Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Song of Solomon, chapter
1, and reading for our text, verse 4. We have one of our free
Bibles, that's page 648. Song of Solomon, chapter 1, and
verse 4. Draw me we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into
his chambers, we will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will
remember thy love more than wine, the upright love thee. And it is specifically the first
part, draw me, we will run after thee. In the Song of Solomon,
we have a type, or it's a love song, of Christ and his church,
the bridegroom and the bride. And often it is interwoven between
the church speaking and Christ speaking. Sometimes it's hard
to discern who it is. This here opens with the church's
profession of its love unto Christ. An analogy, the song of songs
which is Solomon's, let him, that is Christ, kiss me with
the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy
good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth, the name
of our Lord. Therefore do the virgins, the
church members, love thee. And then we have the prayer,
draw me, we will run after thee. And it comes to mind that which
is said or was said by Moses, when Moses so desired the presence
of the Lord to go before them. And the Lord did give that assurance,
we read it in Exodus 33. And he says, if thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence. And here it is for
me, we will run after Thee. And very often we have the Lord
blesses, the pastor blesses one member of the church, it then
affects the others as well, it encourages them as well. Or put in another way, the Apostle
is the church as a body, like our bodies, If one member of
it suffers, if our hand suffers, it hurts, then the other members
suffer with it, but then when there is a rejoicing that affects
all the members, the whole body rejoices as well. And the Church
has a unity that is one together, and they gather round Christ,
unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And with our
text then is a prayer, draw me. Now we might think already what
has been expressed in the first part, there is already a drawing
because of the Savior, His name and good ointments. There's already
a profession of the beauty that is seen in Christ by the church. And you think that surely she
is already drawn. But I know this, that the more
that we see anything in Christ, the more that we are attracted
to him, the more that we will want to be drawn after him. And there will be with God's
people always that which is the counter, the flesh is lusting
against the spirit so that we cannot do the things that we
would. The world is always pulling,
it is pulling the other way, it's drawing the other way. And
so the church wants a pull in the other direction. And so there
is the petition that is put up. We mentioned in prayer concerning
the Lord speaking of praying and praying and asking for the
Holy Spirit. And we might think, well, if
someone is so inclined to be praying for the things of God,
they must already have the Spirit. Or we might be tempted the other
way and say I can't pray because I don't know whether I do have
the Spirit. But we can be sure of this that
by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins, we have no desire,
no inclination, no wanting the things of God or to go further
in the things of God at all. And it is when the Lord does
begin with us, then we do feel our need, we do feel our lack,
and then there are those desires after the Lord. Now we read in
John 6, where it very clearly is set forth by our Lord in verse
44, that no man can come to me except the Father which hath
sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is the Lord that begins with
his people. In John 10, he says, I am come
that they might have life. Then he adds this, and that they
might have it more abundantly. And so there is life given. You
may say, when that first life is given, the ear is opened,
The want is felt, the desire is there, and that is the beginning
of prayer, of longing, of learning, of being taught. And I often
think when the Lord began with me, and I could clearly take
you to the spot where the Lord did, give me spiritual life,
where he gave me a desire where there was no desire before, and
a longing after Him changed my whole life from that point. But
at that point, I only viewed myself as lost, a sinner, complete
ignorance of the things of God, no assurance of salvation, did
not believe in the Lord Jesus, saving me, but there was life
there. the immediate desire to hear
the word, to hear it read, to hear it preached, is totally
contrary to what it was before. And that's very, very different
by saying that some people believe that all man has some kind of
faith or inability, and just by learning and applying the
word and being taught through the word, they can come to the
new birth and come to a knowledge of the Lord and to be born again.
