I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Song of Solomon.
Song of Solomon, just before Isaiah. Song of Solomon. About, well, 12 years ago I guess,
We looked at this book, went through it, and I was just thinking about the
first four verses in chapter 1, and I wanted us to look again
this evening at those first four verses in Song of Solomon 1.
Before we do, let's pray together. Our Father, we call on you this
evening asking for your blessing, asking, Lord, for your help to
hear, Lord, to understand being taught by the Spirit of God.
I pray, Lord, that you would help us to worship. Lord, cause
us to look with the eyes of faith And these things we ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. Brother Henry, I've told some
of you this before. Brother Henry told me one time,
he said, if you're going to say something to somebody that's
waiting, he said, write them a letter. He said, It gives you
time to sit down and think about it, compose your thoughts, and
write down in that letter exactly what you'd like to say. And he said it gives them an
opportunity to go back later and read it again and glean from
it. You know, sometimes we listen
to somebody say something And before you know it, if you're
like me, you're trying to think back. Now, what did they say? What was exactly their thoughts?
I want us tonight to just look at the first four verses of this
song, the song of Solomon. The song of songs. The song above all songs. Because
this song is actually a letter composed by the Spirit of God. We know that the composition
of this letter is perfect. It's holy. It's right. And it expresses exactly the
heart of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people and exactly her
heart back to him. Exactly. Because in these scriptures
here, the Spirit of God is setting forth exactly what that new heart
really says. That new heart that sinneth not.
There's a new man in every believer that does not sin. that which
is born of God sinneth not." Amazing thought. Now this letter
is written to the people of God and nobody
can claim this letter for themselves unless they are those that have
been made partakers of the heavenly calling. Those that have been
made to see themselves as needy sinners. Now, if this is being
read by someone that has believed to have given themselves to the
Lord Jesus Christ because He was trying to save them, and
He wanted to save them, if they would let Him and exercise their
free will. This letter wasn't written to
you unless God calls you out of darkness. It's not for you.
I'm talking to God's people. I'm talking to those that have,
by the grace of God, been regenerated by the Spirit of God and know
themselves to be nothing more than sinners that God has shown
mercy. This is who this letter belongs
to. Verse 1, the Song of Songs, which
is Solomon's. Now understand this, Solomon
is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's got his name on
it, but there's a greater than Solomon in this book, in this
place this evening. And this song is the best. That's what it means, the song
of songs. And the whole of this song that's
written is the song of salvation and fellowship and joy that God's
people enjoy and the Lord's enjoyment of them. It's a love letter. It's a precious love letter. And it's just written by the
Lord Himself expressing exactly His heart for His people. Listen, this song will be sung
right into eternity. Listen to this verse, let me
say it like that, sung by The four and twenty elders in Revelation
5 verses 9 to 10. Here's a hallelujah chorus right
here. Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof. For thou was 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." It's going to be a new heaven,
a new earth. And we're going to reign with
the Lord. I don't understand all that I
can read, but I believe this. I believe that what Almighty
God has said concerning His people is so. We see through a glass
darkly, but we see, don't we? This is the song of sovereign
grace. This is the song of the gospel. For the whole content of this
song is salvation by God's purpose, God's will, procured by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this verse, sung in
the book of Isaiah 26.1, Shall this song be sung in the
land of Judah?" We have a strong city. Salvation. When we see salvation there,
remember Simeon there in the temple, the Lord Jesus as a baby
was brought in by Mary, and Simeon took that holy child in his hands
and said, I serve Him to part in peace, for now I have seen
Thy salvation." I looked on Him, saw Him. That's what John said. We've handled the Word of life. We've touched Him. Our eyes have
seen Him. This is what Isaiah... In that
day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a
strong city. Salvation. Christ Himself. Will God appoint for walls and
bulwarks What is he saying? He's saying that the Lord is
the protection of the church. Remember when Satan came to the
Lord and the Lord asked him, have you considered my servant
Job? Satan said, well yeah, but you've got a hedge about him.
