Turn with me please to the Song
of Solomon, the Song of Solomon chapter 1 and verse 7. Here is the bride of Christ,
God's elect, his church, speaking to the Lord Jesus, tell me, O
thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest
thy flock to rest at noon. For why should I be as one that
turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? And the Lord
Jesus responds, if thou know not, O thou fairest among women,
go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock. and feed thy kids
beside the shepherd's tents. I have compared thee, O my love,
to a company of horses and Pharaoh's chariots. Thy cheeks are comely
with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will
make thee borders of gold. with studs of silver. Now I want to be very practical
in expounding this text this morning as I try to speak to
you about the footsteps of the flock. We have first a question
that is asked in verse 7 and an argument that is urged for
the answer of that question and then an answer obtained in verses
8 through 11. Now notice in the first place
this question that is asked by the bride, the church, speaking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every word, every syllable is
worthy of our careful, thoughtful meditation. It's a question which
reflects the burden of my own heart, I hope of yours as well. Tell me, O thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou fetest Now lest I forget to mention it,
notice it does not say where you spread the table. I spread
the table. It says where thou feedest. The Lord Jesus doesn't merely
spread the gospel feast, he causes his people to feast. Where thou
feedest thy flock. Where thou, notice the word again,
makest. If he doesn't make you to feed,
If he doesn't make you to lie down in the green pastures of
his word, if he does not by his free sovereign grace compel you
to believe him, you never will. Where thou feedest and where
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. Now I hope you share
this intense longing for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is both wise and comforting
to God's people to flee to Christ in every time of need. We are
bidden do so, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. It is wise if you need mercy
to go to the source. It's wise if you need grace to
go to the source. The ungodly rush to and fro in
search of help and peace. Their minds get all bent out
of shape, and they got to go to this fella, go to that fella,
and preachers have capitalized on it nowadays. Now preachers
are in the counseling business, and folks think about, when they
talk about the ministry, and talk about the work of the ministry,
they talk about counseling, counseling. God's servants. are not God's
counselors, Christ is the counselor you need. And if you want counsel,
go to the counselor of your soul. I'm here simply to tell you about
Him. God's servants simply proclaim to you Him whose name is Counselor. Learn Godly. Look for consolation
everywhere and find none anywhere. But the believing heart flies
as naturally to Jesus Christ as the hunted rabbit flies to
its dead. In him and in him alone there
is refuge for our souls. Other refuge have I none. Hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Leave, oh leave me not alone. Still support and comfort me. Now we have much. which causes
us to blush with shame before our Savior. You read the earlier
verses of this chapter and you'll see that those who speak to Christ
in seeking mercy acknowledge that we are black with sin. We
label too much after the cares of this world. We keep all the
vineyards of others in this world, but our own vineyard, the vineyard
of our own souls, we terribly neglect. We're terribly neglectful
of both of our Lord and of our souls. And though we're so full
of evil, and I'm speaking now to you who are already believers,
we recognize this more today than ever. We're black with sin,
we're neglectful of all things, all things that are important.
Our hearts are too much attached to everything that's perishing.
And yet though we're so full of evil, so unworthy of his grace,
we cling to Christ. We cling to him because he is
all we have. and all we want. Now children of God, don't ever
let your sins keep you from Him. Don't do it. Under a sense of
sin, don't run from Him. Don't do it. Run to Him. We naturally
do just the opposite. Our tendency is when we have,
when our hearts are cold and black and empty and our minds
are running to and fro with every care of the world, our tendency
is to try, like Adam, to hide from him. Don't do it! Run in
your nakedness, fresh into his arms. I bid you sinners, if God's
given you some sense of your sin, don't try to hide from Him. Thank God He made you to see
that you're naked before Him. And now, run fresh into His arms
and call on Him for mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ will not
drive us away because of our sin. Religion will. Sinai will. The law will. Moses will. But
the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary stretches out His arms and bids
sinners in all their sin come to Him. He'll not reject us because
of our sin. He'll not deal harshly with us
when we run into His arms, but rather He'll comfort and protect
us. Now notice the spirit in which believers ask this question. I think it's peculiarly interesting
and instructive that we're given this word by inspiration from
God. The church does not ask, O thou
whom my soul believes in, though that's certainly true. She does
not ask, O thou whom my soul serves, though that also is true.