No, the new birth is an instant birth, is instant gift of life. But in that gift of life, what
it gives, it gives spiritual life, but it opens the ear and
makes that soul willing to be taught. The Word of God says,
they shall all be taught of God. But you need a teachable spirit
first and you need life to be able to be taught. And with myself,
it was another four years before brought to full faith and assurance
and able to put the Lord on in open profession. But in all those
four years, the Lord had given me life and I was being taught
my many prayers and longings and seekings after the Lord. And so when we have the prayer
and desire in our text draw me, Yes, there is life given. It's
like in John 6. The Father must draw to Christ. There must be that power. There must be a beginning. But
I believe, and I find myself, this drawing is not just at the
beginning. It is all the way along the way. And that's where we see it in
the Song of Solomon with the Church of God will, if she is
lively, she wants the power, she wants to be drawn after the
Lord. And so our Lord is very definite
of this. He speaks in John 6, of which
we read, explaining how it was that there he was teaching the
most sacred, blessed truths to the manna from heaven, and the
necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, and there
were those that just turned their back, they couldn't receive it,
they didn't understand it, they interpreted it in a natural way,
and they went back and walked no more. And lest the disciples,
lest his twelve should be perplexed and troubled about this, then
he explains further And he says in verse 65, he said, therefore
said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
him of my father. And those 12 had seen, they'd
seen really a practical, a real life example of this. The preacher of preachers speaking
and teaching And yet there are some that received the word and
some that just rejected it. And I would say as well that
the disciples here, it doesn't indicate that they knew any more
than those that went away. But one thing they did know,
that the Lord had the words of eternal life, and they were sure
of that, and they were sure of who he was, that he was the Christ. And that kept them. It's a good
thing. When there's things we don't
understand, or things that would stumble us, that we have a couple
of things that we're absolutely sure on, and the Lord has taught
us on, we can say, like with the disciples, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the word to eternal
life. There's one thing thou are sure
of. Then we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ. It's
another thing that thou are sure of, the Son of the living God. And so what is on my spirit tonight
now is whether or not it's at the beginning, whether or not
it's at the point of where spiritual life is given, but that soul
is not come to faith, not come to assurance or belief as yet,
but will. And that prayer to be drawn is
so applicable, so suitable to us in that time. But if we have
come to faith and we know the Lord and know He is ours and
know that heaven is our portion, still it is a most suitable and
blessed prayer because we feel that pull of the world, we feel
we want to know more of the Lord and to be brought closer to Him
and know Him more. We've seen a beauty, but we want
to see more. and we want to see and feel more
of that power of God drawing us unto Christ. Well, I want
to look then with the Lord's help this evening. Firstly, two points to be prayed
for, and that is the power in being drawn in the first place,
And then secondly, specific things that we might be drawn to, and
we look at some of those in scriptures for that. And then lastly, the
effect, which really is set forth further in this verse, draw me,
we will run after thee, and then we will be glad and rejoice in
thee. There will be an effect that
follows. But firstly, the power, draw
me. A power of God is an acknowledgement
that outside of us, God has a power upon us, an invisible power that
is put forth from his people. Power belongeth unto God. The disciples, when they were
to go forth, would preach, had to tarry at Jerusalem until they
were endued with power from above. And the Thessalonians were known,
but they didn't receive the word only, but it was in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. They knew something of power. One of our hymns says, My heart
will move at thy command. They knew the authority and difference
that it would make if God put forth his power upon us. It is vital that we know and
believe this, that we're not just thinking that our faith
just stands in our strength. It just stands in appropriating
the Word of God to us, or some effort on our own part. But it stands in the power of
God. I'm reminded this morning of
one of the illustrations that I've often made, the difference
between a real faith and a faith that we just have manufactured.
And a real faith will support us. It will strengthen us and
support us. If it's a faith that we've just
imagined or manufactured, We have got to support that. And
as we came to chapel this morning, there we saw a chap walking briskly
along the road with his walking stick in his hand. He wasn't
using it at all. So really, it was a burden to
him. He was carrying it. It wasn't helping him. And I've
seen them at Bethesda walk down the corridor holding their walking
frame in front of them, lifting it up. And it's a burden to them
instead of a help to them. And if the Lord gives faith,
and that is by His power, He is the author and finisher of
faith, that will support the soul, that will carry the soul,
and we will not have to support that. The strength that is given
by the Lord, once we know that, once we've known the secret of
it, our lives, we'll never forget that. We always remember Those
times that we've been given such strong faith, such strong belief,
and without a doubt, at those times, and I know the dear late
pastor in New Zealand, when I asked him once about assurance, and
he spun on his heel, and he said, assurance, have you got assurance?