I can't get to him. He said, you let me touch him
and he'll curse you to your face. The Lord said, he's in your hand,
you can't kill him though. And you know the story. What?
The Lord was his protection. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint. The words of this song are actually
taught to God's people by the Spirit of God And this song begins
in our passage with a precious desire of the church herself
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what she said, verse
2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is
better than wine. Let him. I looked up the... word kiss
and kisses, and this is what it means, a gentle touch. His kisses are the gentle touches
of the Holy Spirit as He reveals His merciful promises of grace
and compassion to His people. Listen, listen. Let Him kiss
me. Now you know that that's got
to be reality. Let Him kiss me. You say, well
I've never seen the Lord Jesus Christ. I've never seen Him with
the corporal eyes right here. But I'll tell you what, we see
Him by faith. We see Him. And you say, well,
I've never had Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. Well,
the Scripture says that this is what the bride says. And this
is what she wants. Let Him kiss me. Listen to this
kiss. Listen to this gentle touch right
here. Jeremiah 31.3, The Lord hath appeared of old unto me,
saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I drawn thee." He said, the reason I
called you out of darkness is because I've always loved you.
I've always loved you. What a kiss. What a gentle touch. Hebrews 13, 5, let your conversation
be without covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. For He has said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. I'm not going to leave you to
yourself. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. Whatever
the circumstance, I'm not going to do it. Whatever you go through,
if you go through the fire, I'm going to be there. If the water
rises, I'm going to be there. If the water comes up, it's because
I brought it up. But I'm not going to leave you.
What a kiss. What an assurance. John 14, 2 and 3, "...in my Father's
house are many mansions." Now listen, this is the way it is.
This is so. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. Let Him kiss me with
the kisses of His mouth. The church desires His presence. Let Him kiss me. Her love for Him, she knows,
didn't begin with her. It began with Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. But He has lovingly subdued her. He's given her a new heart and
sweetly constrained her, drawing her with the bands of love for
Himself. I want His kisses. Let Him kiss me. He came to her in grace and mercy
and broke her heart, gave her a heart for Himself, showed her
her need of Him. And she says in her heart, like
David said in Psalm 73, 25, Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire besides Thee. Lord, like Peter says, where
are we going to go? Will you go away? Where are we
going to go? Let me ask you this, where would you go if it were
not here to hear the gospel? Where would you go? Where would you go? You must
go where he's honored. You can't go where he's dishonored. Man is exalted. This is what
the bride says, Lord, You've kissed others. I know You have.
You've revealed Yourself unto others, Lord. Kiss me. Let Him kiss me with the kisses. Lord, kiss me over and over. Do you ever grow tired of kissing
your wife, your husband? No. You don't. No. Why? Because you love Him. You
love Him. Kiss me, Lord, with your Word. Kiss me by your Spirit. Kiss
me with your truth applied to my heart for comfort. Lord, teach me. Kiss me. Touch me with comfort. The bride desires that his kisses
be personal. Lord, you kiss me. You kiss me. I don't want someone to just tell
me, well the Lord kisses those that He loves. I know that's
so. But I want the experience in
my heart Like those two on the road to Emmaus, didn't our heart
burn? Didn't our heart burn as He opened
unto us the Scriptures? The bride desires the assurance
of His love. Because, she said in verse 2,
because thy love is better than wine. Wine can reach no further
than the refreshment of this body. But His love reaches the
very soul, and there's joy in the heart. And His love is not
like wine, not a mocker, not deceitful. His love doesn't bite
like the adder. His love has no sting to it,
it never spoils. There's no dregs of deceit in
his kisses. When he kisses, he kisses because
he loves, because he teaches. Look at verse 3. Because of the
savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured
forth. Therefore do the virgins love
thee. I looked up the literal of that. I could understand it with you.
