All right. Song of Solomon, chapter
7. The scriptures declare in Genesis
2.18, this is God's word. The Lord said, it is not good
that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet
for him. I'll make him an aid, a companion
that is fit for him. Now, bypassing man as he's born
in Adam, we fly directly to the man himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. The man who has a bride. A bride according to God's will
and God's purpose that will honor Him. One of God's choosing that will
magnify the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. A bride given Him
according to God's everlasting covenant of grace given Christ
before the foundation of the world to gloriously set forth
His power and His worthiness of praise in her redemption and
salvation. It was good according to Jehovah's
will and purpose that His blessed Son be with a bride that would
magnify His gracious mercy and power to redeem her. A bride like Eve that was taken
out of the body or side of Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ has a bride
taken from Himself everlastingly that would find her life to be
in Him and not in herself. And this bride, which the Lord's
love was everlastingly toward, is found to be knowing Him who
is her surety in regenerating grace. The scripture says, Hosea
chapter 2 verses 19 and 20, that He betrothed her. to himself everlastingly and
her betrothal to himself. I'm talking about eternally before
she was ever created in time. God knew her. The Lord Jesus
Christ knew her. She was ever on his heart. He
knew all of his elect before God ever made them. He betrothed
her, the scripture says in Hosea 2, to himself in righteousness. What that means is her betrothal
to him was one in which she was, in God's eternal purpose, righteous,
though she would fall in Adam. And God knew that. He knew she
was going to fall. dead, trespasses in sin, died
spiritually, but according to God's will and purpose, she was
in His will righteous and would be actually made in time righteous,
being robed in His righteousness. He betrothed her to Himself according
to Hosea 2 in judgment. What does that mean? It means
this glorious union between Christ and His bride is one wherein
all the demands for justice according to God's law. If you're going
to fall, if you're going to sin against God, what does the law
demand? Absolute justice. Her betrothal to the Lord Jesus
Christ, all of those demands are going to be settled by His
shed blood. When did God the Father see that
shed blood? Before the foundation of the
world. The Lamb was slain all but in time. He came and finished
the work. He finished it. He'd done everything
that was demanded for her righteousness, for her salvation, for her redemption. Finished. Finished. Now let me
tell you what that means to me and you. There ain't no skeletons
in the closet. We're not going to have to worry
about, you know, oh I hope every I is dotted and every T is crossed.
When we stand before God, He who is altogether just. The Lord said it is finished
for her. for his bride. This betrothal
also said to be in loving kindness and in mercies. Grace and compassion,
everlasting tenderness is shown to her. He said, I'll betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness. Everyone given to Christ is gonna
know of his faithfulness by faith. They'll realize it. to her. This precious passage of scripture
right now, now to her. The Lord speaks, and now this
speech that we're going to consider for a few minutes is wonderful. Listen to what the Lord says
as He speaks to her, being absolutely robed in His righteousness. All
of her guilt before God put away by the blood of Christ. She has
absolutely nothing to answer for. The law has no claim on
her. There's no condemnation to them
that be in Christ Jesus. It was to her that he said in
Song of Solomon 4 now 9, thou hast ravished my heart. You've stolen my heart. I am
heartless. My sister, my spouse, you've
ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, one look of faith
from you. One chain of thy neck with one
ornament of thy neck. I can tell you what that means
and I'm going to deal with it in the next service, but it means
with one act of faith, one chain of your neck, one act of faith. If there's ever one act of faith,
they'll all be acts of faith. She could have never done the
first one without it. So what does he say to her? Let's
just look at verse 1. He says, how beautiful are thy
feet with shoes. Beautiful to the Lord of glory. And I'll tell you this, in a
sense, beautiful to believers too. but beautiful to him concerning
those beautiful feet with shoes. Now let me ask you this. Where
does our mind immediately go when we hear that except to the
parable of the Lord Jesus Christ? Hold your place right there.
Turn to Luke 15.22. Luke 15.22. Remember the prodigal? Remember that boy that took all
of his daddy's He took his inheritance. Give me what's coming to me.
I'm leaving. I'm out of here. And he came
to himself. And he's coming home. He's rehearsing
his story. I'm going to come to my daddy and I'm going to
tell my daddy, I've sinned. I've sinned before heaven. I've
done it in your sight. And I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. Make me as a
hired servant. What does that daddy say? Luke
15. Verse 22, the Father said to His servants, bring forth
the best robe. Now here, that boy is a picture
of every vessel of God's mercy. According to God's everlasting
grace, by the Spirit of God's calling him out of darkness,
he comes to himself spiritually. I'm going home. I'm going back.
