So we began our service looking
at these wonderful words. Last week we looked at what it
was to come out of this wilderness at the end of Song of Solomon,
but I wanted to go back to the beginning, but we looked at that
glorious description of the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride. And the question is asked, who
is this that cometh up? This is Song of Solomon 8.5.
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning on her
beloved? I love the fact that it speaks
of leaning. I love the fact that it speaks
of possession. It's her beloved. And we looked at what it was
to lean. And then she says in verse 6 of chapter 8, Set me
as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, For love
is strong as death, and jealousy as cruel as the grave. The coals
thereof are coals of fire, which has the most vehement flame.
There is a flaming love, there is a flaming love. action and
the glorious grace of God's gift. Let's read these first few verses
and I want us to be reminded that this is is the song of songs. It's the song of the Solomon
whose name is peace and he's the son of David and it is It
is, according to God and according to Solomon, the song of songs. So this is a special song. We
have so many songs in the scriptures, the Psalms, the songs, and we
have the songs of Miriam and of Moses and the people of Israel.
And we have all of those songs that are sent, those Psalms,
as they sang as they went up to Jerusalem, which are glorious
songs about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the song of songs. And
so these are precious words, aren't they? They are precious
words. I just wanted to read this first opening section of
it. And it's just full of the most
extraordinary declarations of who God is and the most extraordinary
and real declarations of who we are in this world as God's
people. This is a song of songs. Chapter
1 verse 1. Song of songs which is Solomon's. And this is a love story between
the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride. Like all of the scriptures,
they speak of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified, all
of them. Whether we understand it or not,
they are his words. And that's what she says, let
him, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy
love is better than wine. Because the savour of thy good
ointments Because of the sabre of thy good ointments, thy name
is as ointment poured forth. Therefore do the virgins love
thee. Draw me, this is her prayer again.
Let him kiss me. Draw me, seize a hold of me,
take hold of me, take hold of my life and draw me to yourself. Draw me, we will run after thee. The King hath brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. We will remember thy love more
than wine, the upright love thee. Notice the am is in italics in
our translation. I, black, but comely, are your daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me because I am
black. Because the sun has looked upon
me, my mother's children are angry with me. They may be the
keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. Tell me, O thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest
at noon? For why should I be as one that
turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? And his glorious answer in verse
eight, If thou know not among women, go thy way forth
by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the
shepherds' tents. And obviously I don't have time
to, I just wanted you to see the picture of her petitions
and the glorious picture of his answers and he's speaking of
his bride and he's speaking of the church, he's speaking of
the gathering of his people together where he reveals himself and
reveals his glory. Let him kiss me. Let him kiss me. What a remarkable picture of
the intimacy the Lord Jesus Christ has with his bride. She's saying,
don't hinder him kissing me, let him kiss me. It speaks, doesn't it, of the
glorious intimacy of love and the glorious intimacy of union. This is Christ and his church,
isn't it? Turn with me to a couple of scriptures
so that we know what we're looking at here because this is what
she is saying and Paul is saying the same thing. He says in Ephesians
chapter 5, Husbands, you love your wives even, verse 25, you
know it well. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without sin. What was the law to work in this
world? To do a work of glorious revelation of who God is, that
he might, in his body, of his flesh, through death, present
all of his church, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Are these words, are these words
that come as kisses? They do come as kisses to the
souls of God's people. Listen to what will happen for
all of his bride. in Revelation 21, and I saw a
new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw
the holy city, a new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God, the dwelling
place of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. And
they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things have passed away." And he that sat on the throne said,
behold, I make, you gaze upon this. These are the words, aren't
they? These are the words that kiss,
aren't they? The kisses of his mouth, these are his promises,
aren't they? Behold, I make all things new and he said unto me,
write. You write these down. Don't you love the scriptures
that are written? We can go back and read them again and again
and again and we can go back and read them so I don't understand
it but I believe it. You help me. You have to kiss
me with the kisses of your mouth. These words have come from your
mouth. It's our God who speaks. Write for these words. They're true words. God cannot
lie, brothers and sisters. God cannot lie. These words are true and they're
faithful. Means they're full of faith.
Faithful words. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth. What proceeds from the mouth
of the Lord Jesus Christ? The very words of God proceed
from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're gloriously written
and carried to us by the work of the Holy Spirit. So there,
that's what I want to be kissed with. That's what the bride wants
to be kissed with, doesn't she? The very first petition of hers
is, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Let his
word come to me as a word of affection, a word of embrace,
a word of love, a word that speaks of his glory and a word that
speaks of my union with him." And listen to what she then says,
"'For thy love, is better than wine. Wine which gladdens the
heart. But thy love is better than wine.