Here's what the literal says. For your ointments, and I looked
up ointments there, it means richness. For your richness,
your ointments, has a lovely fragrance. Your name is as ointment
or richness poured out. On account of this, the virgins
love you. You know, whenever we're going
to go somewhere special or meet someone special, you know, we
like to kind of get cleaned up and take a bath and put on something,
some good smelling stuff, you know, some perfume or some aftershave
or something like that, you know, because it's refreshing. It just has a freshness to it,
you know. Oh my, you sure smell good, you
know. We have on. I like that. We don't want to have a stench
about us of fatigue or uncleanness. And here the bride expresses
to the Lord and addresses to Him of His savor, of His smell,
of His richness, He smells, has a savor of mercy and grace. We can talk to Him. We can talk
to Him. Scripture says when you pray,
enter into your closet, get by yourself, and speak to the Father
in secret. And the Father, which hears in
secret, shall reward thee openly." When we pray, there's a richness
to it of grace and God's mercy and kindness because of the savor
of thy good richness. Thy name is as richness poured
forth. This richness. Listen to Romans
2.4. Or despiseth thou the riches
of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Oh, the fragrance
of His longsuffering. His forbearance. Just think back. You don't have to go back too
far. Just think back today. today. Oh, the richness, the
savor of His forbearance toward us for Christ's sake. Was there
anything that happened today that the Lord, had it not been
for His long-suffering and forbearance and goodness, had it not been
for His grace and mercy, would have had reason to cast us out The Scripture sets forth that
He is long-suffering to us, to His people. Why? Not willing
that any should perish. But of His richness, verse 3,
He says, Thy name is as ointment poured forth. Lord, Your honor,
Your character, Your authority is as richness that's emptied,
poured forth. Your name, your character that
you've revealed to me, your goodness and grace and mercy that you've
revealed to me, that you've shown mercy to me, that right there,
your name, has been emptied upon me. Lord,
how good you've been. Your name on my behalf, because
of your grace and compassion that you've been pleased to show
me, is refreshment to my heart. The Lord Jesus Christ, our surety. Let me tell you, just remind
you, just a moment, let's remind us of God's ointment concerning
His name, that He's poured forth upon us, that He's emptied upon
us. He was anointed by the Father,
the Lord Jesus now, with the Holy Spirit without measure. This is our surety. He is the
Messiah, our Messiah, the One that came into this world lived
and died for us, and Almighty God charged us, His people, with
His righteousness, accepted in the Beloved, accepted in Christ,
our Emmanuel, God with us. He said, Lord, Your name is as
ointment poured forth. Oh, that blessed name, that ointment. I wrote down those five names
that I could find in the Old Testament. Jehovah-Jireh, this
is Genesis 22, 14. Here's what it says, now listen
to this name poured forth upon us. Listen to this ointment right
here, emptied upon us. Listen to this one, the Lord
will provide. The Lord will provide. What am I going to need? What
am I going to need for life now and then? Life in eternity, the
Lord will provide. Listen to this one, Jehovah Nisi,
Exodus 17, 15. The Lord, my banner. Where do
you stand? Here's my Ebenezer right here. The Lord is my banner. The Lord
is my cover. That banner, that flag, that
covering, the Lord. Jehovah Shalom. Judges 6.24,
the Lord send peace. Peace in our heart, peace before
God, peace before others. The Lord. Jehovah Shema. Ezekiel 48.35, the Lord is there. I think about two or three are
gathered together. Here's Jehovah Shammah, the Lord
is there. Just the very thought of His
presence right now. How respectful we ought to be.
