride. Christ
and His bride. And as we journey through this
book, we will see just how enamored,
just how enamored Christ is with His bride. He's enamored with her. He's
taken away by her. And then we'll see just how enamored
she is with Him. It goes both ways. Oh, when the
Lord reveals Himself to His people, we fall madly in love with our
King. Deeply in love with our King. My, And our prayer is always, may
our great God lead us into the green pastures of his word, right?
Because his word, his word is green pastures for us. Remember,
we're sheep. This is clover. His word is clover. That's why it's called green
pastures. Because we feast on it and we feed upon it. And may he guide us and feed
us with the things of Christ. as we sit each week banqueting
in his house, banqueting in his word. Banqueting. We're banqueting in the house
of the king as we feast on the clover of his word. And let we
who believe on Christ remember that we are his bride. We're
his bride. We saw this morning in Sunday
school, we're fixed in Christ, remember? It's a fixed position. There's no doubt his elect is
his bride. And he is the heavenly bridegroom.
And we will see this here before us in this wonderful book, and
then we'll see just how precious the bride is to the groom. Do you know you who believe that
you are precious to Christ? Just as you know how he's precious
does. You're precious to him. And we're going to see later
on in the chapters. Brother Matt and I had a preview.
We read this one time when we were studying. We read the whole
book. Just light you up. Just I recommend you do. Just
read the book in the sitting if you can. It'll it'll thrill
your soul. how taken away Christ is with
the bride, and how taken away the bride is with Christ. And the great purpose of this
book is to reveal God's redemptive plan in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ, and to reveal that God is all in all, And that God
is the only one worthy of glory and honor and praise and is also
written to reveal the love that Christ has for his bride. And
the reciprocal love that the bride has for Christ. Remember, he loved us before
we loved him. And the only reason we love him
is because he loved us and gave himself for us. This theme ties in with the teaching
of our Master. Turn, if you would, to John 17,
3. The whole purpose of Scripture is to reveal Christ, right? And
the Holy Spirit takes the words of the preaching of His Word,
takes the words of Scripture, and what does He do? Scripture
says He doesn't speak of Himself, right? He reveals Christ to us. He reveals Christ. His own words,
he said this, John 17, three, and this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. When he reveals himself to us,
we know him. And we know God. And then we
live a life learning more and more about him. And then one
day, we get to see him face to face. And the ones who he gives eternal
life to in verse three there is God's elect. And when were
they given to Christ? In eternity. In eternity. When did we become his bride
at Calvary? No. We became his bride in eternity,
beloved. When the Father gave him to us. We're as bride from eternity.
And then when we die and go to glory, we'll be with the bridegroom
for eternity. For eternity. So let's go back to Song of Solomon.
We'll look at the first verse. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. Let us take note, as Brother
Hawker brings out, that this is a song. This book is a song. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. It's a song. And beloved, we
will see as we journey through this book what a sweet song it
is. It's a sweet song. It's a sweet song. It's a love
song. It's a love song about Christ
and his bride. And it's a love song like no
other. Because this love song speaks
of a love that's eternal. This song speaks of a love between
a bride and a groom. That's eternal. Now, we didn't
know him, right? We didn't know him before we
were saved, but he knew us. He knew us. This is a song about
the eternal love of Christ for his bride. The mercy and love of God is
set upon his people from when? Eternity. And it's only in Christ, right? So we who are redeemed, let us
rejoice. Psalm 103 17 says this, but the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting. Upon them that fear him and his
righteousness unto children's children. The mercy of the Lord
has been set upon his people from eternity. From eternity. Sister, the Lord loved you from
eternity. His mercy has been set upon you from eternity. Oh,
that thrills our soul, doesn't it? Oh, my goodness. It thrills
our soul. It just thrills our soul. Do
you know that his salvation is also an everlasting salvation?