What's wine picture in the New Testament when we have the Lord's
Supper? The wine speaks of his blood. This is the blood of the
new covenant which is shed for you. He shed that blood for these
particular people. And why did he shed that blood
for them? Because he loved them. God so loved. God so loved that he sent. Are they words that come to you as
words of affection? This is a love letter, isn't
it? This is a love letter between the Lord Jesus Christ and his
bride. And if you are like the Shulamite, down in verse five,
black. Black. What's black speak of? Sin and lostness and death. She says I'm black. on black
but comely. See right at the very beginning
of this song we have a glorious description of our Saviour, we
have a glorious description of his death, we have a glorious
description of his love, we have a glorious description of his
name and we have a glorious description from God of who we are. One of
the wonderful, wonderful comforting words, one of the words that
kiss that come as a kiss to God's people, that in this world, Adam
in us, Adam what we are in this flesh, never changes. I am thankful, I'm so thankful
for the changes that we do see. I'm very thankful for people,
so many people that want to live in kindness and in all sorts
of ways. But you scratch every one of
Adam's children and out will come that. Out will come that. And when God saves a sinner,
he puts something, he puts himself in a sinner. It's Christ in you. So she can say, and all of God's
children, like Paul in Romans chapter 7, he said, I'm a wretched
man. Everything I touch with these
hands is sin. I wish to do good and I find that sin is there
with me all the time. Is that your experience? Dear brothers and sisters, we're
not excusing sin, but we're being honest. If God is going to kiss
you with the kiss of his mouth, we're going to be honest about
who we are and what we are. It's Christ in you. It is the
new creation. It's the new heart, a new heart
that he puts in his people. Listen to how he describes it.
I do love this verse in Ephesians 4. He talks about the new man. You
put on the new man, you believe who God is, you believe who the
Lord Jesus Christ is as he declared himself to be. The new man which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. The new man
is Christ in you. This is the intimacy of the union
between the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. He has so washed
them from their sins and made them holy in his presence that
God Almighty, holy God Almighty can come and dwell in them. And
then he says to them, he says, whosoever is born of God, whosoever
has this new creation, that's what Nicodemus needed, a new
creation, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. Because his seed remaineth in
him. It's speaking of the two natures.
She is both black. She says, I am black. I black. I black, but comely. I black, but comely. I'm black,
but I'm beautiful. I'm black, on the outside, I'm black in
my flesh, my Adam flesh. It is such a comfort, it's such
a kiss of his mouth for us to know that all of our holiness
is in the Lord Jesus Christ and absolutely nothing in us. If
I'm black, I need the light of God to shine upon me. I need,
I need, and the Shulamite is talking about it, I need and
you need, all of God's people, that's what Nicodemus was told,
you need a new heart, you need a new A new heart also I will give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and take away the
stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I was thinking about a stone
today. Remarkable things, aren't they? It's completely dead. It's
completely lifeless. It cannot smell the beauty of
the Lord. It cannot see the beauty of the
Lord. It can't taste the Lord. It's dead, dead, dead. But remarkably, it's dead and
it's held together powerfully. And that's a great picture, isn't
it? That heart of stone is in all of us from Adam, isn't it?
We're all made in the image of Adam. We're created, Adam's children
are all born in his likeness according to Genesis 5. And that's
the heart that we're given, completely unfeeling. That heart can hold
itself together with religion. That heart can hold itself together
with self-righteousness. That heart can hold itself together
with its good deeds. You go out to that crowd that's
out there watching the football now, if you go to every single
one of those people, they'll say, either I am righteous or
I can do righteousness by myself. Don't they? The religious world
is saying, we just read it didn't we, that God's going to help
you grow in your holiness. Rubbish. Blasphemous rubbish. There's no kissing of the mouth
of God's children. A new heart, a new spirit will
I have put within you and I'll take away the stony heart out
of your flesh. That stony heart that can't love
God, that stony heart that can look upon the Lord Jesus Christ
and say it's nothing to me. It's just nothing to me. That's
what the world says isn't it? And I will put my spirit within
you and I will cause you to walk in my statues and keep my judges
and do them. And you shall dwell in the land."
Isn't it glorious? I don't know about you brothers
and sisters, I just find the word of God more precious as
I grow older. And I'm so thankful that he's
written it down, because as my memory gets more infirmed, I
need more and more to say, I need to go back and see what he says.
And I read this book again and again and again, and I've been
reading it and studying it, and I go back and I find things that
I've never seen there before, and I think, isn't that amazing?
Isn't that amazing? Does He kiss you with the kisses
of His mouth? If He's going to kiss you, you're just going to
come to this Word and say, Lord, You've got to teach me wonderful
things out of Your Word. You've got to teach me. You've
got to be the one that leads me and guides me into the truth. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of your mouth, for your love is better than mine." And now
he speaks of that love. That love is like the savour
of good ointments, because of the savour of thy good ointments.
That speaks of odour, of thy good ointments. of thy good ointments
that speaks of anointing of his anointing he's the anointed prophet
who brings to us the word of god and it kisses his people
with those words of his mouth He's the anointed priest that
takes his people into the very presence of God Almighty with
his own blood and causes them to be perfectly acceptable to
God. He is that perfect priest. He carries us into the presence
of God with our names written on his heart and our names written
on his shoulders. He carries and he's the anointed
king. And don't you love that? There's
a king that rules over all things. He's an anointed one. The odour
of thy anointings. The odour of thy anointings.
And what does this all speak of? Thy name is as ointment poured
forth. It's not extracted. It's not
extracted. It's poured free. particularly
and it's poured purposefully to his people and it's his name
all of his glorious attributes don't the name don't you love his absolute
sovereignty don't you love his glorious holiness don't you love
that he's absolutely righteous that he's absolutely true don't
you love all the names that are given to him wonderful I was
talking to Norm about this and I still haven't been able to
get to the bottom of it, but God says in Isaiah chapter 9, you know
the verses, His name shall be called Wonderful. Is His name
Wonderful to you? Is He Wonderful? Is He full of
wonder? He's Wonderful. Counselor, that doesn't mean
that He comes as a psychologist to help us. It means that He
has the counsel of God, doesn't it? He decrees all things and
all things are done according to His purpose. He is the mighty
God. And all I can think of is enormous
pointing out the fact that He is the mighty God, He is the
everlasting Father, He is the Prince of Peace. He's the Prince
of Peace. It means he's the particular
one. It's the best I can find, Norman, I'm sorry. But he is
the particular one. He is this distinctive one. This
is his name, brothers and sisters. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's the
mighty God. He's the everlasting Father.
He is the Prince of Peace. And he has a government that
rules all things in this world. Don't you love to have that as
your king? Don't you love the fact that not only is he absolutely
sovereign and sits on the throne of this universe, he's so intimately
connected to his people and so in love with his people that
he comes to them and kisses them with the kisses of his mouth.
He's both almighty God and glorious friend. to sinners like
us. His name is as ointment poured
forth, it speaks of fruitfulness. That ointment poured forth. One
of the glorious things about ointment is, a couple of glorious
things about, you can't see it. You can't see ointment, you can't
see perfume, you can't see the smell, it's just there, isn't
it? The other thing that's remarkable about it is that it's so distinctive.
My mother-in-law died a couple of months ago, and she had a
perfume, didn't she? And others, you know people that
have a perfume, and their perfume almost precedes them into the
room sometimes, doesn't it? Sometimes it's strong. But it
speaks of particularity, doesn't it? It speaks of an unmistakable
and distinctive characteristic of that person. And this is what
his name is. His name is Ointment Poured Forth. It's not talking about physical
virginity for one second. It's speaking of those who are
pure in their love and in their devotion and in their belonging
to Him. She has some names for him. It's
amazing. I was looking through Song of Solomon thinking, what
are the names in there? And she says of him, O thou whom
my soul loveth. And he's described as the Rose
of Sharon and he's the Lily of the Valley. He's both red The
emblem of his death, and here's the lily of the valleys. He's
absolutely, perfectly pure in his whiteness. But I love what
she says of him. He's my friend. He's my friend. What a remarkable thing that
God Almighty and so work in the hearts of his people that he
would draw them to himself and reveal himself to them and call
them his friend. And he is the chiefest among
10,000. She describes him in the most remarkable ways. But
thy name is as ointment poured forth. This ointment is better
than wine. Thy love is better than wine.
It speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. And listen
to what he goes on, she goes on to say, draw me, draw me. You seize a hold of me, you lay
a hold of me. Lord, don't let me go my own
way. We have prayed this prayer since
the beginning of this church, haven't we? The prayer that Moses
prayed. Lord, if you don't go with us,
don't you dare let us make another step from here. Don't you dare
let us go anywhere that you are not with us. And that was exactly
what Moses prayed. And Moses prayed it because he
had received the grace of God. Don't let me do anything. Don't
let us do anything which dishonours your glory and your name. You
lay a hold of me and we will run after thee. What a great
promise. But notice with me how she speaks. She says, draw me
and we will run after thee. And then she says, the king has
brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. He's speaking of bringing his
church, those chambers are the inner chambers. He's bringing
his people to the Holy of Holies. He's bringing his people into
the very presence of God. And you come individually and
you come collectively. He's speaking about church again
and again. He's talking about the glory of the church. This is a place where God the
Father has determined that he'll get glory for his Son in the
gathering of his people together around the Gospel where the Lord
Jesus Christ is lifted up. draw me and we will run. The
King hath brought me into his chambers, we will be glad and
rejoice. If the Lord Jesus Christ brings
you into the chambers of his love, brings you into the Holy
of Holies, brings you to the place where you see his blood
sacrifice, brings you to the place where you see how big a
sinner you are, how dreadful a sinner you are, how continuing
a sinner you are, you'll need to be brought into his chambers
again and again and again. We will be glad. What is our
gladness and our rejoicing according to this beautiful song? We rejoice
in Him. We rejoice in Him. All of our
rejoicing is in who He is and what He's done. I can't find
a single thing in my life that would cause me to rejoice about
what I'm done and what I'm doing. My preaching, my Bible reading,
my missionary activities, everything else, my witness, everything.
I can't rejoice in a single thing. All of my rejoicing, I trust
God is my witness that that's the case. All my rejoicing is
in Him. And I'm glad I'm glad that it's that way. I'm glad
that all my rejoicing is Him. Then she says, we will remember
thy love more than wine. We read about it in 1 John chapter
4, didn't we? About his love, his love for
his bride, his love for his church. It's love that drove him to the
cross at Calvary. It was love that held him there,
love for his father, love for the name of his father, for the
glory of God, and love for his bride. We will remember thy love
more than wine. Therefore, the upright, the upright
love thee. The righteous, the righteous
love thee. And that's why, in the midst
of all of that glory, she can then turn around and say, I'm
black. And then she says, I'm black, but I'm beautiful. I'm
black, but I'm adorable. I am robed with the very righteousness a robe of righteousness that
he stitched together in this world. And that's the robe of
all of the saints in heaven, isn't it? That's the robe with
which you come to the wedding feast. And if your robe of righteousness
has one little tiny stitch of your works in it, your goodness,
or your doing, or your potential to do, you'll be cast out and
the door will be shut. We'll be glad and rejoice. Let's
finish by just reading this again. Let him kiss me. Oh, what a prayer. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. Because of
the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured
forth. Therefore do the virgins love
thee. Draw me, and we will run after
thee. The king has brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad. We will be glad
and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love more
than wine, the upright love thee. We're about to participate yet
again in a meal of remembrance. You cannot And for those who know him and
love him, he just says, come and remember. And he says, remember
and remember and keep remembering. Why? Because we just keep forgetting,
brothers and sisters. We forget that we're black and
we forget more often, we forget more often that we're beautiful
in his sight. May this cause us to be kissed
by the kisses of his mouth. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank
you and praise you for the wonder of your Word and particularly,
Heavenly Father, that your Word reveals and shines a light and
causes us to see the Word made flesh as wonderful and counsellor. Mighty God and everlasting Father
and Prince of Peace. We just praise you, Heavenly
Father, that our anointed King rules all things. Our anointed
priest takes all of his bride, carries them on his heart, and
carries their names upon his shoulders into the very Holy
of Holies in heaven. And as we have this remembrance
meal here, Heavenly Father, we pray that we would remember Remember
his broken body that was broken for us on our behalf and remember
that blood that was shed, the blood of the everlasting covenant. by which the Great Shepherd revealed
his great glory and gathers his sheep to himself and makes his
sheep to be holy in his presence. Our Father, for those that can't
be with us, we pray your mercy upon them. And we pray, Heavenly
Father, that we would be people that go from here remembering
him and rejoicing in who he is. We thank you, our Father. Please
make your words like kisses to us in our time of need as we
say again and again, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Oh, our Father, reveal your glory
again and again to us, for we pray in Jesus' name for his glory. Amen.