How Fair and How Pleasant

Q: What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

The Bible describes the bride of Christ as beautiful and beloved by the Lord, who delights in her despite her unloveliness. In Scripture, particularly in the Song of Solomon and Isaiah, the bride of Christ is portrayed as 'fair and pleasant'. Her beauty is derived from His love and righteousness bestowed upon her. Despite being born in sin, she is made lovely in His sight, as He gazes upon her with delight. The world, lacking an understanding of Christ, sees no beauty in the bride, but the Lord finds her comeliness invaluable, viewing her as His cherished possession.

Q: How do we know that God delights in His people?

God's delight in His people is evident as He refers to them as His beloved and rejoices over them with joy. Throughout Scripture, God's love and delight in His people are consistently affirmed. For instance, in Zephaniah 3:17, it says that the Lord will rejoice over His people with joy and will rest in His love. This demonstrates an intimate relationship where the Lord expresses His affection and joy in His chosen ones. Furthermore, passages like Isaiah 62 highlight that the Lord finds pleasure in those He has chosen and redeemed, signifying an everlasting love and commitment.

Q: Why is the concept of God choosing His people important for Christians?

The concept of God's choice signifies His sovereignty and grace, providing assurance of salvation to believers. Understanding that God chooses His people is foundational to the Reformed faith. It emphasizes God's sovereignty in the salvation process, making it clear that it is not based on human efforts or merit but solely on His grace. This assures believers that their salvation is secure, as it rests on God's unchanging will. Furthermore, this doctrine encourages humility and gratitude, as believers recognize that they are gifts from the Father to the Son, and thus they ought to live in light of this profound grace.

Q: What is the significance of the metaphor of the palm tree in the Bible?

The palm tree symbolizes the uprightness and beauty of the believer, reflecting their growth in Christ. In Scripture, particularly in Song of Solomon, the palm tree reflects the stature and growth of the believer. The metaphor suggests resilience and vitality, as the palm tree continues to thrive amidst adverse conditions. The righteous flourish like a palm tree; they stand upright before God, signifying a life lived in accordance with His will. This imagery illustrates the transformation believers undergo through Christ, standing tall through trials and bearing fruit as a testimony of His grace.

Q: How does the church reflect the image of Christ?

The church reflects Christ's image through its unity, fruitfulness, and the love it shares among its members. The church, described as the body of Christ, reflects His image through the unity and love of its members as they partake in the Gospel. Believers are called to exhibit Christ-like character, and together, they embody His teachings and grace. As they grow in their faith and produce the fruits of the Spirit, they demonstrate the beauty of the bride, paralleling how Jesus cherishes and nurtures His people. This collective witness magnifies Christ's love and redemptive work, making the church a display of His glory.

Turn with me, if you would, to
Song of Solomon chapter 7. I'd like to deal with verses
6 to 9. When Brother Gary was talking
about me having services tonight and then singing two songs, confusing
people. I remember one time Brother Scott
said something. I'm sure you all heard it. Someone
told him one time, if you preach what you preach, you're going
to confuse people. He said they were born confused.
That's right. I've entitled this message, How
Fair and How Pleasant. Before we start, let's ask the
Lord's blessing. Our Father, we come before You
this evening to ask because, Lord, You have commanded us to
do so. You said ask, and you will receive. Seek, and you will
find. Knock, and it will be opened. Lord, we are asking, and we are
seeking and knocking. Our dear Lord, need so desperately
to hear from You. We need Your help. I need Your
help, Lord. I know somewhat of the frailty
of preaching and hearing. Pray that this evening that You
would be pleased to settle our hearts and let us hear from You. the importance of hearing the
gospel afresh and feeding upon the unsearchable riches of Your
grace. We pray for those that are not
only within our congregation here that are sick, but those
in other places that love Your gospel, love Your message of
grace, the gospel of Christ that are burdened and that are going
through trials, pray that you would be gracious and merciful
to them in the keeping of them. In these things we ask for Christ's
sake and our good. Amen. Verse 6 to 9 says, How fair and
how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights This thy stature
is like to a palm tree, and thy breast to clusters of grapes. I said I will go up to the palm
tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof. Now also thy
breast shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy
nose like apples, and the roof of thy mouth like the best wine
for My Beloved that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of
those that are asleep to speak." Now, the beauty and the agreeableness
of the bride to the Lord Jesus Christ is beyond the bride's
ability to perceive it. She just can't see it. in herself. She is lovely in
His sight beyond description. And it's His love toward her
that makes her comeliness or her beauty to be truly valuable. When He says, You're beautiful,
That has value to it. The world and its religion looks
upon the bride and sees no beauty in her, for it sees no beauty
in Christ. But she's beautiful. And beauty,
as with all hers, is in the eyes of the beholder. And if he says,
she's lovely, how fair and how pleasant she is, that's the way
she is. Now the phrase or the verse,
the portion of that Scripture that says, how fair and how pleasant,
is actually, literally, these words. How art thou made fair
and made pleasant. Now doesn't that make perfect
sense? That's just exactly. How fair you're made. How pleasant you're made. Because the bride wasn't born
that way. She was born, as all men and
women are, in sin, trespasses, rebellion, unloveliness, and
she's been made to be comely with the comeliness, the righteousness
that He's put upon her. He tells her, How fair and how
pleasant art thou, O love, for delights." He does find delight
in His blood-bought, purchased bride. Everything about her. Turn over to Isaiah 62. We've
read this numerous times, but again, you never read Scripture
too much. Isaiah 62. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken, neither shalt thy land any more be termed desolate,
but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah. For the
Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married." That
is to say, Hephzibah, my delight. If you look in the margin there,
you may find your margin says, my delight is with her, and Beulah
means That which is married. Married to her. He said, Oh,
love for delights. You are my delight. And the bride
says, You're my delight. That's the way a husband and
wife, that's the way they talk to each other, Mitch. That's
the way they ought to. I love you. I love you too. Zephaniah
3.17 says, The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee He is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
or be cheerful over thee with joy and He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. The bride is the Lord's delight. And she is His delight because
first, she has been chosen. by the Father. This is the bride
that the Father chose. You know, if He sets His affection
on you, that's weighty. He loved her. He gave her to
the Lord Jesus Christ. So she's His delight because
it was the Father's gift to Him. And she is His delight Because
she's been redeemed by Himself, having paid her debt in His own
precious blood. He bought her. Whatever she owed. That's what a husband finds. He looks upon a woman before
he's a husband to a woman. And he looks and he sees in that
woman a love. He sees he loves her. And if
that woman has a debt, if there was an indebtedness to the fullness
of his ability, he'll sell all he's got. He'll do whatever he
can for her. She's first. He's going to take
her side Every time. He'll defend her character. He'll
take her side against family. He'll take her side against friends. He'll take her side. He redeemed
her. He bought her. And she's His
because the Spirit of God has conformed her to His image. The Spirit of God has taught
her who Christ is. The Lord says when the Comforter
has come, He'll speak of me. It's amazing to me how men foolishly
speak of the Spirit of God when the Lord Jesus Christ says, this
is what the Spirit of God will say. He'll speak of Me. He'll
reveal Me. Only Me. Not Himself. Me. He speaks of Christ. And the
Lord tells her in verse 7, He says, This thy stature is like
to a palm tree, and thy breast to clusters of grapes." Your
stature, the way you stand, the way you are. Psalm 92.12 says,
"...the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree." That is, to
be erect and upright in their covenant head, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Your stature, the way you stand,
the way you are, the way you appear, upright toward Almighty
God. Maybe not upright toward the
world, but before Him. And nothing can be said of the
bride apart from His comeliness. When He tells her, He says, this
is your stature. Your stature is like a palm tree. The palm tree being compared
to her beauty, its fruitfulness, her fruitfulness, perpetual greenness,
flourishing. It's the master, her husband,
that's made her to be standing erect the way he said, like a
palm tree. Well, I looked into a palm tree
a little bit. It just kind of prompts my mind,
you know, to think, a palm tree. What is it about a palm tree?
Here are some interesting things I found out about a palm tree.
The fiber of a palm tree is elastic, so elastic that no imposed weight
hinders its growth. Whatever is put upon it, it continues
to grow. You know, when the Lord in His
chastening mercy applies His hand of chastisement, it's never
for the bride's hurt. The Lord Jesus Christ never does
anything to His bride for her harm. Never. He has spewed out
His judgment totally in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was made a curse for her. And there's not one bit of judgment
for the people of God. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. Every trial that the believer
goes through is for their good. It's for His honor and their
good and their growth and their maturity always. So the burden that's placed upon
the bride for her chastening is because the Lord loves her. He said, you're like a palm tree.
Palm trees. You go down in Florida and you
look around and see what kind of trees are growing predominantly. Tall trees. There's a lot of
scrub brush. You know, Carl, you all see down
there, a lot of this brushy stuff. But I'm talking about big trees.
What kind? Palm trees. There's a lot of
storms that come through there. They're elastic to take it. The
Lord says, your stature is like a palm tree. But the most interesting
thing that I found out about the palm tree was this. The palm tree, unlike most other
trees. I'm not a horticulturalist or
anything like that. I basically know what I read
when it comes to things like this. So if someone else knows
something about a palm tree that I don't, well, I'll stand to
be corrected. But the palm tree I found doesn't
live so much by its roots as by its head. Take the head out
of a palm tree and it's gone. It's over. Nothing there. It
lives by its head. It grows by its head. And I started
to call Greg Elmquist this afternoon because Greg told me something
when we were down there the other day and said this. And it seemed
to ring true to me. He said, if that center of the
bud, that tap, that part of that palm tree, if that's damaged,
that tree's gone. It's gone. middle part of that growth, it's
gone. And the bride is beautifully
compared to the palm tree. She grows from her head, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the head of the bride. He told her, He said, the stature
is like a palm tree, and thy breast to clusters of grapes. I'll say a little bit more concerning
her breast or her heart affection being compared in this next verse.
But here we see the Lord beholding the fruit of His people. Fruit of the Spirit that is found
within the saints is sweet and refreshing to Him. In verse 80, He said, I said,
I will go up to the palm tree. I will take hold of the bowls
thereof. Now also thy breast shall be
as clusters of the vine, the smell of thy nose like apples."
Here is the immutable purpose of the King. Here is the sovereign
God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I will go up
to the palm tree. I will take hold of the boughs
thereof. He does what He does according
to His purpose. He set His affection on her.
The Father gave Him the bride. He has everlastingly loved her. He said, I and the Father are
one. He is always the eternal God. And He purposed to give Himself
to His people everlastingly and purposed to unite them to Himself
as His bride. to rejoice in her and she in
Him eternally. He said, I will. I will go up
to her. I will take hold of her. I will
have her as my own. Father, the Lord said, I will
that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am,
that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me. I will. Oh, what consolation. What peace and comfort. I will.
She will. I will and she will. I will go
up to the palm tree. I'll take hold of her. I'll take hold of her, her responsibility. I'll take hold of her debt. I'll
be made a curse for her. I'll take hold of her. She's
mine. In that everlasting covenant,
He engaged to be the Redeemer of His people. And in the fullness
of time, He gave Himself for her and endured the cross. And He seizes her, the boughs,
the branches, the twigs, and holds them up by His Spirit.
He arrests His people, lays hold upon them in power, and they
willingly come to Him. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. I'll take hold of her." Because
he carries her as a shepherd that finds his people, finds
his lost sheep. And then he said, now also, in
the last part of that eighth verse, now also, thy breast shall
be as clusters of the vine in the smell of thy nose like apples. Now this is an amazing truth. that's set forth. Turn over to
Isaiah 66.10. I want to read something to you. Isaiah 66.10. The Lord finding
great comfort, joy, and peace in His people. He tells her, speaks to her when
He says, I'm going to come up and take hold of you. shall be as clusters of the vine."
He finds great joy in His people by making her what she is. He tells her here, I find my
peace, my joy in you and your breasts Your breast, He said,
shall be clusters of the vine. In Isaiah 66, verses 10 to 14,
the Lord here is speaking, and this is something that you don't
see a lot of in the Scripture when the Lord speaks to His people. concerning himself treating them
as a mother treats her child." There is a bond between a mother
and her child that is just absolutely indescribable. That mother that
carried that child, that birthed that child, that nurses that
child, and there's a bond between that mother and that child that
no one understands but a mother, not even a dad. I mean, we say
we do, but men don't understand like a mother understands. And
there's times when a child will be nursing on his mother, sometimes
for nourishment, sometimes for comfort, sometimes for just that
consolation, peace, comfort, to know that she's there. And
in this Scripture right here, the Lord refers to Himself speaking
to His bride in the tenderness of a nursing mother. Isaiah 66
verse 10, Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye
that love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all
ye that mourn for her, that ye may suck and be satisfied with
the breast of her consolations, that ye may milk out and be delighted
with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold,
I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the
Gentiles like the flowing stream. Then shall ye suck, ye shall
be borne upon her sides, and shall be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth,
so will I comfort you. And ye shall be comforted in
Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart
shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb,
and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants,
and his indignation toward His enemies. The Lord speaks to the
bride back in Song of Solomon 7. He tells her, He says, Thy
breast shall be as clusters of the vine. The breast of consolation. The sincere milk of the Word. He made her like she is. He arranged her. and set different
ones in places of authority. He made a pastor. He gave a pastor. He gave a pastor. He called a
pastor out by grace. A man. Just a man. And He taught
that man. And He gave that man a heart
after the reading of the Scriptures and studying to search out, to
find out why. to comfort the people of God
and to teach them. Now, there is not a thing in
the world that a pastor has anything to say about himself that is
good in any way because he knows that he is what he is by the
grace of God. God made him this way. God taught
him this way. God keeps him this way. And then
the Lord finds pleasure in it and says, this is my delight. The Lord says, I am the one that
is feeding you. And He expresses it as the breast,
the sincere milk of the Word. You are nourished by it, fed
by it. This is the precious, blessed
promise to the church of Christ's tenderness to her. And He compares
it to a mother. He said, My desire toward you,"
he said, is that your fruit may abound. He said, I've come that
you might have life, have it abundantly. In the Lord's presence,
there's something about His preached gospel that speaks of Him and
He's here and He's honored and He's pleased when He's exalted. And he refers to that. Hosea
9.10 says, I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. He's pleased. He sees her loveliness. That's what he tells her. He
says, I'll go up to you. I'll take hold of the boughs
thereof. I'll go up to the palm tree, take hold of the boughs
thereof. Now also thy breast shall be
as clusters of the vine. You'll feed. People will feed. And the smell of thy nose is
like apples. Or, the literal is, the fragrance
of your breath is like apples. The fragrance of your breath.
The breath. The breathing of the bride smells
sweet to Him. Her breath. a living, living
bride. And it's made up of members.
This is just amazing. Here's all these members. And
the members of Katie Baptist Church, and the members of 13th
Street, and the members of Grace Baptist Church, and the members
of West Harpeth, they make up the bride. And the bride breathes
the same way. She breathes, she has life. Breath. Life. And her breath, he said,
the smell of your nose, the smell of your breath, the fragrance
of your breath is like apples. It's not repulsive. You know,
someone has bad breath. That's repulsive. It's not repulsive
as the breathing of the unbeliever. There's no life there. It's just
a stench of death. You know, someone speaks to you
and they're speaking religiously. You know what I'm talking about.
It's just a religious jargon. And it's repulsive. There's no
honor to Christ. That's the reason it's repulsive.
There's no Christ honor in it. And He tells her, He said, your
breath, the smell of your nose like apples. Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9, 1,
Saul was yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord. And the Lord stopped him and
He said, Saul, Saul, what? Why persecutest thou Me? He was
breathing out. and the Lord, and in mercy, called
him out of darkness. That's where he found you and
me, breathing out threatenings. The believer breathes of love
toward him and longs toward him with gratitude toward him. It's
a breath of respect and humbleness before the Lord because that's
the way he's got a heart to breathe. He breathes toward him. Psalm
34, 18 says, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken
heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite or a crushed spirit. And the last verse for this evening,
And the roof of thy mouth is like the best wine from my Beloved,
that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep
to speak. The roof of your mouth. It means the palate or the taste
of your mouth. The roof of your mouth. The way
you taste. The taste of the regenerate soul. The taste that he longs after
is the gospel. That's what he wants to taste.
He eats of Christ. And he tastes of Christ. He hungers
for Christ. And that's what he likes. He
likes it. There's times that I'll start
talking, and I like certain things, as long as it looks like meat.
And I can begin to think about a ribeye steak. If I can start
imagining And I'll start salivating. I think about that steak. I think, get me a ribeye steak and a little
thing of little button mushrooms. Man, the palate of a believer. The roof of your mouth. The taste
that you hunger after. He says, like the best wine for
my beloved. The taste that the bride has
is the message of Him to the enlightened soul, and it goes
down sweetly. A believer would come and sit,
and if you sit there for 45 minutes and you don't speak of Him, they're
ready to leave. They've been ready to leave if
they didn't hear about Him. They've been ready to go. If
you start talking about what you're supposed to be doing for
the Lord and how the Lord can't do anything unless you think,
oh boy, you're ready. You're out of here. This gospel
that is the palate of the bride that goes down sweetly like the
best wine is the word of praise toward Him and it's the heart
of the conversation between believers. Let me show you that. Turn over
to Malachi chapter 3. He said of her, the roof of your
mouth is like the best wine for my beloved that goeth down sweetly. This is what a believer wants
to talk about right here. Malachi 3.16. Then they that
feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened
and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon His name." You get two people together that love Christ. And I'm telling you, I'm not
saying that there won't be any other conversation. I mean, they
may talk about, you know, that they went hunting or they did
some fishing or something like that, but you give it just a
minute. And you know what they're going to talk about? Him. They're
going to talk about Him. Because that's what they've got
in common. That's the palate of a believer. That's the savor
of a believer. That's what a believer wants
to talk about. The praise and the prayer of
the believer finds its basis and foundation in the message
of the redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to talk
about Him that bought her, paid for her, redeemed her. Here's
the fruit. of the saints' lips, the giving
of thanks to His name. And this is the message, the
means of the calling out of the elect. And that last verse right
there, He said, "...the roof of thy mouth, like the best wine
for My Beloved, that goeth down sweetly." You know He's talking
about the Gospel there. The Gospel of Christ. That's
her palate. That's her taste buds. That's
what she wants to talk about. And then it says, "...causing
the lips of those that are asleep to speak." This message. Now,
if you look in your margin there, it says, "...the lips of those
that are asleep." That word is, "...of the ancient." "...Of those
that are asleep." That's what it means. That's what it means.
"...Of the ancient." that are asleep to speech. The Lord God Himself is spoken
of in Daniel 7 and 9 as being the Ancient of Days. He is the Ancient of Days. And Daniel 7 and 9 says, Ã¬The
Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and
the hair of his head like pure Now, the Ancient of Days, the
Scripture says, Jeremiah, he said, I have loved you with an
everlasting love. Now, if the Ancient of Days has
loved a people with an everlasting love, then the Ancient of Days
has always loved them. in his mind and will and purpose,
they are of the ancient." Now, the interpretation of those that
are asleep to speak means of the ancient. That's who it is.
So this gospel that is the palate of the believer, the palate of
God's people, her taste that she savors and longs for, that
gospel that where is the roof of her mouth, like the best wine
for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of
those who are of the ancient to speak in life, causes those
that are asleep, those dead in trespasses and sins, like all
men, we all were born in sin, but God's sheep Those who are
of the ancient speak. Those lips speak in life. They speak in obedience to Him.
They cry out for mercy. They seek after Him for forgiveness
and ask. They speak to Him in obedience
because He has spoken to them in power. That's the savor of
the bride. She loves to hear. That message
of Christ and longs after Him, that's the palate of her taste
buds. And that which she loves to taste
is the means. It's the power of God unto salvation. And it says here in the Song
of Solomon, that palate of hers causes those to speak who are
asleep, those who are of the ancient. Okay, Gary, you come.

How Fair and How Pleasant

What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

How do we know that God delights in His people?

Why is the concept of God choosing His people important for Christians?

What is the significance of the metaphor of the palm tree in the Bible?

How does the church reflect the image of Christ?

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How Fair and How Pleasant

What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

How do we know that God delights in His people?

Why is the concept of God choosing His people important for Christians?

What is the significance of the metaphor of the palm tree in the Bible?

How does the church reflect the image of Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Marvin Stalnaker

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