The Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the Song of Solomon in the second chapter and we'll
read the fourth verse. The Song of Solomon in chapter
two and reading verse four. He brought me to the banqueting
house and his banner over me was love. the Song of Solomon really describes
the life of a believer. It is of course in figurative
language, but nonetheless if we consider it as describing
the life of the believer, we shall have some light upon it
and we shall be thankful for it. And here we have this wonderful
statement with regards to the Church of God and what the Lord
does. Because we read, he, they didn't
bring themselves, he brought me to the banqueting house and
his banner over me was love. Well, we perhaps have some idea
what a banquet is, a natural banquet, don't we? We have state
banquets when the Queen holds them and then we have the Lord
Mayor's Banquet and things like that. There are special occasions
when obviously the best food is provided under the best situations. So here we have this encouraging
statement from God when he says, he, that's the Lord himself,
brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me
was love. Now what is the description really
of this person that was brought here? Were they worthy? Were they wonderful people? Well, we have a description of
that person in the first chapter. We're told this, I am black,
but comely are you daughters of Jerusalem. And then look not
upon me because I am black. You see, she clearly understood
something of her true state in the eyes of Almighty God. I believe when the Holy Spirit
comes and touches our hearts, we won't just assume that we
are a little sinner. I will understand the description
which describes blackness, so that we are black all over. There's
no real good thing in us. And surely that is a good position
to come to, because then we're not looking at ourselves as worthy
of any acceptation. We're looking out of ourselves.
We have to look out of ourselves. And surely then our prayer comes
like we read in the fourth verse of the first chapter, where the
bride says, draw me. We will run after thee. You know, there is surely a desire
to be drawn to the Saviour. You see, we can't draw ourselves,
because we're sinful, there's nothing good in ourselves, but
we're thankful that the Lord does and can draw us unto Himself. And therefore, it's a good prayer,
such a prayer as this, to desire that the Saviour will come and
draw us to Himself, And in that situation we might then say,
to be made willing in the day of His power to run after Thee. The wonderful way that the Lord
has set before us in His Word, to run in that way and not to
run away from it. Well, let us remember then, this
is a typical experience of the Church of God and it's wonderful
that we have so many evidences of the children of God's testimony
in the Word of God. Here we have the testimony of
Solomon. We also have, of course, in the
Psalms, the testimony of David, the testimony of Asaph, the testimony
of Moses. And what a wonderful thing it
is that we're able to read these and to come alongside and say,
well, I'm thankful that this is recorded because it describes
my situation. It describes how I feel, and
it describes what God has done for me, and how he is leading
me, and how he is not forsaking me. And such leadings, of course,
are not of nature, are they? We wouldn't want to come to that
conclusion that we're a black, vile sinner, would we? Naturally,
people don't want to. If you ask the man in the street
what he's like, he'll probably say, I haven't done everything
right in my life, but I'm not too bad, and anyway, so-and-so
is much worse than me." Well, when the Spirit of God works
in our hearts, we don't look around to other people, because
we realise we stand before a holy God, and that holy God looks
into our heart. It's not just the outward appearance,
it's the inward thoughts and intents of our heart, which we
cry out, can ever God dwell here? It's to such people who are the
subject of the work of God in their hearts that the Lord brings
to times of blessing. The Church of God is not left
in a situation where they have no hope. The Church of God is
not left. They don't have times of favour
and times of blessing. because the Lord leads us and
directs us and brings us into those times of blessing. So we
are able to truly thank him and to praise him for his great and
wonderful work to such unworthy sinners. Well, we can read that
as we read through this account in the Song of Solomon, which
describes really the pathway of the true Church of God, how
she sees herself ups and downs in her life and yet the attraction
there is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what you and I need
to understand and to feel and to realise by the work of the
Spirit in our hearts, that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly precious
to us. He is real. He's not just a figment
of our imagination. He's someone that we desire to
know and to know more of, and to walk with, and to enjoy communion
and union with Him. Surely that's the wonderful testimony
of Paul, isn't it, when he wrote to the Philippians, saying that
he might know Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, and indeed Him crucified. He did, of course, know Him,
but he wanted to know the Saviour more. And I'm sure that's the
true evidence of the life of God in the soul of the true believer. He won't settle down and be satisfied
with things which have been passed. The Apostle went on to say, didn't
he, to press toward the mark which is set before him, forgetting
those things which are behind. We can be thankful indeed for
those things which God has done, but there is a pressing on, a
pressing forward, desiring greater blessings, desiring greater union
and communion with our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
we have this description here in the second chapter where we're
told, I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys.