Don't look for it ten minutes later. And what he meant was
not that one moment we believe and next minute we don't, one
moment we say that we are going to heaven and the next moment
we're not, but the strength of feeling and belief and persuasion. It is only as the Lord gives
that power upon us that we're able to do that. And here is
a prayer for the power of God, for the strength of God, for
that to exercise upon us. We know what it is to have a
magnet and to have, well, we've got a notice board out the side
there, and we've got little magnets to hold the notices on the notice
board, and the notice board is steel. And there's attraction. You've only got to get those
magnets close to the board, and it clicks close to it. And there's many applications
of magnets where the strength is pulling, really, every electric
motor. throw magnets, and it's actually
pulling that motor around. And we're used to the idea of
a power that is unseen, but is a power that is there. When we
drive our car, we put our foot on the brake. Those of us that
are older, we can remember back to cars with no power-assisted
brakes, and you had to really press on those brakes to stop
the car. It's just linkages and no real
much assistance at all. But today it's just a gentle
touch and suddenly you've got the car stopping very suddenly. And it is a power that is there
that is different from us. And it is here that the Lord
gives that prayer and desire and cry to his people for this
power, for this help from above. The Lord said, He will not come
unto me that ye might have life. It's a sad thing. We're neglecting
the power of God. We just all the time are trying
to seek it in our own strength, our own way, instead of seeking
that help and power and strength from the Lord. You know, in Ephesians,
Ephesians 1, the apostle tells those believers that the power
that was put forth in them, that made them a believer, that brought
them from children of wrath to children of God, was the same
power that raised our Lord from the dead. That is how much power,
that is how dead we are, that is how Far off from God, how
impossible it could be that we could raise ourselves to spiritual
life. But when we have that life, we
still need that power from above. The Lord was very clear that
no man can keep alive his own soul. And when we have got far
off and distant from the Lord and cold and earthbound, We may
be sensual, devilish, and our heart is so perverse with the
things of God. We need that same power. So this prayer, really without
being specific of things that we be drawn to, it is a seeking
for the power of God. May we be helped to pray for
that, acknowledging that God does have power over his people. He does, and he's able to strongly
incline their hearts. He can bring his word and apply
it to them and bring it to them in such a way like the Thessalonians. that they became followers of
the Lord and followers, Paul said, of us, the apostles, and
that they waited then for God's Son from heaven. It had an effect
upon them. And we can look at many of the
instances through the early church of the power of God. And we may say in this, the sovereign
power of God, because when the Word was preached, then, as it
was in John 6, but this time with the apostles, some believed
the Word spoken and some believed not. How was it that some had
power to believe and some did not? That power to believe was
given them of God. We think of how he's set forth
in John chapter 1. And we read there, he came unto
his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. even
to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." Those that are born again, they're born again of the Spirit. And yet in John 3, we're told
how gentle that Spirit is, like the wind. that blows, we cannot
tell from whence it cometh or whither it goeth, so is every
one that is born of the Spirit. We must not think that the power
of God is going to be something like Elijah's wind or earthquake
or fire, but it is to be as gentle yet powerful We think of these
seasons and all the trees now changing their colours and dropping
off. And then when it comes to springtime,
then all of the trees are springing forth into life. No commotion,
no noise. And yet it's all happening just
so gently and quietly, imperceptibly. We sat a chair and we watched
a specific leaf. We'd be watching and watching
and couldn't notice anything happening. But if you came back
in a couple of days, then you'd see the changes being wrought.
