And I'd like to just take up
in that next chapter, chapter 5, where we actually left off. The scripture sets forth that the Lord has
described His bride as being a garden enclosed, His sister,
His spouse, a spring shut up. He tells the Spirit of God, the
north wind and the south wind, that knows just exactly how to
blow. Same wind. Whether he blows as the north
or blows as the south, he knows. He knows. He causes those spices
to flow forth in the fragrance of God's mercy and grace. Having drawn the bride to himself,
she says, let my beloved, last part of verse 16, come into his
garden and eat his pleasant fruits. And then he answers in verse
1 of chapter 5, He says, I am come into my garden, my sister,
my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with
my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk my wine with my
milk. Eat, oh friends. Drink, yea,
drink abundantly. Oh beloved, whether the bride
is speaking back to him in that latter part or he's talking to
her, the language between the two is one of sweetness and love. He caused her to ask. He blew upon his garden by the
north wind of conviction and the south wind of comfort and
he caused her to say, let my beloved come into his garden
and eat his pleasant fruits. You know that's the only time
a sinner will ever ask for the presence of the Lord. He's got to cause us to. He causes
us to ask. 1 John 5.14, this is the confidence
that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His
will, He heareth us. And if we know that He heareth
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desired of Him. Let me ask you this, if the Lord
causes His people to ask Him to come into her presence, do
you think He'll do that? If He draws her to call upon
Him for mercy, if He causes her to call upon Him for mercy, you
think He's going to show mercy to her? He already has. Oh, may we ask right now, Lord,
blow upon us. Lord, even now as you're in our
presence, and we're convinced that you are, Lord, by your Holy
Spirit, blow upon us, enliven us. May the things and the cares
and the mess, the stuff of this world, Lord, not take a precedent
over hearing from you. Ask, he said in Matthew 7, 7,
and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. Here the bride is assured of
his presence. He said, I am coming to my garden,
my sister. That's right. I am in your presence,
where two or three are gathered together in my name. Oh, how
the hearts of God's people rejoice as they're assured of His presence. If He's here, if He's here, we're
in the presence of deity, in the presence of God. He feasts
upon that which He has done for her and in her. But as He enlivens
and causes the fragrance of His blessed grace in His bride to
come forth, in the very moment that the bride is filled with
the joy of the Lord, admitting that He alone can do for her
what He has done, she's assured of it, absolutely assured of
it. My husband is in my presence. He has caused me to be assured
of him being with us. But while that happens, while
it's going on, another truth is observed. It's a truth that's
painful to admit, but one that every believer does acknowledge
as being absolutely so. And I'll tell you this, this
is what we're about to look at right here. This is the heart
that is found from that old man, that old man, in that flesh which
dwells no good thing. Let me show you the evidence.
of it. This is us. This is a believer
right here. Any man, any woman that says,
I don't experience that, well, I'm going to tell you something
right now. You don't know it. I'm going to show you the heart right
here. The Lord's going to show us the
heart of a believer. That man, that old man, that
flesh. He says in the latter part of
verse 1, I have drunk my wine with my milk, eat, O friends,
drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." And in the same moment,
the bride says, in verse 2, I sleep. Not a sleep of death or total
insensitivity, but slothful. sluggish in attitude toward him. I sleep. But the horrible part
is that the believer knows it. They know it. I sleep, but my
heart waketh. I cannot govern my innermost
being. Mark, I don't have any way to
stop it. I can't stop it. I sleep, but my heart waketh. I've told you how often for me,
I'll just go ahead and admit it for me. I'm not saying this
is the way you are, but I'm telling you the way I am. There's times
that I will, and honestly, as the Lord's my witness, I've told
you before, I try to just start and go down the aisles. Where you sit in my mind, I'm
just trying to call your names before the Lord, asking God's
mercy, praying for you. And while I am in the midst of
trying to pray for you, all of a sudden, I realize I
sleep. And in the next thought, I know
it, but my heart waketh. And I absolutely had no ability
to stop it. And there's a battle that's going
on. A battle within. There's a war. And that old man,
that new man, they strive one against another. And here's that
old man. And he is indifferent. as he
could possibly be. No love for the things of God. No care for the things of God.
And I find myself in that sluggish, slothful attitude and know that
it's going on. Experiencing that attitude Even while I'm preaching, even
while I stand here preaching, I'll catch myself with thoughts
that just, it was just there. I don't know where it came from.
And here we'll come together and you that know him, you know
what I'm talking about. In time of prayer, with Pat reading,
with Gary Leading singing, Here we are listening to the sound
of the gospel of God's grace, taking this word word by word,
looking at these holy scriptures, and all of a sudden we realize,
I sleep. I drifted off. I didn't even
know it. You ever been driving? You ever
been driving at night and you're so tired, and all of a sudden,
I think I drifted off. I didn't even know it. I didn't
realize it. Oh my. But here's the amazing
thing about this. The bride knows while she sleeps,
but her heart awakes. She knows that the Lord was the
one that beckoned her. I sleep, but I know I've got life. The Lord is the one. It's the voice, verse 2, of my
beloved that knocketh, saying unto me, Open to me, my sister,
my love, my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew,
and my locks with the drop of the night. I drifted off, but I'm alive. And I hear His voice. I know
it's His voice. I know this is the truth. I know
this is the voice. Why don't you look at Revelation
3.20. And this verse of Scripture is
not written universally to everybody without distinction. This verse
of Scripture came at the end of the seven letters to the seven
churches. Seven letters were written in
Asia to seven churches, to believers. And at the end of the seventh
letter, Revelation 3.20, the Lord who has been speaking to
the churches says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and
who hears the voice of the Lord? He said, My sheep. My sheep. I've got to be given ears to
hear his voice. A dead heart doesn't hear the voice of the
Lord. Why? Dead. He's dead. I stand at the
door and knock. If any man hear my voice, open
the door. I will come in to him, will sup with him, and he with
me. That verse of scripture written to God's people, the voice of
the bridegroom that says to the bride who knows I just kind of
drifted off there. But I'm awake. It's the voice
of my Lord. He's the one that speaks to me
and she hears Him say in verse 2, open to me my sister. Open to me. How tenderly and
compassionately He speaks while we with an attitude It's
often so indifferent. Can I deem myself a child? You that know Him, is it so with
you? Do you find yourself like this?
As alarming as it is to admit, this is the way I am. He calls to the bride. Open to
me, verse 2. Open to me. And this next verse,
it just, my heart breaks because this is me. This is me. I have put off my coat. How shall
I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? I sleep, but my heart wakes.
I hear it's the voice of my bridegroom. It's him. And he's saying, open
to me. Open to me. I'll come in. I'll
fellowship. Oh, he's going to open the door in just a minute.
Don't worry. But he's showing us what we are by nature. That
without him, he said, you'd do nothing. You'd do nothing. We
think we can just any time just fellowship with the Lord. Hosea 11.7, my people are bent
to backsliding from me. Though they call them to the
Most High, none at all would exalt Him. In the margin it says
together they exalted not. Again, can I deem myself a child
acting like this? How could I be so indifferent? No. How could he be so long-suffering? How could he be so loving? Well,
I'll tell you this, when he says, I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. Thanks be unto him. I've put
off my coat. How shall I put it on? I've washed
my feet. How shall I defile them? I'm just too busy. I'm just too
comfortable. I drifted off and it just feels
so good in this bed of comfort and stuff. I just don't want
to get up. I just don't want to. Verse 4 says, My beloved
put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels, my heart
were moved. for Him." Or in the margin it
says, in me, but same difference, in me for Him, toward Him. Oh, the mercy of the Lord, the
mercy of sovereign grace. He who everlastingly loved us,
gave Himself for us, who would not leave us to ourselves. I
read a lot of things on what the The hold of the door is,
I can tell you this, it's whatever he sees fit. Whatever he sees
fit to open the door, he opens the door. He opens. All of his
calls, all of his entreaties, all of his summons, let me tell
you how they'll be received until he puts his hand in the hold
of the door. This is how they're all going
to be received. I'm just too busy. I just don't
have time. I just don't have time. But I'll
tell you the evidence of a believer. He does not leave that believer
alone. She says, I've taken off my coat. I've washed my feet. I'm just all clean. I just don't
want to get my feet dirty. These covers just feel so good.
He puts his hand in the hole of the door. And when he does
that, whatever he sees fit, whatever it is, chastening, kindness,
mercy, the cause of blowing upon his garden, showing her of himself,
then blowing with the south wind of the Spirit of God in comfort,
and he moves her heart. And I'll tell you, the evidence
of a believer is that the one who is made willing in the day
of his power, the first day, He moves that heart every day
to make her willing. And until he draws our heart
to himself, I'm telling you, the only thing we got is excuses.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. But I'm telling you, he won't
leave us to our excuses. Oh, how sweet it is to see the
source of our longings and our hungering toward him. I tell
you this, if my heart is drawn toward Him this morning, it's
because He put His hand in the hole of the door of my heart
and drew me to Himself. When our heart burns within us
as we hear the Word of God preached, it's because He moved us. He drew, He turned us like that
prodigal. He came to Himself. How? How? I'll tell you how he came to
himself. That prodigal is a picture of a believer. Asleep. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Give me what's mine. I'm out
of here. I'm gone. And he came to himself. He said,
I'm starving. I'm starving. In this world of
absolute nothing. Nothing. Jeremiah, I'll read this for
you, Jeremiah 31 verse 18 to 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus, the Lord said I've heard Ephraim bemoaning himself
and this is what Ephraim was saying, he says, Thou hast chastised
me, and I was chastised as a bullock, unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn
Thou me, and I shall be turned for Thou art the Lord my God.
Surely after that I was turned, I repented, and after that I
was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yet
even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
And the Lord says, Ephraim, my dear son, is he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him,
I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore, my vows are troubled
for him. Or that they're sound for him
is what it means. I will surely have mercy upon
him, saith the Lord. I won't leave him to himself. Verse 5, Song of Solomon. The
bride, I rose up to open to my beloved. My hands dropped with
my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the
lock. Bride recovered by the grace
of God. He drew her heart to Him. He
made her once again willing. He caused her to rise from that
horrible attitude of sleep. And our heart longs for him now
by grace. She says, I got up. I got up. I didn't want to get up. But
he stirred my heart. I wanted to get up. I want to
get up. I want to open to him. And my
hands dropped with myrrh. Myrrh, I looked up and found
it. Myrrh was one of the main ingredients. of the anointing
oil for the tabernacle. It's a picture of the sweet savor
of Christ. savour of His obedience, savour
of His sufferings, savour of the sweetness of His sacrifice
unto His Father, Myrrh. She said, I rose to open to my
Beloved and my hands dropped with Myrrh, my fingers with the
sweet smelling Myrrh upon the handles of the lock where He
put His hand. She said, I could smell that
when I opened the door. I opened the door. I opened up. I rose to open to my beloved
and she said, I can smell it. It smells like Him. I know what
He smells like. I know the sweetness of His grace
and mercy to me. And where He had His hand, I
can smell that. My Lord, my husband, He opened
the door. And I know it, I realize it.
True faith toward Him is described as the smell of myrrh upon the
bride's hands. And she savors the mercy to move
her heart toward Him, and she smells by faith His presence. A believer does. He said, I can
smell Him. It smells of mercy and kindness. She says in verse 6, I opened
to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself and he
was gone. My soul failed when he spake. I sought him, but I
couldn't find him. I could not find him. I called
him, but he gave me no answer. The bride was drawn to open unto
the bridegroom. And she had anxious anticipation
that she couldn't find him. He was gone. She said, my soul
failed when he spake. It went out to him, failed. It
went out to him. He was gone, but not in a total
departure. He promised he wouldn't do that.
He said, I'm not going to leave you. But she was not aware. of his presence. She wasn't aware
of his presence. I'm telling you, there's times
when a believer is allowed by the Lord. I told you, old Maurice,
every time I think about old Maurice Montgomery, he said,
Marvin, he says times that God will put a believer out on a
limb, make him think he's going to leave him there. And I'm telling
you, that is a lonely place. I don't know what he's doing.
I don't know. I don't know. And I feel so lonely. And it's so cold. I don't feel
the warmth of his presence. But I know he's not going to
forsake me. I know he said he'd never leave me. I know he's not
going to forsake his covenant of grace. But I don't know where
he is. He said in John 13, 1, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end. Remember, he is the bridegroom. His bride is his beloved. Betrothed
himself to her forever. All but in chastening mercy and
grace. Boy, I'm telling you that cold
wind of God's Spirit is very revealing, showing us what we
are. And He wisely hides His counsel. And how this ignites the believer's
heart for Him. He speaks to the believer's heart
and her heart fails. That is, she's drawn out to Him. And we seek Him. And He can't
be found, our hearts made to long for Him. And David cried
out in Psalm 51, Psalm 51 was written after he had taken Bathsheba,
unfaithful, took her, killed her husband, God exposed him
in a cold wind, chastening mercy. Nathan the prophet came to him
and said, you're the man, you're the man. David, in Psalm 51 verse
11, he cried, cast me not away from thy presence, and take not
thy Holy Spirit from me. Oh, I'm telling you, when we're
made aware of our cold-hearted attitude and we cannot experience
the loving presence of our Lord, I'm going to tell you something,
we're miserable. You're miserable. In verse 7, The watchman that
went about the city found me. They smoked me. They wounded
me. The keepers of the wall took away my veil from me. Let me
tell you who these are. These are faithful, faithful,
faithful gospel preachers. Was she guilty? Yes, she was
guilty. Did she have a cold attitude toward him? Yes, she sure did.
And what did they do? They told her about it. Lord, help me to never deviate
from telling all of us what we are by nature. There's not one
person in here that deserves a pat on the back of being good
in themselves. There's none good. Not one. Not one. He, the gospel ministers,
the watchmen that watch for the souls of God's sheep, and going
to be honest with them, I need to be reminded of what
I am by nature. I need to be reminded what I
do in myself and who I need. I need to be told that. Faithful. They wounded me, the keepers
of the wall, they took away my veil from me. They just ripped off that veil
that I tried to hide my face, my shame, they just took it off.
No excuses. And then in verse 8, here's a
needy request. A needy request. I charge you,
O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you
tell him that I'm sick of love. You find my beloved, you tell
him my heart is broken. How could I have done this? Now
David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. And
she seeks help wherever she hopes it might be found. I was looking
over in verse John 20. John chapter 20. The Lord had
been crucified, buried, and Scripture says, Mary had gone to the tomb
and she was going in looking for him. Verse 11, John 20, 11,
Mary stood without the sepulchre weeping. She wept, she stooped
down, looked in the sepulchre. Two angels in white sitting,
one at the head, the other at the foot, where the body of Jesus
had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She
saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord. And
I know not where they have laid him. When she had thus said,
she turned herself back, she saw Jesus standing, and knew
not that it was Jesus. And Jesus said unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? Now listen
to this. Now this is Mary, the one that
knew Him. She knew Him. She knew her Lord. A believer. Sovereign. She knew Him. She knew Him. And
she supposing Him be the gardener. saith unto him, Sir, if thou
have borne him away, if you took him away, talking to a gardener, and she said, if you've taken
him, the one that she knew was God Almighty, the Mediator, the
Savior, her spiritual husband, if you took him away, tell me
where thou slayed him, and I'll take him away. She thought he was the gardener.
Here she was hurting. She was desperate. Back in Song
of Solomon chapter 8, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Now, some people say that these daughters of Jerusalem are young
believers. They are just immature believers. Well, let me ask you this. Turn
with me to Psalm of Solomon. Just turn back to Psalm of Solomon
chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. If the bride is speaking to the
daughters of Jerusalem, that means the church is speaking
to somebody else. They're speaking to somebody.
Because the bride, the spouse, if the daughters of Jerusalem
are young believers, Why are they not included in the spouse?
They're still believers. Young believers, but they're
believers. No? I'll tell you who I think these
daughters of Jerusalem are. I think they're just nominal
professors. Just professors that know the
Lord, but they don't know Him. And I'm going to prove that to
you in just a second. They have no true knowledge of Christ. They're tares among the wheat. They're tares. Song of Solomon
chapter 2 verse 1 and 2, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily
of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so
is my love among the daughters. You see that? As the lily, you
go out there and you look at a patch and there's some lilies
out there, but look at all those thorns. Man alive, I don't think
I'll ever get over there to those lilies. I'm going to leave them
alone. Thorns, thorns. As the lily among thorns, so
is my love among the daughters, the mere professors, the tares.
And here is the bride who knows that she's guilty. She knows
what she's done. She heard the voice. of her beloved. And she gave him these flimsy
excuses. And he moved her heart to get
up and she got up and he was gone. And she asked the daughters of Jerusalem,
the ones that must be there, they must be there. Why? Well, let me read this to you,
2 Corinthians 11.19. 2 Corinthians 11.19. The Scriptures said forth, I'm sorry, 1st Corinthians, I
said 2nd, 1st Corinthians 11, 19. For there must be also heresies
among you that they which are approved may be made manifest
unto you. The Lord allows these mere professors
among the wheat. They must be among you. They
must, that those which are approved, approved of God, in electing
grace, may be made manifest. Mere professors expose true believers. Thorns, tears, as the lily among thorns, so
is my beloved among the daughters." And she comes to the daughters,
and she said, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my
beloved, that you tell him that I'm sick of love. And then listen
to the daughters of Jerusalem's answer. Listen to her answer. When the bride said to the daughters
of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, Tell him that my heart's
broken, I'm sick of love. And listen to the words of the
daughters of Jerusalem. Verse 9, What is thy beloved
more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is
thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge
us? You know what she just said?
You that are the fairest among women, You, who are the spouse. You that are robed in His righteousness. You that has the savor of His
love upon you. One that has been moved upon
in power. He's opened up and enlivened
your heart. What is it? Here's what she's
asking. What is it about your beloved that's different from another
beloved? What makes your beloved different
than the beloved of another? What makes the God of this Bible,
what makes the sovereign God of this Bible different? from the little G God who's trying
to save people if they'll let him. What makes him different?
That's what she asked him. What is thy beloved more than
another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved
more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us? And immediately,
the bride spews forth out of the abundance of her heart, this
is the difference right here. My beloved, My beloved, my beloved. I'm his and he's mine. He's my
beloved. He betrothed himself to me. My
beloved is white. He's holy. My beloved is God. And ruddy, he's red, son of man. My beloved is a mediator. My
beloved is the intercessor between God and me, between God and man. He is the chiefest among 10,000,
one that the Father spoke of in Psalm 89, 19. I have exalted
one chosen out of the people. Now I'll just read these next
few verses in closing. His head is as the most fine
gold. His locks are bushy, black as
raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves
by the rivers of waters washed with milk, fitly set. His cheeks
are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers. His lips like lilies,
dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set
with the barrel. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
and she just sums it up right here. He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved and this is
my friend, oh daughters of Jerusalem. He's altogether lovely. He's laid down his life that
I might live. Lord, blow upon your garden today
for Christ's sake.