She does not ask, O Lord, thou whom my soul trusts and obeys,
though that's true. She doesn't ask, O thou whom
my soul honors, though we seek to honor him above everything.
She speaks to Christ on terms of intimate, reverent, familiarity,
truth, and love. thou whom my soul lovest." The question arises then from
a heart of love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever she may
feel herself to be, whatever lack she has, she knows that
she loves him. She's black and ashamed of herself,
but still she loves her bridegroom. She has not kept her own vineyard
as she should, but still she knows and acknowledges that she
loves him. She loves him as she loves no
one else. She loves him because he first
loved her. We do love him. We don't, we
don't win his love by our love for him. Oh no, no, no. A thousand
times no. He has won our love, Ron, by
his love for us. We love him because he first
loved us. Our love, to be sure, is not
worthy of him. But love him we do. He's the
monarch of our affection. It is the love of Christ which
governs the believer's life. It's the love of Christ that
rules the believer's life. It's the love of Christ that
motivates the believer in his behavior toward Him. Believers
are not ruled by law. Believers are not motivated by
promise of reward. Believers are not intimidated
by fear of punishment. Oh no! Believers are constrained
in their hearts because they love Him. And that's sufficient. That's sufficient. You see, love
will cause people to do what nothing else will cause them
to do. Love will cause people to behave in such a way as nothing
else will work. Believers are men and women whose
hearts have been renewed by grace. They worship Him. They're committed
to Him. They honor Him because they love Him. The world doesn't
understand. The religious world doesn't understand.
The world says, now you've got to threaten folks. If you don't
threaten them that they might lose their salvation and go to
hell, threaten them that they're going to lose their crown when they
get to heaven. Threaten them that they're going to live on
the back streets in the shamble town and shanty towns when they
get into the New Jerusalem. Or promise them that if they
do good, then God will give them great rewards. The world understands
that. That's the language of the world.
That's the way the world operates. Not God's children. God's children
are men and women who follow Christ and long for Christ and
want Christ because they love Him. Because they love Him. If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Let him be
anathema, maranatha, the Lord's coming. This is one reason we
don't try to, you know, go out and round folks up and get them
in the church rolls and get them joined church. Y'all come now,
oh, we can't spell church without you. Stupidity, the stupidity
of this religious world is sickening, nauseating. The world imagines
that the church and kingdom of God depends on man. The church
and kingdom of God depends on God, and that's all. And I recognize
that if God ever gets hold of your heart, oh, oh my dear hero,
if God ever gets hold of your heart, if the Son of God ever
puts himself in you, everything will be all right. Everything
will be all right. And if I make you religious,
if I get you to join the church, if I try to get you motivated
by works and by promise of reward or threat of punishment, and
I get you to do and do and do, when all's said and done, nothing's
been accomplished for God's glory but just the reverse, and you're
gonna be just as damned in the last day as you are if you'd
never made any profession of faith. Believers love Christ. Now then, the question is addressed
to the Lord Jesus himself. Tell me, O thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. Where
thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. She
goes directly to him, and she desires him to speak directly
to her. I love to hear the gospel. I
love to read gospel messages. I love to preach the gospel to
you, but the thing I desire is to hear Christ Himself. The thing I desire for you is
that you hear Christ Himself. If He speaks, oh, if He speaks
to you, you will hear Him. And if he speaks, your soul will
profit by his word. If all you hear is me, then you
hadn't heard much. Now look at the question. Tell me, Lord, where you feed
your flock and where you make your flock to rest. Those are two good descriptions
of a needy sinner, aren't they? Whether saved or unsaved, a sinner
comes to Christ because he's hungry. That's the reason we
come. We come to the table because
we're hungry. And if you ever get hungry, you'll
come. Somebody asked me one time recently, said, did you have
a pretty good group of church last night? I said, everybody
who was hungry. Everybody was hungry, and those
who were hungry there, that's all there is to it. And sheep,
sheep come to feast upon the food that's provided by the shepherd. More than that, we come to him
because we're naked, weary, helpless. We need some rest. Rest from
the cares of this world. Rest from the terror of God's
law. Rest from trying with the labor
of our hands somehow to get God in the notion of being good to
us. Oh God give me some rest for my soul. Tell me where you
feed. Tell me where you feed your flocks
and cause them to lie down and rest. Oh, what are those truths
by which God's people have their souls fed? Well, they're gospel
truths. Lindsay said in his exposition
this morning, God's people never tire of hearing God's gospel. Now, they just don't. They just
don't. I know religious people do. And I know religious folks
clamor and holler. They say, we want something else.
Talk to us about important stuff. Talk to us about families. After all, we're renegades and
we need somebody to tell us how we ought to behave in our families.
Talk to us about children. Tell us how to raise them. We're
not going to pay attention to you, but tell us anyhow. Talk to us about other
things. No, believers come and say, Lord,
feed me. Feed me upon your righteousness,
your blood, your atonement, your grace, because I need it. I need
it more than I've ever needed it. Feed my soul upon finished
redemption. Feed my soul on righteousness
established. Feed my soul on substitution. I recall one time, Brother Scott
Richardson preaching up here in one of our winter conferences,
and back in, when we had him in December, he never knew whether
you were gonna be 30 below zero or 70 or 80 degrees. It just
varied. We had a full house, and it was
hot. Been here all day, and Scott was so tired, he got up and preached
about five minutes. He said, it is just hot, man,
quit. And somebody said to him, said,
you didn't preach long, but that's a good message. Scott said, well,
at least I said substitution. And that's it. That's it. Believers
feed upon Christ and Him crucified. What are those doctrines which
make weak men and women strong? Where do they find rest for their
souls? By the gospel doctrines of grace. I find great strength in what
I read to you a little bit ago in Isaiah 54. No weapon formed
against thee shall prosper. Well, that means I don't have
to fear you, bud. That means I don't have to be
afraid of anything you do. That means there's not a thing anybody
in the world can do to harm my soul, nothing. Well, what about
persecutors? I find great strength in the
fact that God said, I am the one that teaches the Smith how
to make that sword. I'm the one, I'm the one who
teaches the, teaches the black Smith how to make the weapons
of persecution. I'm the one in control of that.
Oh, well, he's my father. That'd be all right. He may use
his weapons as he sees fit, but that man who uses his weapons
against me shall not prosper. My Father made them and He controls
him. Believers rejoice and find great
comfort and grace in the free sovereign grace of God in Christ
the Lord. Our souls are strengthened by
the fact that Christ has indeed put away our sins. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. The covenant promises of God,
these are the things that give us rest. All right, now the question
is asked. Look at the argument she urges.
For why? Why should I be as one that turneth
aside by the flocks of thy companions? John Gill suggests that these
were not real companions of Christ at all. And I think he's exactly
right, but false friends, hypocrites, and heretics, rivals with him,
who set up schemes of worship and doctrine in opposition to
him. You see, Satan is a wise, subtle, crafty enemy to our souls. He knows that we're not likely
to turn aside and follow those who openly oppose Christ. Therefore,
he makes his ministers the ministers of righteousness. They don't
come and preach Christ's righteousness, they come preach yours. Tell
you how to be a better daddy. Tell you how to be a better mama,
how to be a better citizen, how to improve your standing before
God, how to make better money in business, be a better businessman. We ever need to be warned because
Satan presses us on every side to turn aside from Christ and
pursue this or that. and there are many who do. Many
pretended companions of Christ would allure our souls. There
always has been an abundance of false teachers and those who
follow them, and there are more today than ever. I raise this
word of warning to you. I raise this word of warning
to you who are believers And I raise this word of warning
to you who are not yet believers, who yet stand in desperate need
of God's grace. You listen to this preacher.
Some turn aside to mere religious ritualism and to think being
in church is good. Being in church is the most damning
thing that can ever happen to you if you're in a church where
God's not worshiped. I'm just telling you, I'm just
telling you, better not go anywhere than go where God's not worshipped.
Some turn aside to the free will works religion of Arminianism.
They turn aside to those who are the pretended companions
of Christ. Well, you know, everybody goes that way. I know it. Most
everybody walks in the broad road. And most everybody go in
the hell in the broad road. Many turn aside from Christ by
the pressure from a husband or a wife. Now, I'm not going down
there with you. I'm not going down there with
you. I tell you, young people, I know you, you probably won't
pay any attention to me. I wonder if anybody does. Don't
even think about marrying an unbeliever. Don't even think
about it. Solomon's wives turned his heart away from God. That's just, God warns you over
and over and over again. Pulling in two different directions.