As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees
of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under
his shadow with great delight. and his fruit was sweet to my
taste." Well, that's a blessing if you and I have been found
in that position, sitting down under the shadow of the Almighty
and partaking of the heavenly fruit that he provides for us. And then we read this wonderful
statement, he brought me to the banqueting house and his banner
over me was love. And so it is. The Lord puts that
banner over his people to show why he deals with them
and how he treats them. It's because of his love. And that's so amazing, isn't
it? When you think of this description. Somebody who looks to themselves
and doesn't see any beauty in themselves, sees that they're
black, and yet you see that the bride did say, but comely, not
in themselves, but through what the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. Well, it's a wonderful favour
to know that The Lord has loved us. Loved us with an everlasting
love. It's a love you see which doesn't
oscillate, doesn't grow cold. Our love sadly sometimes does
grow cold. But love of the Saviour is the
same. The same yesterday and today forever. I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. God's love does not change. and
how glorious a truth that is. The Lord has shown to you and
me a little of his love. We have the wonderful evidence
that we possess the gift of eternal life. And it's only those who
know something of that love that have received the gift of eternal
life. And that love must emanate from
the Lord himself. And John speaks of it so clearly,
doesn't he, in his first epistle. Not that we loved God, but that
he loved us. You see, we cannot love God in
and of ourselves. It's only as God shows his love
toward us. produces the wonderful effect. And then it is that the Spirit
draws us to the Saviour in love in return. Well then, here we
have this statement, and his banner over me was love. If it wasn't so, we would not
be brought to the banqueting house. We would be left to wander
on in this poor sinful world without any desire after spiritual
blessings, without any desire after spiritual food. But as
the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and draws us to him to
realise that there are those times when the Lord does bring
us to the banqueting house, The margin tells us, and it can be
obviously translated also to the house of wine, where we drink
draughts of bliss and happiness and joy as we meditate upon what
Christ has done and what Christ is doing. There's no greater
blessing, is there? than to be found feeding upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, to the natural unconverted
mind, that is something which is silly and impossible and irrelevant. But to the Church of God, it
is a reality. And we remember the words of
the Lord Jesus when he spoke and said, Accept, accept ye eat
the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, there is no
life in you." What does that mean? That really means that
the Lord brings us into the banqueting house to partake of his flesh
and blood, not in a physical way, but of course in a way of
meditating. upon what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done in order to save our souls from eternal condemnation. Surely such a position is truly
attractive to the true believer. It won't be attractive to those
who know nothing of themselves as black, know nothing of the
Saviour, But to the born-again soul, such a view, such a blessing
of being brought by the Lord to the banqueting house. That
means to feed upon Christ, our ever-blessed Saviour. And this
will do our souls eternal good. We all need food, don't we, to
exist naturally. Without food and drink we very
soon fade away and if we don't eat and drink we shall die. But
how necessary it is in our spiritual life to partake of spiritual
food and that food is the Lord Jesus Christ. And to be led into
all the truths which are in the Saviour, to think of his great
and glorious work, to think of what he what he came to do, and
what was promised that he would do, and so it came to pass. The Lord Jesus came, left his
home in glory, that wonderful place which we can only think
on of peace and joy and happiness, to come into this sinful world. and to walk in this sinful world
among sinful people for all those 33 years. And we don't know very
much, of course, about his early life. We do know some details
of the last three years of his life. And we know that in those
three years, what he faced, continual opposition, really, from the
people. influenced, of course, by the
devil himself. Well, what a blessing it is for
us to think of this great God, nonetheless, the great God. And
we do want to have a right understanding of the greatness of God, to think
that almighty God, the second person in the Trinity, the Lord
Jesus Christ, co-equal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit,
was so willing to come into this sinful world and to take on our
form, our human nature. Now I believe when the Lord comes
and touches our heart and brings us to the banqueting house, we
are able to feed upon Christ and realise what a wonderful
saviour we have. And no doubt as the Lord blesses
us with spiritual growth, then that spiritual growth will illuminate
the Saviour more and more. We will ever see how much greater
He is, and how much more wonderful His work is, and how amazing
it is that such a great God should have condescended to look upon
us in our black condition, unworthy of any notice. And yet we have
this wonderful promise, He brought me. Yes, the Lord sovereignly
does this. He doesn't do it for everybody.