And sometimes you might go and see a tarmac footpath, and there's
a bit of tarmac being lifted up, and a few days later you
come and there's a sprout of green, and a seed has sprouted
underneath that tarmac in the dark. And it's pushed that up. And you think, what, a little
weed? And it's pushed up, that concrete
and that tarmac. The power often is gentle and
something you might think, well, that is not power. And yet, it's
effectual. It doesn't. And so we must be
careful what we are expecting and to lay down lines, not expecting
Great visions or words from heaven, like the apostle Paul saw from
Tarsus. But that power is effectual.
Quiet, still small voice, and yet effectual. And we think with
the illustration of the magnet there's no No noise there, but
there's a strength that is felt in it. May we pray for the power,
power that belongeth unto God, that the salvation of the Lord
is that which is wrought by God on a sinner's heart and life,
and they are what they are by the grace of God and the operation
of the Holy Spirit of God. But then there will be specific
things that we pray that we might be drawn, drawn to, drawn, draw
me, we will run after thee. Our text already has this one
effect, but it is a desire the prayer that we might be drawn
after Christ. And our Lord then testified in
the chapter we read in John 6, that no man can come unto me
except the Father which sent me draw him. In Isaiah 53, we
are told that our Lord would be as a root out of dry ground,
there's no form nor comeliness, that we should desire Him. In
John 6 that we read, we have those having the objection that
it's not this Jesus, the carpenter's son. They knew Him. They were
offended at Him. And when we bear in mind that
this is the natural man, no beauty in Christ, nothing drawn, not
drawn to His teaching, they're offended at Him. What makes a
difference when a soul does see a beauty, when they are drawn
to Him, when they are attracted to Him? And where the Lord then
has given life, where we may have felt it before but don't
feel it now. Remember the church in the Revelation
had been accused of this, that they had left their first love.
Who was their first love? Christ was their first love.
They were going after other things. Other things had the priority.
Other things were more important. Love of temporal things rather
than Christ himself. Instead of the hymn writer, thou,
O Christ, all I want, all in thee I find. And so when we feel
that, when we realise that that is the case, we may see Others,
we may hear the testimony of others. Sometimes it is very
good. You go to a baptising and you hear the testimony of those
who have been blessed and favoured. And it brings back memories.
You thought, I was like that once. Or maybe it makes godly
jealousy. And you think, I don't know that. I have not known that. But that
is what I want. So draw me, draw me to Christ. And it gives us then a very specific
prayer that we are asking the Lord to do for us, to draw us
after Christ. This is the Holy Spirit's work
to do, the work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Father drawing
to the Son. But it is the Spirit's work,
He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. The second
thing is to be drawn to His Word. In Psalm 119 we have many expressions
of the love that the psalmist had to the Word and the longing
that he had unto the Word at all times. Now I know, if you're
like me, It's not every time we read the Word of God or come
to the house of God that we feel a particular drawing to it or
attraction to it. Sometimes a reading might be
given out, might have been to nine. She said, oh, I know that
pastor. He has been read so often. I know him. And there's almost
a turning off. There's not a drawing to it.