Scripture says this in Isaiah 45, 17, it says this, but Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. He
shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah
31.3. Do you know that his love for his bride is an everlasting
love? Is an everlasting love? And we will see that love evidently
through this book as we study it. Keep that in mind, that the
love that Christ has for his bride, and we see pictures of
it, this is a love for maternity. This is an everlasting love. It's incredible when you think
that God's love was set upon each one of us who believe from
eternity. From eternity. Jeremiah 31.3 says this, the
Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved
thee with what? An everlasting love. Oh my goodness. Does that mean that that love
is, or that surely that just means in the past, no. No, that
means with an everlasting love. That means an eternity past and
eternity future, eternity present. It's an everlasting love. It
never changes because God does not change. His love has always
been set upon his people in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Yeah, I love
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. The only reason we were drawn
to Christ was because he loved us from eternity and he draws
us with him with Draws us with love, love, love. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
54. His kindness to his people. Do
you know that his kindness to his bride, to his people, is
an everlasting kindness? It's an everlasting kindness. Isaiah 54, verses eight and nine. Scripture declares, in a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee. With everlasting kindness
saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Who's our Redeemer? The Lord. The Lord. For this is as the
waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should go no more over the earth, so have I sworn
that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. Just rest
right there. God is no longer angry with his
people over their sins. His wrath and justice has been
satisfied in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? What love. And this all stems from the everlasting
love that Christ has for his bride. This love flows from eternity.
We're chosen in Christ, we know that. We're chosen in Christ
in eternity. In the covenant that the Lord
Jesus Christ ratified with His blood, it's called an everlasting
covenant in Hebrews 13, 20. Now the God of peace that bought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
His blood was shed to ratify the covenant of grace. My goodness. So the gospel we
preach and proclaim is also the everlasting gospel. Turn to Revelation
chapter 14. You might ask, well, why are
you setting this up like this? Because his love that we will see through
the Song of Solomon for his bride all ties in with this. It's everlasting. It's everlasting. And when I stop to think, That
when I was doing what I was doing, and even still I'm a sinner,
and yet Christ's love is everlasting. That just thrills my soul. Even when I was a wayward sheep,
like that song we sang, brother, he still loved me. I was one of his bride. I was
part of his body, his bride. Do we love folks that shake their
fists at us and say things and curse our name? Mercy. Everlasting kindness and
mercy, beloved. Oh, my. My. Revelation 14, 6 and 7. And I
saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every
nation. and kindred and tongue and people saying with a loud
voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment
has come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the
sea and the fountain of the waters. And then second Peter tells us
that his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. So let us remember this as we
study this book, this wonderful book about Christ and his bride. The elect of God, that's who
his bride is. The elect of God, the chosen
of God. The chosen of God. Let us remember
this, that in God's economy, he's always loved his bride.
He's always loved his bride. He's loved us from eternity.
He's been enamored with us from eternity. Isn't that something? His eye has ever been upon us
from eternity. That's something to think about. When we were formed in the womb,
He knew us. His eye was upon us. When we
are born into this world, He knew us. And His eye was upon
us. And He was in love with us. When we were shaking our fist
at Him, He had redeemed us at Calvary's cross. We didn't know
it until that time when Christ revealed Himself to us, and then
we fell in love with Him, but only because He loved us with
an everlasting love. And now when we believe again,
we fall in love with our Lord Jesus Christ. We become enamored
with Him, but He's loved us from eternity. He's loved us with
an everlasting love. He's loved us with an unchanging
love. Unchanging. Even when we were dead in trespasses
and sins, and he loved us so much, he loved his bride so much
that he left heaven. To be a propitiation for her
sins. For the sins of all his people.
He gave His life on Calvary's cross. How much does Christ love
His bride? He gave His life for her. He shed His blood for her. He was hanged upon the tree and
beaten. And He willingly died for her. And He redeemed her. He redeemed
His bride by His own precious blood. And He loves us so much. Furthermore, He loves us so much
that He sends His Holy Spirit to draw us to Himself, to regenerate
us, to give us faith and repentance,
to believe on Him. Is there any love like this?
Can you measure any love that you've ever known? We know how
we love our brides, and we know how we love our children, and
we know how we love our family members. It doesn't even come
close. Any love greater than this? No.
No. What great love this is. This
is divine love. Christ is God in the flesh. This is divine love. The love
that Christ has for his bride is divine love. Everlasting love. And it makes us marvel that Christ
would love sinners. Sinners who are sinners by birth,
nature, and choice, right? But yet he's loved us with an
everlasting love and that he would come and redeem us on Calvary's
cross. And that's why we sing from our hearts like we sang
on Wednesday night. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what
a Savior. So let's again look at this first
verse of this wonderful book. The song of songs which is Solomon's. So we see here that this is Solomon's
song. And as I mentioned, we will plainly
see as we go through this book that it pictures Christ and his
bride. Hawker calls this wonderful book
a gospel song. A gospel song. And I think that's
fitting. Because it will make our hearts
sing, beloved. It'll make our hearts sing as
we are drawn to Christ, as we see Christ in his wonderful salvation,
which is found all through this song, all through this book. We will see in this book the
beautiful message of salvation through his grace and the mercy
and love that he has for his bride. This song is a love song. It's
a love song. It's a precious love song of
Christ and his bride, and the bride and Christ, and they are in love with each
other. They are in absolute love with each other. John Gill said,
the whole song is figurative and allegorical, expressing in
a variety of lively metaphors the love, union, and communion
between Christ and his church, setting forth the several different
frames, cases, and circumstances of believers in this life. Spurgeon
said this, this book stands like the tree of life in the midst
of the garden, and no man shall ever be able to pluck its fruit
and eat thereof until first he has been bought by Christ past
the sword of the cherubim. and led to rejoice in the love
which hath delivered him from death. The song of Solomon is
only to be comprehended by men whose standing is within the
veil." God must give us an understanding of this book. And this song, one grace preacher
said, is a song written from Christ to his bride. And we will
see that everything that they sing is personal. It's personal. They speak from their hearts.
They speak from their hearts. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
40. Psalm 40. When the Lord saves us, we have
a new song in our heart. We have a new song that we never had before. Think back. Reflect back. of how you thought
and what you thought of God before the Lord saved you. And I ask
you, did you have a song in your mouth and in your heart for Christ?
Because I know I didn't. Brother Matt, we've talked about
that. We didn't have a care in the world. We didn't think about
the Lord. We wanted to get away as far
away from church or anything as we could. Living a riotous
life, just being on her own. Not having a care in the world.
And if you were in a religious environment, and you didn't know
Christ, you probably weren't enamored with him. You probably
weren't in love with him. He's just, I don't know. Even
when I was religious, it wasn't what it is now. Not at all. It's so different. Grace changes
everything. Everything. Look at Psalm 40,
verse three. And he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. Did you praise God before
you were saved? We didn't, did we? Many shall see it in fear and
shall trust in the Lord. Again, I ask you who are redeemed,
you who are trusting Christ, has this not happened to you?
Do you not have a new song in your mouth and in your heart? Do you not praise God now when
we didn't praise Him before? Is His name not holy and reverent
to you now? Do you not have an awe of who
God is as He teaches and reveals to you who He is in Scripture? Does it not leave you in awe? Before you were saved, did you
sing a song to Christ? Now we had no care for the things
of God. We had no heart for Christ. But
now that we're born again, we have a new song. We have a new
song, a song of praise. A song of praise. Do you not
praise God in your heart? Did you before? Do you not sing a new song of
praise and glory to your wonderful, merciful Savior? Does it not
fill your heart with joy when you think of Him? When you ponder the wonderful
things He's done for you? Turn, if you would, to Revelation
chapter 5. Do you know that all the saints in glory sing this
new song? Revelation chapter 5. We're singing it here on earth
now, but one day we're singing it in heaven with all the saints.
Revelation chapter five, verses nine and 10. And they sang a new song, saying,
what are they saying? Thou art worthy to take the brook
and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain. Oh Lord,
you were slain. and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood. Out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation, and has made us unto our God, kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Oh, we sing thou art
worthy, Lord. You're worthy. We sing salvation's
song. Salvation is of the Lord. And who is the object of our
song? Christ. Christ, our heavenly bridegroom.
Turn back again to Song of Solomon 1.1. It says, the song of songs which
is Solomon. This is not just any song. Scripture declares it's the song
of songs. It's the song of songs. This
is the song of the Lord's heart to His bride and her heart to
Him. And it speaks of Christ and his
great salvation and his great love for his bride. This song
has Christ for its object. It also speaks of the object
of his love. Which is his bride. His elect,
his people who are spotless, and we'll see that later on in
the song, too. They're spotless in his eyes. He sees no fault
in her. No fault at all. She's beautiful
to him. Why are we beautiful to Him?
Because we're clothed in His perfect righteousness. Now there
are many songs in the Old Testament. There's the song of deliverance
from the Red Sea in Exodus 15. There's the song of the well
in Numbers 21, 17, and 18. There's the song of Deborah in
Judges 5. There's preeminently the Song of David in Psalm 18,
and the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of his enemies
and from the hand of Saul. And all the Psalms are songs.
But this Song of Solomon is here described by Scripture as the
Song of Psalms, the most excellent of them all. The most excellent
of them all. Now Solomon, Solomon wrote many proverbs and many songs. Turn if you would to 1st King
4. 1st King 4.32. Solomon wrote many proverbs and
many songs. But the scripture declares here
in Song of Solomon 1.1 that this is the song of songs. Now he
wrote many songs and many proverbs. How many did he write? Well,
1st Kings 4.32. And he spake 3,000 Proverbs. 3,000 Proverbs. 1 Kings 4.32. And he spake 3,000 Proverbs.
Well, how many songs did he write? And his songs were 1,005. 3,000 Proverbs. And his songs
were 1,005. And what does our text proclaim? The song of songs, which is Solomon's. This song has supremacy, preeminence. The phrase song of song sets
forth the idea of supremacy, the idea of preeminence, the
idea of unmatched excellence. It is the song of songs. Nothing
compares to it. Do you know how a love song can
sometimes thrill our hearts? and help us to reflect on people
we love and care about, this song here is far above any song. It's most excellent. This is a sacred love song of
fellowship and intimate communion between Christ and his beloved
bride. It's no simple love song because
it's called in our text here, the song of songs. This is a very sweet and precious
song, and as we study it, we'll be able to see, as God the Holy
Spirit illuminates the scriptures, we'll be able to trace the testimonies
of Christ's love for his bride. And we will see the church's
love for Christ, which, as Hawker commented, and I love this, has
been awakened by the Holy Ghost. Awakened by the Holy Spirit when
we are regenerated in this love that we have for Christ is centered
upon him He's the object He's the object turn if you would
the first Kings chapter 4 again, I'm sorry I should have had to
stay there Now this our text says the song of songs which
is Solomon's now Again This is the Song of Songs
penned by Solomon by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God had given
Solomon wisdom. Wisdom far excelling the children
of the East Country and all the wisdom of Egypt. Because scripture
declares in 1 Kings 4.29-34, and God gave Solomon wisdom. in understanding, exceeding much
in largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.
And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children
of the East Country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was
wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezraite, and Haman, and Charcoal,
and Darda, the sons of Mahal, and his fame was in all nations
round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs,
and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees
from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth
out of the well. He spake also of the beasts,
and of the fowl, and of the creeping things, and of fishes. And there
came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all kings
of the earth. which had heard of his wisdom.
And then turn over one more chapter, 1 Kings 5, verse 12 says this,
and the Lord gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him. And there
was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they too made a league together. And we saw today that Christ
is the wisdom of God, this morning in Sunday school. Now Solomon,
as we study through this song, we will see he pictures the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God. Again, as we looked at
in Sunday school, and we'll see that this book proclaims the
mutual love again between Christ and his people. But let us always
remember As I mentioned earlier, we love Him because He first
loved us. Let us never forget that. Let
us never forget that. This is precious truth for the
believer in Christ. So think of the Proverbs that
Solomon wrote and the Psalms that he wrote in this wonderful
song that we're going to study. They all point to Christ. They
all point to Christ. Remember the two on the road
to Aramaus? The Lord taught him. He expounded
to them the things concerning himself, from the law and the
prophets and from the psalms. And we have. I was listening to Norm yesterday,
and Norm said, I always used to say, oh, I wish I could have
been there, but we have it. We have it right here in this
Word, where he expounds. As the Holy Spirit illuminates
the Scriptures, we're gonna learn. We're gonna learn those things. And let us remember this, too. Solomon was the penman, but the
author is Christ. The author is Christ. The Holy Spirit moved holy men
to pen scriptures. And let us remember this. This
is the most excellent of all songs. Why? Because it speaks
of he who is king of kings and lord of lords. He who is the
cheapest among ten thousand. And it speaks of she who is the
apple of his eye. He who his eye has been set upon
from eternity. It speaks of his beloved bride, whom he purchased and washed
clean with his own precious blood. And now he sees her. And in this,
as we get going through this year, he sees her spotless. Perfect. Oh my. My goodness. What mercy God has
had upon us. We see ourselves just as sinners,
don't we? He sees us perfect. Washed clean
by his precious blood. This is what gives this song
precedence over all others. This is what makes it preeminently
supreme and excellent because this is Christ's song. This is
Christ's song. He's the author of it and he's
the object of it. He's the author as well as the
substance of every inspired lyric in this song. And this is what
gives this song the preeminence above every other song. In this glorious song, he is
revealed as a bridegroom. In the church, his blood-bought
people, as the bride. And if he is not speaking, he's
being spoken of by his bride. She cannot exhaust the beauties
of his person. Look at Song of Solomon 115. She cannot exhaust the beauties
of his person, the wonders of his love, or the marvels of his
devotion to her. Now this, Song of Solomon 115. Behold thou
art fair, my love, Behold thou art fair. Thou hast dove's eyes. Behold thou art fair. My pages got messed up here. Now fair in the Hebrew here is
defined as beautiful. Beautiful. Now, how does the bride identify
herself? That's how the groom identifies
us. That's how Christ sees us. It says, behold, thou art fair,
right? Behold, thou art fair, my love.