He does it for those whom he calls. He did it for the bride
of Christ. My friends, he does it for his
people. We are brought then to this banqueting
house. You see, it's not a place where
we're fed with poor food. It's not a place where we don't
receive any nourishment. but it's a place where the Lord
does come and he strengthens us and he encourages us and perhaps
he shows us by faith his hands and his feet so that we are able
to believe. You remember when the Lord came
after he was resurrected and appeared to his disciples and
Thomas wasn't there and Thomas said I will not believe unless
I put my fingers into the nail holes and thrust my hand into
his side. But, you see, when the Lord did
come, and Thomas was there, and the Lord invited him then to
put forth his hand and to thrust his hand into his side and put
his finger in the holes in his hands and feet, what did Thomas
say? He said, my Lord, and my God. He didn't need to pursue what
he'd said he would. The Spirit of God came and showed
him the truth and what a blessing it was. Shortly then he was brought
into the banqueting house. All his unbelief disappeared
and there was the Saviour. I was to be able to come then
alongside Thomas, my Lord and my God. Surely that is bringing
us into the banqueting house because we're on a firm foundation. We're rejoicing then in what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done. There was Thomas, able to observe
the risen Saviour. He knew he'd been crucified upon
the cross, but now by he was able to view the Risen Saviour. What a blessing it is when we
are brought into this banqueting house and what do we do? We view
the Risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well what a favour for
us tonight if the Lord does come and touch our hearts so that
we view the Risen Saviour. We do need to be blessed with
such a view. because a dead saviour would
not be of any benefit. But we know the Lord Jesus died
and he rose again, a conqueror over sin, death, hell and the
grave. Well, the Lord brings you and
me to stand, as it were, in that place and to realise that Christ
is risen from the dead. Death could not hold him. What
a mercy that was, what a blessing that was, to know that death
could not hold him. But he rose from the dead a conqueror. He brought me to the banqueting
house. And the Lord does this in his
time and in his way. And it surely is something that
we should be on the stretch for. not just to be left satisfied
with just, as it were, jogging along in our life and hoping
things would turn out all right in the end. You know, the bride
of Christ she desired that the Lord would indeed look upon her
and come to her and draw her. And she says, tell me, O thou
whom I so 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?" Yes, she wanted to walk in the
footsteps of the flock. She wanted to be united to the
Church of God. And that really is a wonderful
evidence the life of God in our souls, when we desire to be joined
to the true Church of God, realising that they possess the life of
God in their soul, realising that by the grace of God they've
been brought to the banqueting house and the banner over them
is love. And we desire that we may be
blessed in like manner, And how is that produced? It's produced
by the blessed work of the Holy Spirit to give us that desire
in our heart that we may be joined to the true Church of God, the
flock, the sheep of Christ's flock, and not to be left outside. We will come and say, with them
numbered, may I be now and through eternity. The Church of God then
won't be to us a despised people. It will be to an unbeliever that
despise the true Church of God, but the people that God has called
rejoice in communion with one another. It's the communion of
the saints. That communion starts on earth
and carries on in glory. Well, to be brought then to this
banqueting house and to then partake by faith of the Lord
Jesus Christ and to enter in, in some measure, into the cost
of our salvation, not something which is of no consequence. Because when the Lord comes and
draws near to us and draws us to himself, then it is that we
have a little view of the enormous cost of our salvation. And without
that cost, there would be no hope. And what does it do? Surely it produces that feeding
upon Christ. We then recognise how necessary
it was that the Lord Jesus Christ should shed his precious blood
upon that cross at Calvary. Now this is being brought into
the banqueting house. Again, it's not something which
is irrelevant. By the grace of God, we then
understand the wonderful pattern the Word of God sets before us
from Genesis right through. And we read those wonderful words
in Hebrews without shedding a blood. There's no remission. There's
no forgiveness. And we come here to this banqueting
house to partake of this spiritual food. And we rejoice indeed that
the great God The Lord Jesus Christ died that we might live. The only way that we could be
received is to be under the blood, to be amongst those for whom
Christ died. And that's why, you see, we can
think, can we not, of this banqueting house as perhaps sometimes the
Lord has provided, the Lord's table. You know, it's recorded,
isn't it, in the Gospels, that wonderful occasion on that Passover
night, just before the Saviour was arrested, that He introduced
what we term as the Lord's Supper. And why is it? Why was it introduced? Lest we forget. And the Lord
says, do this in remembrance of me. Well, is it not really? a banqueting house and realise
that He brings us there. What a blessing if He has brought
us there to be one who is willing to forsake all, to follow Him,
to be willing in the day of His power to come and tell to sinners
round what a dear Saviour we have found and point to His redeeming
blood and say, the way to God. That's the entrance in to the
true Church of God. And that's the entrance in through
the Blessed Ordinance or Believer's Baptism, to come and to sit around
the Lord's table, this table of remembrance, to remember his
dying love. And these things are so important
really for us as professing Christians to realise that this is the way
the Lord has ordained. It's not something which is insignificant. It's not something which can
be ignored. It's not something which can be cast aside as of
no real value. It is the way Almighty God has
set before us. to bring us. He brought us. He brought me, says the bride
here, to the banqueting house. And he brought the bride down,
he brings us there because of his love. The banner over me
was love. Well, we can ask ourselves, can
we not, the question tonight. Do we know anything? Anything? I have a small of the love of
Christ toward us. It's very humbling, if it is
so, because we would have come that way, that we're black, we
don't deserve any mercy, any favour, and yet to think that
the Lord loved us so much that he came and brought into being,
the supper of remembrance, so that we might come and sit together
as the true professing Church of God, and to remember His dying
love, the cost of our salvation. The Lord instituted this for
our benefit, and for His honour, and for His glory. Let us not
ignore it. Let us not think it's of little
relevance. Let us realise what a blessing
it is. The Word of God so encourages
us in the Word of God. He tells us, if ye love me, keep
my commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
They're pleasant. They're joyful. And as you and
I are given that grace, as we're drawn to the Saviour to walk
in that path, you know what it is? We receive the answer of
a good conscience. And what does that produce? Peace
with God. We may be walking around as it
were in a storm, and yet you see when the Lord comes and brings
us to this place, to the banqueting
house and the banner over us is love. We see then his great
mercy toward us, the great blessing that he's had. And we come and
we say, why me? Oh, blessed Lord, why such a
wretch as me, who must forever lie in hell, were not salvation
free? That's a blessing, isn't it?
And it's the revelation by the Spirit of God to our souls, so
we can then truly rejoice in what Christ has done. And it
will be then a banquet to our soul. We shall be found feeding
upon Christ, rejoicing in what he's done, so thankful that he
was willing to come into the sinful world. and to die that
great and glorious sin, atoning death. It won't then just be
something in history. It will be something in history,
but it will also be something which is exceeding precious to
us. And we will realize how needful
it was that the Son of God should come into this sinful world in
order to save our souls. Oh, you see what food there is. And it's rich food, isn't it? It's so rich and it's so wonderful
and it's so valuable. This food exceeds everything
else. You and I can have the best food
in this earth, a wonderful banquet perhaps, and when we've eaten
it, it's done and finished and gone. If you and I are blessed with
this banqueting feeding upon Christ, it doesn't disappear. It's an eternal food. What a
difference, isn't there? What a vast difference between
a natural banquet and a spiritual banquet. The natural banquet
comes and goes, we look forward to it, and then it's gone. A
spiritual banquet, we may long after. We may pray after, and
when it comes, how we rejoice and how we bless God for his
goodness to us in bringing us to such a blessed occasion. And we realize it's all because
of his love toward us. It's because there is that banner
over us which tells us, yea, I have loved thee, With everlasting
love and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."
We didn't draw ourselves. The Blessed God, the Almighty
God, the Eternal God drew us by His love. What a favour it
is then to come to such a situation and to realise the Saviour past
the way, so needful to redeem our souls. This banqueting house, this spiritual
blessing, while it's eternal food and we'll rejoice in it,
as the law grants us those spiritual experiences, those spiritual
blessings, they're not something which fade away. the Lord does anything for our
souls and it's because of his love, that great work is really
written in our hearts as it were with an iron pen in the rock. It is really indelibly there
because it's the work of the Holy Spirit. We don't want to
thrust it away. We don't want to lose it. Because
there is our hope for eternity. The blessed work of the Saviour. What He's done to save our soul. It is indeed a spiritual blessing. It's a spiritual food when God
comes and opens our understanding. and as it were, gives us this
blessed food that we partake of, and how wonderful it is,
and how soul strengthening it is. We may have been dark, we
would have been hungry and thirsty, and then when the Saviour comes
and gives us this heavenly food, oh, our soul rejoices, our soul
rejoices, and we have that fellowship with the Saviour. He has to think
that he hasn't cast us off as a cumbra of the ground which
we so deserve to be. We may have been unfruitful,
we may have been barren. Then to think the Lord comes
and blesses us with this heavenly food so that there is spiritual
fruit in our life. And it is evident, there is that
which is a change. When the Lord works in our hearts,
in our souls, there is an evidence of it. We may not be aware of
it ourselves, but the Church of God, the true Church of God,
are a watchful people, and they're watching for the least sign of
the work of the Spirit in the souls of others, and they're
praying for it. And then when it's observed,
will they rejoice in it? And perhaps the person never
knows what is being shown in their demeanour, perhaps the
words they say. They may not think that they're
actually saying anything different, but there are those evidences
of the blessed work of grace. And to realise that there has
been, in some measure at least, partaking at this banqueting
house, and it's because of the wonderful banner which is over
them, which is love. Well, you know the Bride of Christ,
she goes on and she says, the voice of my beloved, behold he
cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Well,
do you want to hear, do you long to hear the voice of the Saviour? Do you long to hear him saying,
Thou art mine, I have loved thee with an everlasting love? Have
you prayed for it from your heart? Then you see, it's that which
God, the Holy Spirit has indicted in you, and the Lord will come,
the Lord will draw you, You will be found in this place, brought
to the banqueting house, and this banner over you was love.
This is not something which will not be known in measure. We know,
of course, there are differences in different people's experience
to some the Lord blesses in one way and some to another, but
there is this common theme. Do you know what that is? Drawing
to Christ. so that we come to that position.
And we have to say, give me Christ or else I die. We know that without the blessed
evidence of Christ's love to our soul, then we are lost and
without hope. But with that love granted to
us, have the evidence of his love which is over us, We come
into this banqueting house. The Lord brings us there. He
brings us there, you see, in His time. He has a work to do
in our souls. He has a sovereign work to do
in our souls. He has a work to do which will
bring honour and glory to His great and holy name. Yes, the
time will surely come when we shall be able to see not only
that He shed His blood, but each shall say for me." Personal revelation,
humbling experience, God-glorifying experience, and oh how that we
may be found then with that wonderful knowledge that the Lord has come,
the Lord has died, that we might live. You see then, the Lord
Jesus Christ becomes precious, perhaps not as precious as we
desire. Perhaps our love seems so cold
by comparison what we desire, but if once the love of Christ
has been shed abroad in our heart, then we receive that which will
never be erased. No, the Lord doesn't shed abroad
his love upon unbelievers. So may we rejoice if we've had
a touch from the Saviour to know that it is well with our soul
and we are amongst those who have been brought by God. Isn't it humbling to think that
Almighty God, the ruler of the universe, brings us. He says he brought me individually
to this banqueting house and to have the evidence that His
love is over us. It's a wonderful seal that the
Lord has given us, the gift of eternal life. By nature we don't
love God, but what a favour when the Spirit of God moves in our
heart so that we do love God. And it is therefore because this
banner is over us, and His mercy is toward us. You know the bride,
she goes on and she says, My beloved spake and said unto me,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, for, lo, the winter
is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the
earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice
of the turtle is heard in our land, the fig tree put it forth,
Her green figs and the vines with the tender grape give a
good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away. Well, what a blessing when the
Spirit of God moves our hearts to bring us to that realisation
that the Lord is dealing with us and therefore that which has
been dark and cold, the winter of our soul, is past. And now the flowers are appearing. Now the grace of God is shining
forth in our spiritual life. And there is that good smell
for the work of the Holy Spirit. And to hear these great and glorious
words spoken to us. Arise my love, my feminine, come
away to leave all the poor things of time and to be blessed with
spiritual understanding and spiritual food and spiritual union with
a blessed Saviour, because these things are eternal blessings. My friends, they are that which
you and I can rest upon, because we know it is the work of the
Spirit of God. It's not something that you and
I are able to do or have done. We have that evidence. And we
have that humble confidence that the Lord has looked upon us,
the Lord has had compassion upon us. He's not left us as we deserve,
but he's shown forth his love toward our soul. And we can come
and bless God for his wonderful love and say, on such love, my
soul still ponder, love so great. so rich so free say what's lost
in holy wonder why oh god such love to me hallelujah grace shall
reign eternally amen