Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Song of Solomon, chapter 6. Song of Solomon, chapter 6, verses 1 to 3. Whither is thy
beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whether is thy beloved
turn aside, that we may seek him with thee? My beloved is
gone down into his garden, to the bed of spices to feed in
the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and my beloved
is mine. He feedeth among the lilies." had just related to the daughters
of Jerusalem. Her revelation that she had of
Him that had been taught her by the Spirit of God, everything
that we know concerning the Lord Jesus Christ is taught us by
the Holy Spirit. She had just in the 5th chapter,
and we took quite a while to go over word by word, what she
said concerning Him. Her summation of everything concerning
Him was in that 16th verse of the 5th chapter. She said, He
is altogether lovely. That word, lovely, means He's
delightful. He's altogether delightful, lovely. Lovely in the eternal covenant
to be the surety of the sheep. He's lovely because He's my covenant
head. He has covenanted the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit to be my surety, He's going to make
good on God's good pleasure and purpose to show mercy to His
people in all that is demanded, required. The Lord Jesus Christ
said in that eternal covenant, Bob, I'll make good on that. He was lovely. in His incarnation,
that holy thing, the Spirit of God related to Mary that is within
thee, shall be called the Son of God. He was lovely in His
life on this earth as the sheep's representative, as the glorifier
of the Father, By His obedience to the law, He said in His high
priestly prayer in John 17, I finished the work that you gave Me to
do. You know nobody can say that
but Him. The Lord has called men to preach the gospel. But there is not a man born in
Adam that would ever make this statement. I finish the work
that you gave me to do." We preach the gospel, but we preach in
Christ's stead. We say that which He said. He
was lovely in His meekness, in His submissiveness to the will
and purpose, the work of Almighty God, while being accused before
Pilate, He opened not His mouth. submitted to the cruel mockings
of the Jews. He was lovely in His death. He
atoned for the sins of His people, covered, dying under the law's
judgment, being made sin. He who knew no sin, that He might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. He was lovely in
His resurrection, raised from the dead. raised for our justification. He was lovely in His ascension.
He ascended into the hill of the Lord. Who shall ascend? That's what Scripture asks. Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall? I'll tell
you who shall. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. It was Him. He was lovely. Now in His place in heaven, seated
at the right hand of the Majesty on high, when He had by Himself
purged our sins, there, ever living to make intercession for
His people, the bride said of Him, He is altogether lovely.
Not a thing that I can say concerning Him that is not lovely." Well,
having heard that description of His cheeks and his locks and
his head and his lips and his mouth having heard that description
from the bride, the daughters of Jerusalem asked this question,
Whether is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whether
is thy beloved turned aside that we may seek him with thee? This
is what I want to speak on tonight for just a few minutes. is Christ
found? Where is He found? Now, you know,
the question posed to the bride is a good question. Where is
He found? I'll tell you, every person that
knows Him, believingly, by faith, savingly, by regeneration, every
person that hears that question, where is he found? They've heard
him preached, set forth, but still that question right there
raises the ear of a believer. Where is he found? Here's what
they say. Tell me one more time. Tell me one more time. Tell me
where he's found. Believers truly want to know.
They want to hear it. They know. You know where he's
found. But they want to hear it one
more time. Tell me one more time. The Scripture relates a promise
in Jeremiah 29, 13. It says, And you shall seek Me
and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart. I'll tell you, let me give you
a little quick secret on that. That heart that you seek Him
by is not the heart that you were born with in Adam. I can
tell you that. He said, ìIíll give you a new
heart. Iíll give you a new spirit.î He said, ìYou seek Me. You shall.
You shall seek Me.î He said, ìAnd ye shall seek Me.î Godís
sheep, they seek Him. An unbeliever doesnít seek Him. No man seeks after God. Thatís
what Scripture says. But believers do. And He said,
ìYouíll find Me. You will when you search for
Me with all of your heart.î But here the daughters of Jerusalem
ask a question. And I'm going to tell you, as
I've told you before, there's a whole lot of speculation on
who these daughters are. Some say they're young believers. As I've told you before, I have
a hard time with that because if a young believer is speaking
to the bride, then that young believer is part of the bride.
You see what I'm saying? Some say it may be Old Testament
saints and the New Testament saints. The church is the church. I think, I truly believe this
is so. And I'm willing to say if the
Lord were to reveal to me, I'd come right back this next week
and say, you know what? I truly think I may have been
wrong on that one. This is what I think. This is
what I truly believe. I truly believe that these are
probably nominal professors, those who profess to know Him
but don't. They're in the church, the wise
and foolish virgins, the tares and the wheat, those that have
an appearance. Here the daughters of Jerusalem
ask a question, whether is thy beloved gone? O thou fairest
among women, where is thy beloved?" Well, why if she's a part of
the church, why is she not her beloved also? You see what I'm
saying? Where is thy beloved? These daughters of Jerusalem, turn back to a couple of pages,
back to Song of Solomon 2, verses 1 and 2. Let me show you why
I believe that this is who she is. In Song of Solomon 1 and
2, I am the rose of Sharon as the lily of the valleys, as the
lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. You see,
there are those within the body, there is some wheat and there
are some tanners. I don't know. I don't see the
heart and you don't either. And there are some that profess,
they make a sound and they know the right words and they know
the right lingo and they know how to say. They say certain,
but they are unbelievers. That is why in the parable they
asked the Lord of the vineyard there and said, do you want us
to go in there and tear out the tares? He said, no, leave them
alone. Let them all grow together in
the harvest. I will separate them. We'll bundle
them all up, but you just leave them alone. Just preach the Gospel. But why would this group ask
after Christ? Why did she ask that? Where there
is thy Beloved gone, O Pharisee? Why would she ask that? Turn
over to John 6, the Gospel of John chapter 6, verse 22. Why would they ask these daughters
after Christ? What were they seeking? They
were asking a good question. Where is thy Beloved gone, O
Pharisee among men, and where is thy Beloved turned aside that
we may seek Him with you? Why was she seeking Him? John
6, beginning in verse 22, the day following when the people
which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was
none other boat there save that one whereunto his disciples were
entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the
boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone, howbeit
there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they
did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks. When the
people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples,
they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus."
And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they
said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them
and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me not because
you saw the miracles, that is to say, not because you saw the
Lord of the miracles, but because you did eat the loaves and were
filled. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for Him hath God
the Father sealed." Now, there was these people in John 6 that
the Scripture says from the words of the Lord, He said, You sought
Me, but you sought Me for the wrong reason. He said, You sought
Me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate. Don't labor
for the meat that perisheth. Obviously, concerning that Scripture,
men may appear to honor and seek after Christ. They did, based
on the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ, seek Him, sought after
Him. But they sought after Him for
the temporal blessings. Now let me ask you something.
Is that not the most obvious thing in the world of religion
today? I mean, just open your eyes,
turn on the television. Brother Scott and I are talking
about that tonight. Turn on the television and watch and listen
to what they're saying. If you'll do this, sow a little
bit of seed, the Lord wants to bless you. If you'll let Him. Come on now. Send a little money
here. Now this ministry is going to
fold if you don't do so and so. Men may put on a religious garment
when it suits their purpose. And they will, according to Luke
13, 24, seek to enter in and shall not be able. They'll seek. Going about, probably what is
meant hears many in a superficial manner from a principle of self-love
and self-righteousness with an outward show only, in that day
they will say, ìWe have eaten and drunk in Thy presence. You
taught in our streets.î Others are going to say, ìLord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Thy name and cast out devils in thy
name done many wonderful works, and then I will profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity." You see, it's very possible that many will make
an outward appearance of a sincere inquiry. The seed falls on stony
ground. Scripture says it springs up
quickly. It looks good. The sun comes
out, though, and it just withers. There's no root there. Foolish
virgins, the demises of this world. But only Christ truly
knows the sheep. Only God Almighty sees the heart. Man looks on the outside. God
sees the heart. And the bride, in response to
that question, The daughters of Jerusalem ask
her, where is He? We want to seek Him just like
you. And the bride does the only thing
that she can do. She gives the answer of where
He is found. Where can He be found? I don't
know and you don't know who God's sheep are. We don't. If there
is any of us that continue to the end faithfully, savingly,
it will be by the grace of God. And if He doesn't keep us, there's
not a person in this room tonight, if He didn't keep us, that would
be fateful. None of us would. Kept by the
power of God. But when that bride, I mean,
when the daughters of Jerusalem ask the bride, where is he found? She does the only thing she can
do. She tells the truth. That's what we're here. We're
here to comfort God's people. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord. Tell them of Him. We're not here
to uproot tares or pick out foolish virgins or something. We're here
to preach Christ. Set forth Him. And we know this,
God's going to call out His sheep. That's what He's going to do.
Tell them where He's found. The Lord Jesus is found in the
only place where the Spirit of God reveals Him to be in the
Gospel. The bride says in verse 2, My
beloved is gone down into His garden to the beds of spices
to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies. Where is He found? Where is He? The daughters ask
the bride. Where is He that we may seek?
She says, This is where He is. He's gone down. gone down into
His garden, where do we find out where He is? Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. It is here. in the preaching
of the gospel that any who are drawn by the Holy Ghost to Christ
hear of Him." Turn over to Romans 10. Verse 13, "...whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall appeal to the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? For a man
or a woman to call upon the Lord savingly, they have got to believe
on Him. How are they going to believe
in Him of whom they have not heard? You have got to hear.
And how Shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." So we know this. Where do we know anything concerning
where Christ is found? We are going to hear of Him,
the finding of Him in the revelation of the gospel of God's grace,
blessed by the Spirit of God. Believers in Christ are lifelong
seekers. That's the truth. They're lifelong
seekers. You that have believed for years
and years and years, you know what you're doing right now?
You're seeking after Him, following after Him, longing after Him. They're in the place that He's
been pleased to manifest Himself and feed His sheep. Scott and
I were talking a moment ago. I told him, I said, you know,
it is still an amazing thing to me that Almighty God would
be pleased to raise up a place in Katy, West Virginia. It still amazes me how small
Katy, West Virginia is. I'm telling you, it's from a
green sign right over there to, I guess, a green sign up here,
but it's just Katy. Katy, West Virginia. And Almighty God was pleased
to raise up and then give some folks a heart, bring them together
to want to come and hear the message of the Lord Jesus Christ
that they've heard preached time and time and time. Fifty years! A man has stood in this pulpit
and preached Christ, and there's people that come every week to
hear it, and they hear it like they've never heard it before.
They just rejoice in it like it was a brand new message. That's
amazing to me. When the bride gives the answer
to the daughters of Jerusalem, And that's what we're doing today.
This is where He's found. She was truly ministering to
her own heart. The daughters of Jerusalem asked,
Where is He found? She said, This is where He is.
She started telling Him and she listened to her word and she
said, Oh, that's the truth. That's good. The bride knew that
His presence was not keenly recognized by herself at times. There had
been times back in Song of Solomon when she looked for Him, couldn't
find Him. But I'll tell you, the confidence
with which she answered revealed the hope that she had. There
was a time she's looking for Him. There's times that God's
sheep, by the Lord's good pleasure, He just withdraws His manifest
presence from them for a while. And he knows just exactly how
to draw them to himself. But though that there are times
when his presence is not recognized as keenly, maybe, as others,
Paul says in the heart of every believer, I know whom I have
believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day. That is what
Job said. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. I know He
can do all things. Here is the place where Christ
is found. Where is your Beloved? That I
may seek Him. She said, My Beloved has gone
down into His garden. Oh, He said, where two or three
are gathered. Gather in My name. I am in the
midst of you. Song of Solomon. Just look back
at chapter 5 and verse 1. I will tell you. What is the
garden? She said He'd gone down into
His garden. What is the garden? Well, the
Scriptures relate to who that is. I am come into My garden,
My sister, My spouse. The garden of the Lord. The garden is the Lord's people. Where is He found? I'm telling
you, He's found in the midst, the place where His gospel is
set forth. where His people assemble themselves
together in the hearing of Him. That's where He's found. That's
why we've come this evening. The Lord has been pleased to
grant us one more time an assembly to be able to come together.
That's what we're doing. We've just come together tonight
to seek Him, Gary, just to hear of Him. That's all I want to
hear about. Tell me of Him. The garden of the Lord, the church
He came to. She said He's gone down into
His garden. He tabernacled among them. A garden, the Scripture reveals
in Song of Solomon, that was blown upon by the north wind
of His chasting because of His love for, in the south wind of
the revelation of His mercy. A garden. is a well-enclosed,
well-planted, well-watered, well-pruned, well-guarded place that produces
much fruit. John 15, 1 and 2, you might go
back and read that. He says every tree that's in
my Father's garden is pruned, that it will produce more fruit. But this garden is that He's
gone down I want you to notice that. He said, My beloved is
gone down into his, look at that, garden, garden, garden. I've gone down into my garden.
One. It's one garden. But it says,
to the beds of spices to feed in the gardens. Notice that? It's one church. One church. But there's different places.
where that one church is found. Danville, Ashland, Katy, different
places. But she says, my beloved has
gone down into his garden, into the bride, to tabernacle with
her where the gospel is preached and where he is revealed. That's
where he's found. He's found in the hearing and
the preaching of the gospel when the Spirit of God reveals it. He's found when the Holy Ghost
teaches His people. That's how He's found. He's not
found by my intellect, by my ability to figure Him out. He's revealed. He's shown in
these beds of spices. These are actually the fragrant
flowers of redemption, salvation, righteousness, intercession which
bloom in His garden. Look back. Turn back to Song
of Solomon 4.16. I just quoted part of this. It
says, "...Away, go northwind, and come thy south. Blow upon
my garden," that is, upon my people, upon my beloved, upon
my church, "...that the spices thereof may flow out." These
spices are His gift, His redemption. His salvation, His righteousness,
the spices of Himself, of His glory and His honor blow upon
my garden. That which I have done for her,
let her smell that. Let her smell of Me. Fragrance
of Me. He has gone down into His garden
to the beds of spices to feed in the gardens in these different
manifestations, these different places. that he's raised up a
hearing. It's one garden, but many different
places of that garden. He's found there feeding, it
says, to feed in the gardens. But this is not him feeding. It's not him feeding himself.
It's him feeding to feed in the garden. He'd come down there
to feed her. setting forth Himself as the
bread of life. He feeds His sheep through that
preaching, through that pastor. I'll give you pastors, He said,
according to my heart, who feed the sheep with knowledge and
understanding. It's by the Spirit-blessed Gospel
of Christ that the garden is nourished. This is nourishment. This is spiritual food. The Bride
comes. I think about these days when
it snows, and I know that the Lord is the one who sends the
snow. But I tell you this, when we're not able to meet, I just
miss it. I miss the fellowship. I miss
being able to be together. I mean, if the Lord pleases to
cause these days to ice up the roads, it just makes us hungrier
the next time we're together to hear of Him. And the Spirit
of God blesses that Gospel to the people and she's nourished
by it. And it's not only that He's found
and He's feeding them, but He says to gather lilies. My Beloved
has gone down into His gardens to the beds of spices to feed
in the gardens to gather lilies. Now these lilies, I just read
just a few minutes ago in Song of Solomon 2.2. So you'll remember
that. He says, "...as the lily among
thorns, so is My love among the daughters." She's the lily. And He's here. What is He doing?
He's here to gather the lilies. Now, you know, it could be said
that He gathered His lilies by His death. It says in John 11,
Let me just read this to you. John 11, verse 50 to 52. It says, Nor consider that it
is expedient for us that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not. Now this word was quoted
by the high priest that year, but it was prophetic in that
he was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. spake he not of himself,
but being a high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus
should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but
that also He should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad." So we could say that He's there gathering
His sheep in that He died for them to gather them. Scripture says in John 12, 32,
"...if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto
Me." It could be said that He gathers them by the effectual
drawing of the Holy Ghost unto Himself in regeneration. John
10, 1-3, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not
by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same as a thief and a robber, but he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep by name. leads them out. It could be said,
thirdly, that He gathers them together out of this world through
physical death. 2 Timothy 4, 6, Paul says, For
I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure
is at hand. You see, the gathering of the
saints out of this world is according to His purpose. He said, Now
I am ready, the time. of my departure." The soul that
is God's is removed from this place, from this state to another. From a house of clay to a house
not made with hands. It's a departure. And that word
departure represents an existence afterward. I'm just departing,
just changing. Now, I perfectly understand that
This thing of death, it's a mysterious thing that we don't know that
much about. But when we die, we know that
we'll go from this place to another. My departure, time of my departure,
that statement there reveals that this life is but a pilgrimage,
a sojourning which is fixed and settled. The psalmist said in
Psalm 90 verse 12, So teach us to number our days. It didn't say years. Number our
days that we may apply our hearts unto knowledge. And then the
confidence of that bride in that last verse after the daughters
of Jerusalem ask her, Where is she gone? And she said, This
is where he is. He come down into his garden.
That's what the Gospel reveals. That the Gospel sets forth what
Almighty God has done, accomplished, purposed and finished. Gone to
His garden, into beds of spices, feed in the gardens and gathers
His lilies. Then she said, here is my confidence.
I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine. He feedeth among the
lilies. And knowing that He gathers The
bride expresses her hope in Him. This is what she said, ìI am
my Belovedís.î She is her Belovedís first of all by being a gift
from the Father to the Son. The bride was given Him. John
17 says, ìI have manifested Thy name unto the men that Thou gavest
Me out of the And then she is His, secondly, by purchase. He bought her. The Father gave
Him to her in a covenant, everlasting contract. And then He came into
this world and bought her, paid for her. Acts 2.28, Take heed
therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which
He hath purchased with His own blood. She's His. That's what
the bride says, I am my Beloved's. The Father gave me to Christ. Secondly, He bought me, paid
for me. And thirdly, she is His by her
willing consent. Psalms 110.13, Thy people shall
be willing. That word willing there means
free. in the day of thy power. By grace, by God's grace, by
a new creation, by a new man, a new mind, a new birth, born
again. She's willing. Thy people shall
be willing, willing to come where before, dead in trespasses and
sin. She wasn't willing to come. She
didn't want to. willing to come to Christ, willing
to believe, willing to love, willing to obey because if the
Son of Man who has made her free, if the Son of Man makes you free,
you are free. You are free. Free indeed! Free because He was made a curse. He was made to be sin. He was
made sin who knew no sin." And she says, and now, I am my Beloved's. If there is not a believer in
this room tonight, you know that you are His by gift. You know
that you are His by purchase. And you know that you are His
because you willingly came to Him when He gave you heart to
come. Thy people shall be my sheep. Hear my voice. And what? They come to me by faith. The faith by which they come
is the faith that was given them to come. The faith of the Lord
Jesus Christ. She says, I am my Beloved's and
my Beloved is mine. He has betrothed Himself to me. He has given Himself to me. And
based on His Word, He said, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not considered my beloved. Where is your beloved gone? He's
gone down into his garden to feed lilies, feed in the gardens
and to gather the lilies. I am my beloved's and my beloved
is mine. Gary.