And when we realize that we are viewing the Word very different
than we used to, or different than others tended to have known
her, then our prayer will be to be drawn, drawn to the word. Remember, a late sister in faith,
Mrs. Jealous, Paul Jealous's mother,
in her testimony, when the Lord began with her, she said the
Bible was a new book and the hymn book was a new book. Well,
it wasn't, it was the same one. But the way that she viewed it,
the way she was attracted to it and saw it was different. And where we would have that
value and love to the word, be able to walk with the psalmist
in Psalm 119, then may our prayer be, draw me, draw me to thy word. Draw me to thy word. The third is a drawing to the
people of God. We mentioned the Thessalonians,
that they were not only followers of the Lord, but they were followers
of us. And we have that with Ruth, a
beautiful account in the book of Ruth. Now she was drawn to
Naomi, her mother-in-law, and that was brought to a head when
she was tried by her. to entice, as it were, to go
after Orpah, go after her sister-in-law. She's gone back unto her people
and unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. But Ruth says, entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither
thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest, I will
lodge. Thy people shall be my people
and thy God. My God, where thou diest, will
I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also of ought, but death part thee and me. And really, it's
summed up with, in the next verse, when she saw that she was steadfastly
minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. Ruth
had been so drawn to her, drawn to her, drawn to her God, drawn
to her people, and that was a power that, in the contrast there with
Orpah, Orpah did not have. And it is a, I always loved that
first chapter of Ruth, how gently Ruth is brought on the way, and
what actually began it was just love to the people of God, love
to one of the, a relative, I know sometimes you might be tried
and think, well, it's the only reason why I'm a Christian. I
happen to have an in-law, a relative that is one. And that's the only
reason why I've been brought to follow in the Lord's ways. But the Lord uses these things. And in a count like Ruth, you
see the contrast is not equally the same. There's two sisters-in-law. It wasn't the same with them
both. Who maketh thee to differ? He that receiveth you receiveth
me, says our Lord, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that
sent me. And there is that link that goes
from the people of God to the Lord. They're being let go, the
disciples. Where did they go? They went
to their own company. Why did they go there? They were
drawn there. What is the token of a child
of God? We know that we pass from death
unto life because we love the brethren. Why are we drawn to
the brethren? Our love, it draws and draws
to the people of God. So may our prayer be that we
be drawn, drawn to the people of God. then there is being drawn to
the house of God. Psalm 84, the psalmist says,
how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my
flesh crieth out for the living God. And that's how that psalm
begins. How do we? Fear concerning the
house of God. It's a blessed thing to be drawn
there. Certainly, again, when the Lord
began with me, instead of wanting to get away from the house of
God, I wanted to go on every opportunity. Even joining in
with the Sunday schools or the prayer meetings, the midweek
services, what I would never think of going to before, and
it made a profound difference. But there was that aching void
the world couldn't fill and that desire to be taught and to hear
of the Lord, but there was that drawing, drawing to the house
of God. And you can be sure really if
we treat the house of God with disdain or contempt or in small
views of it and not realizing it is the house of the living
God or the church of the living God, there's something that is
really wrong. And so may our prayer be that
like the psalmist we be drawn Drawn to the assemblies of the
people of God, drawn to the house of God, there my best friends,
my kindred dwell, there God my Saviour reigns. Unto him shall the gathering
of the people be, and we want to be, where the Lord's people
are, and where the Lord will come, and where the Lord will
bless us as well as them. then there would be a drawing
to the ordinances of the House of God, that is, baptism and
the Lord's Supper. In my case, even though the order
that is set forth, and I knew the order in the Word of God,
was baptism and the Lord's Supper, yet I was drawn to the Lord's
Supper first, and that was what was used to bring me to baptism,
and it was under the blessing of the Lord, and it was through
one of the little words in the cheering words, reading it in
the lunch hour at work, And under the sweet influence and blessing
of the Lord in my soul, to read, Mr. Oldham, I think it was, put
it there, what, thank you, humble believer, the bread and the wine,
blessed memorials of Christ's dying love. Why do you hesitate
to take these emblems? And he put it in a way very similar
to that, if not exactly the same. And I knew what I thought of
them because the blessing that I was under, it beautifully set
forth the Lord's death, his sufferings. And I was so drawn into that
ordinance because of what it set forth. You do show forth
the Lord's death till he come, and I felt the ordinance did,
and it showed forth it so lovely. And so with that drawing to there,
I knew that then the right step first was baptism. The Lord will bring each of his
people in obedience to his command in that, he that believeth in