What does the Father say? You put the best robe. That's
a picture of that precious robe of righteousness. Bring forth
the best robe, you put it on him. Put a ring on his finger. You put that ring, that symbol
of authority, that crest, and put shoes on his feet. Put some
shoes on his feet. Let me ask you this. Are not
the feet of God's bride beautiful as they've been shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace? Their walk of love, before
God and before others now adorns the doctrine of God our Savior
in all things. Her walk of obedience and respect
before the Lord that He beholds perfectly and she can't even
see it. The scripture sets forth that
the Lord looks at her. and says, how beautiful are thy
feet with shoes, shoes of His making, shoes of His provision. How beautiful. Then He says,
O Prince's daughter, you that have been royally born of God,
you who by grace are betrothed to the Son of Glory, The Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, you who have been found in Him, who are
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, you who have been
washed white in His precious blood, who have been adopted
by God according to His grace, oh, you who are the Prince's
daughter. That's who you are. He says,
the joints of thy thighs are like jewels. The joints, the curves, is what
that word means, of thy thighs, are like jewels. They're like
beads in a necklace. They're like ornaments. is a walk of faith. I'm going
to show you how precious when he looks at her and he says,
the joints, the curves of your thigh is like an ornament of
my grace. Turn to Genesis 32. Hold your
place again, Song of Solomon. Genesis 32. There was a man named
Jacob. There was a man, this man that
God God loved. Jacob have I loved. And the scripture
sets forth that the Lord met him. It says it's a man but it's
the Lord. No one could do or say what this
man says except it be the Lord. Genesis chapter 32 verse 24. And Jacob was left alone and
there wrestled a man with him. until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the
hollow of his thigh. And the hollow of Jacob's thigh
was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he, that is the
man, said, let me go for the day breaketh. And he said, that
is Jacob said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. You remember when Jacob was asked
that question one time before? His daddy asked him, what's your
name? He said, Esau. You're a liar. You're a liar. It was according
to God's will. We looked at that last week.
And now the Lord asked him, what is your name? And Jacob says,
my name's Jacob. And he said, thy name shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel. a prince of God. For as a prince
hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him and said, tell me, I pray thy name. And
he said, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?
And he blessed him there. Jacob called the name of the
place Peniel. For I've seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved. And as he passed over, Penuel,
the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore
the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which
is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day, because he touched
the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. The bride is set forth, and let
me tell you something, this bride that the scripture declares that
the joints of her thigh are like jewels. This bride right here,
every one of them, every member of the bride of the Lord Jesus
Christ, they're sons of Jacob. What God did to Jacob, this is
what God does to every one of the members of his bride, every
one of them. He's touched all the hollows
of their thighs. What happened there? When Jacob
wrestled with that man, The Lord touched the hollow of his thigh.
It was out of joint. And then Jacob said, bless me. I'm not going to let you go unless
you bless me. The Lord had already blessed him. Number one, he crossed
his path. That was the first great blessing that God met with
him. Can you imagine if the Lord left
him to himself? God met with him, and then he
asked Jacob his name. There's another great blessing.
What is your name, Jacob? Every son of Jacob is going to
admit he knows what he is. I'm a supplanter. I'm a trickster. I'm a liar. I know what I am. God blessed him. And he said,
your name is not Jacob anymore. Your name is Israel. You're a
prince with God. And Jacob, having that new name,
Israel. From that time, the scripture
says, from that encounter right there, He halted. He limped for
the rest of his life because the Lord had touched the hollow
of his thigh. And every time he tried to take
a step, Jeff, he never forgot, I met God. I met God face to
face. And he remembered what he was
in himself, a sinner, hobbling through this world, believing
God. And now, the Lord says concerning
His bride, that one that He's washed white, He said, Oh, the
joints of thy thighs are like jewels. You've been made to know
something of who you are, and you walk by faith, and you remember
that spiritual limp in heart wherein we remember the blessing
of God, that we too have seen the Lord. face to face, and by
the grace of God, every time we meet together, we hear of
Him, and we're reminded. You never hear the gospel without
being reminded of the beauty of God's blessing. We, His people,
vessels of His mercy, we're all like Jacob, sons of Jacob. Oh, what a jewel. You that know
Him, You that know something of yourself, you that's been
made to see something of your frailty, you're so sick and tired
of yourself, all of us are. That's just, we are. And every
time we take a step, we hobble in our heart, in our heart. We
limp, we halt in our heart. And you say unto Him, Lord, you're
right. You're right. There is no good thing in me.
And by your grace and by your mercy, just this limp is a jewel. Lord, thank you for showing me.
Oh, but how did she get to that point? How did that come about? How was it that That joint, that
hip in Jacob, which is a picture of that limp in our heart of
knowing something. How did that come about? Did
we create that in ourselves? No, the scripture says it was
the work of the hands of a cunning workman. The work of an expert. I looked at cunning, an expert
master. The work of the hands of God. The bride of Christ is a creation
of God Almighty, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus under good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them, halting as we go, walking through this
world, limping in spirit, but ever looking to Him, ever remembering
Him, His creation is one manifested by the evidence of the fruit
of God's spirit. Here's how she walks. She walks
in love and joy and peace and long suffering and gentleness
and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance. Oh, by the grace
of God, what beauty. has been bestowed upon the bride
of Christ. How beautiful are thy feet with
shoes, O prince's daughter. The joints of thy thighs are
like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. May God prepare our hearts to
hear next verses and to remember what the Lord's taught us concerning
his look toward us, his people, who've been made to know something
of what we are, for God's glory and for our good. Amen.