How respectful I wish I'd be. And Jehovah Sidkenu, Jeremiah
23.6, the Lord, our righteousness. He says, your name is as richness,
ointment poured forth, and therefore do the virgins love Thee. He's actually speaking of himself,
that's what the bride, the bride is speaking of herself. The virgins,
those made to be pure before God Almighty by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ that has washed them white. And that imputed
righteousness that robes them, the virgins do love thee. And oh how they do. And those
that love him want to be with him. She loves you. And then
verse 4, draw me and 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. Draw me, we will run after Thee. I know that His people are going
to run after Him. I know they are. I know the people
of God are. Lord, draw me. Draw me too. We sing that psalm, Pass me not,
O gentle Savior, while on others Thou art calling. Lord, don't
pass me by. I know you're going to call your
people. Lord, call me. Call. Is this not the petition
of every believer's heart? Draw me. Because Lord, I know
this. If you don't draw, I'm not coming.
I know I'm not coming. I have just enough sense to know
this. Without Him, I can do nothing.
The Lord promised. Because of that everlasting love,
that scripture I read just a few moments ago, I've loved thee
with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. If the Lord has drawn a sinner,
this is what that sinner is going to say. Draw me. You say, but
he's already drawn you. I know. Draw me. Turn me and
I'll be turned. Do you know who says that? The
one that's already been turned. That's what he wants. That bride
knows that she's been drawn because she's crying out to be drawn
again. If there wasn't life already
there, she wouldn't ask. Draw me with the cords of love
and kindness. Draw me, Lord, in mercy. Draw
me compassionately. The bride knows she's been drawn
out of darkness. You know why? Because she sees
Him. And she knows that life's in
Him and not in herself. She knows that. She knows that. I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep. Draw me and we will run after
Thee. I want to be found in the number
of God's elect. I want to be found in that throng,
that four and twenty elders, following after you, hungering
after you, thirsting after you, after your righteousness. Lord,
if you make me willing, if you draw me, I'll run. I will go. There's no willing running without
you drawing. The King has brought me into
His chambers. Now that chambers there means
the enclosed place. Enclosed place. What place is
that? It's His church. That one, that
strong city that we just read about, that salvation, that the
Lord Jesus, His walls and bulwarks to the strong city, that is the
enclosed place. That is His chambers. The Lord
has a chamber. On this earth it is His church,
the bride. Now therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth, unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are
built together for the inhabitation of God through the Spirit." The
Bride of Christ is a building, a spiritual building. And all
of the people of God are lively stones built upon the foundation
Christ being the chief cornerstone, He has drawn me, the King has
brought me into His chambers. This is where God's people are
in time brought into the actual experience and realization of
that which the Lord has eternally purposed, the church. the heavenly Jerusalem, the bride
herself, the Lord Jesus in regenerating grace, has made His bride to
be savingly acquainted with the treasures of His mercy and compassion
to her. How did she get there? The King,
the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, The King had brought me
into His chambers. You notice how she got there?
He brought her. She didn't get there by her own
ability, by her own will, by her own choice. How did you get
here? The King brought me here. The
King did. He opened the way for me by the
shedding of His own blood and drew me powerfully by His Spirit. He brought me. And we will be
glad and rejoice in Thee. There is indeed great cause to
rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice in who He is. We rejoice
in His salvation, who is Himself, and His love for His people.
We're glad and we rejoice now, but you know we only do in part.
We're not glad as we ought to be. We're not as glad as we wish
we would be, but by the grace of God, one day we're going to
be completely glad. Scripture says, we will remember
thy love more than wine, the upright love thee. It's by the
grace of God that we do remember. And we're mindful. We are mindful
of God's mercy and love more than wine, more than the things
of this world. The things of this world are
perishing. And by the grace of God, the Scripture says, the
upright, the upright, those made so by the grace of God, they
love thee. I keep going back to that Scripture
that I quoted last time we met. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. You love me, feed
my sheep. Peter, you love me. Peter, you
love me. Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. God's people
can say this from the heart, being taught by the Spirit of
God, by the kisses of His mouth, they do love the Lord. They love
Him. They love Him. They see Him. They hear His voice. And they
follow Him. This is the song of all songs. This is the greatest of all songs.
The song of love between the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride.
I pray the Lord bless the Word tonight for Christ's sake.