his baptized shall be saved, and to walk in that path. There's a blessed thing where
we are drawn to that. It's very obvious. with Philip
and the eunuch, that as Philip preached to the eunuch, they
came to water, that he was drawn to that ordinance. See, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And may our prayer be then, not
as an indifferent thing, but to pray that we might be drawn
to the ordinances of the house of God. It may be a present,
We see no attraction, no inclination to walk in that way, no drawing
to it at all, but knowing it is the path the Lord has commanded,
His people walk in that path, it is a path of obedience, to
pray that the Lord would give us that drawing and give us that
power. And I believe in answer to that,
the Lord will gently, almost imperceptibly, give that drawing
an attraction. And it may be not to direct to
the ordinance itself, but to what it sets forth to our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, His sufferings, His death, His sacrifice
on Calvary's tree. And then we see how beautifully
that ordinance sets it forth. May we remember these are not
man's ordinances. was our Lord and Savior that
instituted both of them and walked in both of them. And may then
our desire be to be drawn to them. Then there is a drawing
to heaven itself. We are not to always remain here. God's people are a prepared people
for a prepared place. The apostle, when he wrote to
the Philippians in the first chapter, he says that, for me
to live is Christ, to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh,
this is the fruit of my labour. Yet what I shall choose I want
not, for I am in a strait betwixt two. having a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless,
to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. You might say,
well, we may be young. We may think that we have many
more years in front of us. Surely there's time enough to
be drawn to heaven. We've still got to live here. But you know, we are citizens
of heaven if we are the people of God. Our conversation is in
heaven. That is, our citizenship is in
heaven. And if the Lord is preparing
us for that place, we should have off thoughts of it and meditation
on it. We never know how soon. that
we shall enter that celestial home. And it is good for us to
live in the prospect of that which the Lord has prepared,
that inheritance, the glory, the mansions above, the presence
of Christ especially, to see him as he is, and to be with
his people out of reach of sin, of Satan, and away from this
poor dying world, devoid of this body of death and being given
at the last day a new celestial body. The people of God, like
we mentioned with the Thessalonians, right from when they were called,
was to wait for his Son from heaven. When the Lord ascended
up into heaven, the angel said that he should come again in
like manner. The way that the Apostle comforted
the Thessalonians when they thought that those who died had perished
was to tell them that they were with Christ and when Christ came,
they would come with him. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. And we were to comfort one another
with those words. And so may we pray that we might
be drawn, drawn to where we hope to be, drawn to heaven, drawn
to be, to the place where we shall spend eternity. Draw me,
we will run after Thee. So those are just some of the
things we may feel that we really desire the Lord would give power
and drawing and attraction to. We might this evening feel our
hearts so hard and lumpish and dry and earthbound that there
are some of us that know all we need is a touch of the Lord's
power and our hearts will move and there will be an immediate
difference. For all may we will run after
thee. So I want to just briefly think
of the last point, the effect we have in our text, we will
run after Thee. The Apostle says, let us run
the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus. Have the effect on the one that
is drawn. We will be glad and rejoice in
Thee. We will remember Thy love more
than wine. The upright love Thee. Always when the Lord blesses
and meets with his people, there will be an effect. My word shall not return unto
me void, it shall accomplish the thing whereto I sent it. And where the Lord uses his word
to bless our souls and to draw us to those things that are set
before us in the word of God, Remember all of those things
that we have spoken of, Christ, his word itself, but his people,
his house, his ordinances, and heaven, these are all set forth
in the word of God. And sometimes it may be that
we are drawn to those specific passages, drawn to those truths
that are so beautifully set forth, and the Lord makes that word
Precious to us and lovely to us. Thy words, says Jeremiah,
were found and I did eat them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. The effect of the blessing of
the Lord, it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow within. So may our prayer be that we
be given the power of God and that we be drawn in specific
things. The Lord gave us specific prayers
and that we mark the effect that it has. And then we shall know
that we have been blessed of the Lord. The Lord has answered
our petitions in these specific things, He has. We have been
drawn to them. Remember the blessing is placed
on Those that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, not that
they are already filled, but that they shall be. But they
are blessed while they're being drawn, while they're hungering
and while they're thirsting. And it is a blessed thing to
know that power of God upon us. and to be drawn in his ways and
to his people and at last to heaven itself. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen.