Turn with me to the book of Song
of Solomon, chapter 2. Song of Solomon, I'd like to pick up where we left off in
verse 14 through the end of the chapter. The Scripture says, beginning
in verse 14, O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let
me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance
is comely. Take us the foxes, the little
foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.
My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies
until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains of Bethar. Amazing grace! is the only way
to explain the love of the Savior to a sinner. Now, I say explain
it. I'm not here to explain anything,
but to proclaim the Word of God. But there's no other explanation
that Almighty God would have mercy upon anybody except for
this. I will, He said, have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. Grace describes the way in which
the bridegroom views the bride. He said, this is how I see you. Now the bride truthfully will
say of herself, every individual believer says, oh my, it must
be by grace. For I know He sees me much more
than I even see myself. And what I see in myself is unbearable. to the bride in such a way to
remove all doubt of His love for her because He has explained,
He's told her in the Scriptures. Here is the way we know. That's what we talked about just
a few moments ago. This is how we know. This is
how God speaks. He speaks through His Word. The living Word speaks through
the written Word. Blessed by the Spirit of God,
And the sheep hear. They hear His voice. But He says
unto her in that 14th verse, Oh, my dove. I had to stop there
for a minute and just look at the word, Oh. 1 John 3 says, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. I've heard it said, it's not
what you say, but how you say it. And I agree with that totally. It's not what you say. It's how
you say it. This may be true with you and
with me, but concerning Him, it's what He says and how He
says it that ignites the heart of the
believer. Oh, I mean, as he's going to
speak to his bride, he says, Oh, over the fifth chapter, we'll
deal with this, Lord willing, in the next few weeks. He says,
You've ravished me. I've brought this out before.
That's one of the most amazing verses I have ever read in my
life. He said, You've ravished me with
one of your eyes. That word ravished. Not ravaged,
but ravished. You've stolen my heart. He said, I'm heartless when I
behold you. Because He views her in the beauty
that He has given her. He looks upon her in His righteousness. That's the way God sees her.
You've ravished me. My dove. The bride is His bride. His. His by eternal choice. God's choice. Chosen from the
foundation of the world. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13, God hath from the beginning chosen you. to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth." Sanctification set apart
and declared holy, justified by the imputed righteousness
of Christ from the foundation of the world. God viewed her
in His eternal purpose and will and choice. Viewed her in Christ. He chose her, looked upon her,
His sheep, His bride. How long has she been His sheep?
Always. She's always been sheep. Of the
sheep I have, the Lord said, not of this fold. Them I must
get. I must bring them. Lost sheep,
I'm sure of that. But I'll tell you this, they're
sheep. Lost sheep, found sheep, God's sheep. He said, Oh, my
dove, my, my dove. He is by God's eternal choice. He is by purchase. When you buy
something, you have a receipt, proof. You paid for that? Yep, here's a receipt right there.
Bought it. Paid for it. Turn with me to
John chapter 20. John 20. Thomas. We talk about doubting
Thomas. John 20 verse 24. When the Lord declares His sheep,
His bride to be His, He says, John 20, verse 24, But Thomas,
one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came with the other disciples. Therefore said unto him, We have
seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except
I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger
in the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side,
I will not believe. And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace
be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. And Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have believed." We are His by purchase. He bought us. We are bought with
a price. Almighty God chose the people,
gave them to His Son. They are His by God's choice. They are His by His purpose. I mean, purchase. The four and
twenty elders in Revelation 5, 8 fell down before the Lamb and
sung a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and
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 Paul in Acts 20, 28 charged
the elders of the church at Ephesus He said, Take heed, therefore,
unto yourselves and 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." We are His by God's choice. We are His by
His own purchase. But I tell you, you that believe,
the bride is His by surrender, by sheep, by people. shall be
willing in the day of thy power." David said in Psalm 57, my heart
is fixed. My heart is fixed. My heart is
fixed. I will sing and give praise.
The Lord said, My sheep hear My voice. I know them. They follow
Me. Why do you come? Why does a believer
come? Because God has given the heart
to come. He comes because He wants to come. He wants to. Follow
by yielding to His guidance and seek for His leadership. They
do it joyfully. Oh, my dove! By faith, the Scripture
says, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Boy, does that word bother you? Does that bother you? Choose
it! People say, I don't believe in it. Well, I'm going to tell
you something. God Almighty gave a man a heart to come. That man
chooses. He chooses because God chose
him first. I'll tell you that. He loves
the Lord because the Lord loved him first. Choosing rather. to suffer affliction with the
people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. They come, God's people come,
because they want to come. The bride is His. And they look
at Him and behold Him with affection. He says to her, Oh, my dove,
my dove. You know, I looked up the first
time that word was used. Turn with me to Genesis. Genesis
chapter 8. Something was written about a
dove. The Lord refers to her as a dove, the bride as a dove.
Genesis 8. Look at verse 6. It came to pass at the end of
forty days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had
made, and he sent forth a raven which went forth to and fro till
the waters were dried up from off the earth, and also he sent
forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from
off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for
the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him, into the ark,
for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put
forth his hand, took her, pulled her in unto him unto the ark. And I thought, you know, that
dove, the Scripture says, found no rest for the sole of her foot. Where does a believer find rest?
In Christ. Oh, my dove. There's so much
that's insinuated about the dove. The dove is one that's been taught
something of depending upon Almighty God. That symbolism. depending
on Him for wisdom. The Scripture says in Matthew
10 and 16, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of
wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents
and harmless as doves. They are defenseless in themselves. What can a dove do? Have you
ever seen a savage dove? I mean, they are helpless. They
are just helpless. Creatures. Be wise as serpents. Thoughtful, discreet, cautious,
practical, and harmless. Innocent. Innocent. You know, it takes great wisdom
to know what to say and when to say it. One end of the spectrum. At times we'll desire to say
something to somebody. We'll hold our tongue to avoid
persecution. And on the other end, we cast
our pearls before swine without regard to a place or a time or
circumstances. Truly, who is sufficient to know
what to do? Be harmless as doves. We need
Him. Be wise as serpents and harmless
as doves. But here the Lord says, O My
doves, My helpless one that is dependent upon Me, to defend
yourself against enemies. My sinful one, that's what he's
saying. My timid one that trembles at
the very sight of danger. My sensitive one, sensitive to
evil within and without. Those that groan within because
of the presence of sin. My faithful one. Doves are faithful
creatures. Kept. That's what we are. By
the power of God through faith. You are my dove. Oh, my dove. Back in Song of Solomon, he says
that art in the clefts of the rock. Here's your security. You can't defend yourself. You
are defenseless. You're not the aggressor. Doves are often found in the
recesses of rocks. because the timid, the wise man,
feareth or respects God and departs from evil, while the fool rageth
and is confident. Doves have a sufficient reason,
believers have a sufficient reason to fear the cause of a corruptness
within, without, sin present, all around. Oh, my dove, you're
in the cleft of the rock. That's where I've put you. That's
where I've hidden you. The Lord told Moses, I will put
thee in the cleft of the rock, in the refuge of the rock for
safety. Deuteronomy 33.27 says the eternal
God is thy refuge. and underneath of the everlasting
arms." He said, I've looked upon you in favor, O my doves, thou
art, you are in Christ, the cleft of the rock, in the secret places
of the stairs. I looked at that for a long time. Think I have something on it?
Turn with me to Ezekiel. I want to just show you something.
Ezekiel chapter 38. The secret places of the stairs. That's what it says. Ezekiel
38. Now, you know if the Lord says,
you are My dove, well, you know this, you know that she's God's
dove. You know that. If He says you're
in the cleft of the rock, you know that she's in Christ, chosen
in Christ, secured in Christ, kept, you know that. Then He
tells her, He says, you're in the secret places of the stairs. In Ezekiel 38 and verse 20, this is what the Scripture says.
so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven,
and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that
creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face
of the earth shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall
be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every
wall shall fall to the ground." Now you see that word, steep,
Places. You may look in your margin right
there. It says, towers or stairs. Okay? Towers of rebellion is
what that is. Everything that rises up against
Almighty God is going to fail. That's what He said. Every steep
place. The mountains are going to be
thrown down. The steep places shall fall. The stairs. All that's
in this world All of it, every bit of it, is going to fall. The stairs. The Lord tells His
bride back in Song of Solomon 2.14, You are My dove, you are
in the cliffs of the rock, you are in the secret places of the
stairs. The stairs there, according to
Ezekiel 38, is concerning this world, this place of rebellion.
The Lord told His people. He said, you're not of this world. I'm not of this world. You're
not of this world. When He was praying to His Father
over in John 17, John 17, verse 13, He said, I come to thee. These things speak I in the world
that they might and have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I've
given them Thy Word, and the world hath hated them because
they're not of this world." They're not of the world. They're not
of the world. Even as I'm not of the world.
He said, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil, from
the towers, from the stairs, from the rebellion. Verse 17,
sanctify them through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. Set them apart. Keep them. They're in the world. I'm not praying, the Lord Jesus
said, that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but keep
them. Secure them. Hide them. Hide them. Song of
Solomon 2.14 says, my dove, you're in the cliffs of the rock, in
the secret places. of the stairs, these towers of
rebellion against God and His people. The stairs, these towers
and steep places of oppression are there. They're there. The
stairs are there. The towers are there. The world
is there. You're in the world. You're in
the midst of wolves in sheep's clothing. But they're secret
places. Only known by Almighty God where
God keeps them. Secret, hidden places of God's
protection. These places where the saints
are maintained while in this life. Watched over, kept. You're in the cleft of..." That's
one statement that he's making in verse 14 of Song of Solomon
2. "...O my dove, thou art in the
clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs." He's still
talking about her protection. You see that? He's keeping her.
Secret places. And he says, let me see thy countenance
while the bride is safe, protected by His omnipotence. kept while
in this world. David said in Psalm 27, for in
the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the
secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me. He shall set me on
a rock. The Lord told him, He said, you're
in the secret places of the stairs. Then he longs for communion. with her. He tells her, he says,
I long to see. Let me see thy countenance. Let me behold you. Let me look
upon you. Let me view your beauty. He looks upon her as she comes
to Him in the very faith that He gave her. In the very beauty
in which He robed her. Let me see you count. Let me just look at you. I'm
telling you, I wouldn't want to embarrass any of you wives
or anything like this, but, I mean, you know, if your husband were
to just stop, there would probably be something said after this
service, Brother Scott, but, you know, if he just stopped
and he said, let me just look at you. You're so lovely. I just want to look at you. I mean, wouldn't that do something? Let me behold. Let me see thy
countenance. Let me look upon you. He says
in that last part of that 14th verse, he said, Thy countenance
is comely. You're beautiful. You're beautiful. Robed in His righteousness. All together lovely as He is
altogether lovely in Him. Oh, comely, with that righteousness
that He has charged, His heart yearns to see His own light,
His own beauty upon the bride, that He might behold her beauty
that brings honor to Himself and to the Father. Let me see
you, countenance. Let me hear your voice. Let me
hear the voice. That unspoken voice. Believers, as they hear the gospel
of Christ, the gospel of God preached, they worship. They worship. A voice of worship
that Almighty God alone sees. I'm not talking about this silly,
false, fake, I see these guys on television and I'll hear them
say, you know, give the Lord a hand of praise. And I guess
that means to clap. You know, I guess that's the
only thing I can figure, that's all they ever do. And I'm going to tell
you something. God's sheep, there's a voice
of worship and praise and adoration that they don't know how to voice.
You ask a believer, say, how do you voice your voice of praise?
I don't know. How do you speak to Him in words
that give honor to Himself? I don't know. My heart burns. I worship, praise, thank Him,
worship Him in hearing Him and believing Him. Look over in John
4. John 4.24. This is the Lord. This is worship. I'm not saying I understand what
everything this is saying. I'm just telling you this is
it. God is Spirit. John 4, 24. And they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. They hear the Gospel. They hear the Word of Almighty
God. And they worship God. in Spirit,
in the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit, blessed by the Holy Spirit, the
Word of God blessed by the Holy Spirit. And Almighty God bears
witness with their spirit, Romans 8, 16, that they are the sons
of God. They worship. They believe Him. The essence
of worship, I can tell you this, is believe in God. They believe
Him. They believe Him. Abraham believed
God. And it was charged to him. Righteousness. He said, let me see you, countenance. Let me hear your voice. Sweet
voice. Pleasant is the voice of the
believer to him. Most pleasant. For her voice
is the voice of the redeemed. The voice of belief. The voice
of praise. The voice of thanksgiving. She
worships Him. A voice wrought by faith. And the bride responds to His
request in verse 15. That was the Lord speaking in
that 14th verse. And then she responds. And she says, take us the foxes,
the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender
grapes. Seize all that would hinder fellowship
with you. Keep us from false teachers. Ezekiel 13 verse 4 says, O Israel,
thy prophets are like the foxes in the desert. They're crafty. They're cruel. These foxes have
holes where they're They cunningly creep in to destroy widows' houses. Little foxes. Whatever causes
division. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 18. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 18. Paul
says, first of all, Come together. When ye come together
in the church, I hear that there's divisions among you. I partly
believe it. Divisions. 1 Corinthians 3. Scripture says, For ye are yet
carnal, for whereas there is among you envy and strife and
division, so ye are not carnal, and walk as men. Keep us, the
bride says, from foxes. Little foxes, that which destroys
and eats at and all this yin-yang and whatever. For the sake of the gospel, if
you have some what against someone else, go to that person. Get it right. Ask their forgiveness. Let there be no divisions. Let
there be no envy and strife. For the sake and the honor of
the Lord Jesus Christ, go to that person. I heard Brother
Henry say one time, if you've got something against somebody
in this church, you get it right. You go to them and you ask them. Tell them, ask them to forgive
you. If they come to you and ask you to forgive them, then
you forgive them and forget it. Lord, keep us from these foxes. These little foxes keep us from
that that spoils the vines, that has one purpose, to bind and
destroy and corrupt and offend. We're His garden. We are His
trees of planting, kept by Him, fed, watered by Him. Fruits of
righteousness, the Scripture says. He must keep us. For we are the branches, He is
the vine. Our gardens have tender grapes. The bride says, take us, the
foxes, keep us. Keep us from the foxes, the little
foxes that spoil the vines. For our vines have tender grapes. Tender grapes. Our vines have
tender grapes. We are tender people. Lord, keep
us. We get our feelings hurt. We
get offended. Is there anything worth destroying
the fellowship, having problems? Is it worth that? As God Almighty
has forgiven you, you forgive one another. You consider what He's done for
us. Forgive one another. My Beloved, verse 16, is mine
and I am His. He feedeth among the lilies.
We hear the joyful confession of the bride. My Beloved is mine. Mine by grace, sovereign grace,
He's mine. He chose me and gave Himself
to me. He gave Himself. He gave Himself
to me. He reconciled me back to God. He's mine. He's mine. I didn't reach down and grab
Him and clutch Him and He came to me. He bought me. He bought me. Paid for me. He's mine. Chose me. Loved me. Gave Himself for me. Bears witness of me. Speaks to me kindly. Philippians 3.12 says, Paul speaking,
I follow after, if that I may appertain, that for which I also
am appertained of Christ Jesus. I follow after Him because He
came to me. He appertained me. I want Him.
He's mine and I'm His. I'm His. Christ and His body
are one. 1 Corinthians 12, 12 says, For
as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members
of that one body, so many are one body, so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 6, 17, But he that is joined unto the Lord is one
Spirit. I am His. He is mine and I am
His. We fellowship with Him. He loved me. I love Him. He gave
Himself for me. I'm willing in the day of His
power to give myself to Him. He made me willing. He called
me. I came. Because He gave me a
heart to come. I wanted to come. We're not our
own. Bought with a price. The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He feedeth. Last part of 16,
among the lilies, he feedeth among his own in green pastures. Believers are lilies because
of the purity and holiness imputed to them, charged to them. He
feeds his own with himself, the bread of life. He said, I am
the bread of life. Eat of me. He feedeth among the
lilies. Now that's what's happening.
We come together. Last weekend we had a conference. Two men come and preach to us. And I heard person after person
after person say this. Boy, wasn't that good. That was
so good. You know what that was? That's
feasting upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it is. That was good. Taste of Him!
Taste of me! See that I'm good! Drink of Me! Any man thirst? Come unto Me! God's people sit down and they'll
say this spiritually. I'm thirsty. Oh, I want to drink
of Him. I want to eat of Him. And they
anticipate what they're going to hear. And when they hear of
the Master, they hear of Him, they hear of the Bread of Heaven,
they hear how Almighty God has put away their guilt. and charged
it to another. They'll eat of that and they'll
taste that and they'll say, hmm, that tastes good again. That tastes good again. They'll drink of Him, the water
of life, and they'll say that tastes as it's never tasted any
better. He feedeth among the lilies. He feeds them well with His Word. Scripture says in Isaiah 25,
verse 6, And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make
unto all His people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines
on the leaves, L-E-E-S, of fat things, full of marrow, of wines
on the leaves. I looked that up. Wines on the
leaves. What is that? It means full-bodied. The best of it. The best of the
wine. Do you remember when the Lord
went to the wedding at Cana of Galilee and He turned water into
wine and the master of ceremonies, whoever he was, tasted it and
he says, normally, the best wine is served first. Then, lesser
qualities later, you know, after people have had A couple of glasses
there, you know, serve the lesser stuff, you know. I can't tell
the difference, you know. He said, this is better. This
is the best right here. Isaiah says this is the way he
feasts. This is the way he feeds. He
feeds a people of fat things. The best of it. The best of it. He feeds them a feast of wines
on the leaves, the full body. And He shall provide and protect
and feed, the Scripture says in verse 17, last verse, until
the daybreak. And the shadows flee away. That is, until that day. Until that day. Until the day
dawn. That last and glorious day when
Christ, the Son of Righteousness, shall appear and chase away the
shadows of the presence of sin and misery wherein all of His
people now dwell. They dwell in a world where there
is a shadow. It says He is going to feed among
the lilies until the daybreak and the shadow flee away. In that day, the day of eternal
public evidence of that anticipated marriage, when she hears. I don't know. I don't know what
will happen. But I know this, in that day,
the bride will hear. In that day, she's going to hear
the trump of God. I don't know exactly, but the
Scripture says that there was a time, it was a parable. And I don't know. But there was
a parable in the time in the arrival of the Bridegroom, and
it says in a mighty voice, a voice was heard and it said, The Bridegroom
cometh! Oh my! Can you imagine? In that day, He is going to feed
among the lilies until that day, until the shadows are gone. And
in that day, whether His Bride be in the ground asleep of whether
she's standing on this earth. Some will be. But in that day,
all are going to hear. They're going to hear. The bridegroom
cometh. It will be over. And the bride
says, oh, until that day. Until that day break. And the
shadows flee away. Until He come, she says, turn
My beloved, until the day break and the shadows flee away, turn. That word turn right there, it
means surround me. That's what it means. Surround
me. Keep me. Lord, I'm a pilgrim
in this world. I'm in this world. I'm in here
by Your good pleasure and providence. Hide me. You said you would.
I know you have. I'm hidden in the cleft of the
rock. In the secret places of the stairs. That's where you're keeping me.
You're protecting me. Nothing happens to me. Nothing
happens to God's sheep outside of His direct decree and providence
and good will. He orders her steps. Watches
over her and keeps her and protects her. She says, keep me from the
foxes. Spoiled the vines of all my beloved's
mine. I'm His. He feedeth among the
lilies till the day break and the shadows flee away. Surround
me. Just keep me. Just hold me. Hold me. Boarder me on every
side. Be thou like a roe or a young
heart upon the mountains of Bethar. Be thou Be thou like the strong,
sure-footed one. Be thou like the one that is
coming for Me." This is what she is saying. These mountains
right now, these hills and mountains of separation and division that
you just step on. Be thou like a roe or a young
heart upon the Mountains of division. That's what Bethar means. This place right now. I'm here. You're in the place where we
are. I know that. You're in our presence. But you know what she's saying?
She's saying this. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Make haste. Make haste, my Beloved. And be thou, in Song of Solomon
8.14, this is what it says, be thou like to a roe or to a young
heart upon the mountains of spices. Be thou. The bride is separated
by sight for a while. By faith she beholds Him. She
is in the garden, in His garden, in this earth, but she desires
His return. She desires to look upon Him. She desires to see Him. She desires that. I don't know a lot about dying
grace. I've heard of it. All I know about it is what I've
heard other people say that we're dying. But I know this. I know that
the closer one gets to that time when they'll leave this earth,
by the indescribable mercy and grace of Almighty God, I can
tell you based upon what I've seen from experience, the closer
a believer gets to that time of seeing Him, they wouldn't
trade places with you for anything. They desire to see Him by sight
and no more by faith. They desire that. Come quickly,
Lord Jesus. He gives them a heart to come
to Him. That's what the bride says. You
feed me. You feed among the lilies till
the dawn breaks, till that day breaks, shadows are gone. Turn
me, surround me, keep me, and come like a roe or a young heart
upon these mountains of division. Bring me to Yourself. I desire
You.