You just, one pulling toward heaven, one pulling toward hell.
One seeking things of God, one seeking things of this world.
And after a while, you say, well, I've had a lot of women tell
me this. My husband says we have to go to church over here. Let
your husband go to hell by himself. I'm dead serious. I am dead serious. Many turn aside because they
want little religious toys for their children. I had a letter just recently.
A fellow left the church where the gospel of God's free grace
is preached plainly and clearly. I mean, he just left it. Pastors
declaring to him the gospel of God's free grace. You know why
he left? because they want their children
involved in church programs. You know, y'all don't have any
recitals at your church. Y'all don't have any children's
programs at your church. The children don't get up and
entertain Sunday after Sunday. Y'all don't ever have the children
put on a skit. No. We're not raising our children
to be entertained with religion while they go to heaven. You
are a fool if you take your children to such a place. You are a fool
if you do it. So I wouldn't take them, I'd
just let them go. You're still a fool. You're responsible to
raise them. And you're responsible to teach
them the gospel. But folks turn aside. They turn aside to ideas
of prophetic enlightenment. They turn aside to church truth. Y'all don't talk enough about
the church. No, the church doesn't talk about the church. The church
talks about the church's bridegroom. Talks about the bridegroom. Talks
about the bridegroom. Turn aside to legalism. Multitudes
are. They leave Christ for Moses,
forsake Calvary for Sinai, and turn from grace to law. Be warned. You be warned. Satan does not
care to whom or what you turn, as long as you turn. He doesn't
care to what subject this preacher should be turned aside, as long
as he's turned aside from Christ. And I speak to you members of
Grace Church, hear me well. Should the time ever come that
this assembly should turn aside from following Christ, you turn
aside from this assembly and pray God burn it to the ground.
I'm dead serious. But why, why should we be turned
aside from Him? You remember when the disciples
Our Lord got to pressing the claims of his gospel and they,
man, this is hard stuff to listen to. And his disciples turned
away and walked no more with him. He preached the crowd away. And he turned and looked at his
disciples, those who were remaining. He said, will you also go away?
And Peter, speaking for them all, said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We've hung everything on you.
And we found out everything else is just an empty cistern. We
found out every other religion is just a phony, a fake, a deception
to our souls. We've hung everything on you.
We expect pardon and peace and righteousness from you. To whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. Oh, children of God, let us never leave him. who can rightfully
say to all who follow him, lack ye anything. Let us endeavor
to live in fellowship with our Redeemer, with Jesus Christ himself. If we miss his fellowship, if
we turn aside from him, his truth, we miss everything. We don't seek the blessings of
His hand so much as the presence of His person. It's good for
us to have His truth, but it's better that we should have Him
who is the truth, otherwise the truth has no aroma. It's good
for us that we walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If
we walk in fellowship with Him, we have both the standard and
the standard bearer, but if all we have is just the standard,
that's no good. We have the candlestick. We've
got the light. We've got the light of the truth,
but if we don't walk in fellowship with Him, there's no light in
the candlestick. If we miss fellowship with Christ,
we will be stripped of our strength, our joy, and our comfort. So let us make this our prayer.
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon, for why should I be
as one like so many that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? Thou, O Christ, art all I want. more than all in the eye. He said, well, Pastor, what is
it that makes Christ so precious that we who believe him seek
that he would give us grace never to be turned aside from him? Some of you are familiar with
the Cherokee Indians and their Trail of Tears. They were marched
back in the 1800s from out in the eastern part of the United
States all the way across to Oklahoma. Most of them died in
the march. They settled out in Oklahoma.
One of the tribal chiefs had been converted while he was back
in North Carolina under missionary ministry. And he was out trying
to preach to the Cherokee Nation, settled on that reservation in
Oklahoma. And he sat down and made him a circle. Put some twigs
and leaves, dried stuff in there. He set that circle on fire. And
he took a worm out of a moist earth and dropped it right in
the middle of that circle. And it went this way, went that
way, went that way. Couldn't get out of the fire.
And he reached right over in a circle, picked up the worm,
put it right back in that moist earth. And he said, that's what
the Son of God did for me. That's what the Son of God did
for me. Therefore, I say thou, O Christ, art all Oh God, make
him that to you. Amen.