And fair, again, means beautiful. Now, how does the bride identify
herself? Look at verse five. She sees
herself black, black with sin. original and indwelling sin,
which is what we see ourselves, right? I am black, but calmly,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kadar, as the
curtains of Solomon. But then, verse 15, the Gramps
says, Behold, thou art fair, beautiful, Behold, thou art fair. Behold, thou art beautiful, my
love. And behold, thou art beautiful,
thou hast dove's eyes. This is what Christ says about
His bride. My, what completeness, beloved,
we have in Christ. What completeness we have in
Christ. What love Christ has for his bride. She sees herself
as black and calmly. And he says, oh, you're beautiful. You're beautiful. My goodness,
what love, what love, what precious words these are. And these words,
this song is from the council halls of eternity, beloved. and
they set forth our heavenly bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they
also set forth the joy and the comfort, the peace and the security
which the believer has in Christ Jesus our Lord. And we will see
that all through this book. As we study this song, we will
also see the love which Christ has to His church. And we will
see His care of her. He cares for her. We will see
the nearness and the communion that he has with her and that
she has with him. Christ again loves his bride
with an everlasting, immutable, indestructible love. It never changes for his people.
Can we wrap our heads around that? As we sit here, And as we're
here tonight, we who are redeemed, we have been loved with an unchanging
love from eternity. From eternity. As I said, no love on this earth
even comes close to that. And think of this. Christ's love saved his bride
from wrath. From the wrath of God. Christ's
love saved his people from all their sins. by the sacrifice of Himself. His love redeemed her from all
her sins. His love called her out of darkness
unto Himself. His love lifted her up and made
her righteous and reconciled her to God. And His love was
fully manifested for her, for his bride at Calvary's Cross. Now only believers, only those
in Christ can enter into the wonder of this blessed song.
Only those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit, those
whom Christ redeemed, those who sing a new song, beloved, And
as we study this book, this song, we will be in awe and wonder
over the love which Christ has for his bride. Solomon, in this
song, is a type of Christ. And it is in Christ alone that
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid. They're nowhere
else. He is again one who is greater
than Solomon. And this is therefore a song
concerning Him. Christ is the subject of this
song, and it speaks again of His bride also, in His marriage
with the church. And may we leave here, as we
study this wonderful book each week, may we leave here in awe
of His eternal love. It's magnificent. undeserved,
unmerited love, divine love towards his people. And that love, think of this,
you who believe, that love is fixed upon every sheep. My. Fixed upon us. For those whom He died for on
Calvary's cross. Oh, may God teach us to exalt
in praise He who is chiefest among ten thousand. He who is
the rose of Sheba. He who is our beloved. Our heavenly
bridegroom, greater love hath no man than this, than the man
laid down his life for his friends. Heavenly Father, oh, what love has been set upon
your people. A love that has been set upon
us from eternity. We can't even fathom it, Lord.
We can't even understand it, but yet the scriptures declare
it. that your love for your people is an everlasting love. Unmerited, undeserving, and yet you've loved
us. We come into this world rebels
in our hearts, sinners from head to toe, dead in trespasses and
sins, but oh Lord, our salvation is all of Thee. all of you, and
we wonder in awe that the love which was set upon us was manifested
at Calvary's cross, and how you, Lord Jesus, came and died upon
the cross for your people, and that we are granted the privilege
to one day be with you in your presence, all because of what
you've done, all because of what you've done. Lord, may we rejoice
in the salvation that we have in thee this week. And may you
use this message and these messages to draw your lost sheep to thee,
to have them fall in love with you, if it's your will. In Jesus' name, amen.