The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Also on Thursday evening at seven
o'clock. And there'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. Let us commence our
services today by singing together hymn number 359, to the tune Ribble, 54. How charming is the place where
my Redeemer God unveils the beauties of his face and sheds his love
abroad. Hymn 359, tune Ribble, 54. ? Amidst the flames ? ? Where my
Redeemer rose ? ? Unmerciful beauties of His face ? ? Have
changed His face ? of the mortal. Out the fair palaces, till which
the brave resort, The world to me compared to this,
where Jesus called his court. Here on the mercy seat, With
radiant glory cry, And joyful might behold Him sit, And smile
on the world around. To Him their prayers have come,
Each humble soul rejects. He listens to their broken sighs, and crowns them for their wrongs. To them his sovereign will he
graciously impart, and in return accept with heart
the tribute of their hearts. Give me, O Lord, a pen ? Within thy blest accord ? ? Among
the children of thy grace ? ? As serpents on the water ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Song of Solomon, chapters 7 and 8. Solomon's Song, chapters 7 and
8. How beautiful are thy feet with
shoes, O Prince's daughter! The joints of thy thighs are
like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy
navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor. Thy
belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two
breasts are like two young rose that are twins. Thy neck is as
a tower of ivory, thine eyes like the fish pools in a hishpon.
by the gate of Bathraben. Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon
that looketh toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee is like
caramel, and the hair of thine head like purple. The king is
held in the galleries. How fair and how pleasant art
thou, O love, for delights. This thy stature is like a palm
tree, and thy breast to clusters of grapes. I said I will go up
to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof. Now
also thy breast shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of
thy nose like apples, and the roof of thy mouth like the best
wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly causing the lips
of those that are asleep to speak. I am my beloved's, and his desire
is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth
into the field. Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us see if the vine flourish,
whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranate bud forth.
there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and
at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old,
which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. O that thou wert as my brother,
that sucked the breasts of my mother, that when I should find
thee without, I would kiss thee, yea, I should not be despised. I would lead thee, and bring
thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me. I would
cause thee to drink of the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand should be under
my head, and his right hand should embrace me. I charge you, O daughters
of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love until he
please. Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raise thee up
unto the apple tree. There thy mother brought thee
forth, there she brought thee forth that bare thee. Set me
as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love
is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave. There are coals of fire, which
hath the most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can the floods drown it. If a man would give all the
substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contempt.
We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts. What shall
we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver.
And if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. I am a wall, and my breasts like
towers. Then was I in his eyes as one
that found favor. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal
Haman. He let out the vineyard unto
keepers. Every one for the fruit thereof
was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which
is mine, is before me. Thou, O Solomon, must have a
thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy
voice, cause me to hear it. Make haste, my beloved, and be
thou like a roe, or to a young heart, upon the mountains of
spices. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, Holy, holy, Lord God almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, the high and lofty one that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is holy. We come to bow before thy great
majesty. We come to call upon thy great
and thy holy name. We come to supplicate thy mercy
and thy grace. For, Lord, we come as poor sinners,
poor needy sinners, poor empty sinners, poor ruined sinners,
the sons and daughters of Adam born in sin, shapen in iniquity. In sin did our mother conceive
us. Gracious God, we have no hope
in ourselves. Nothing in my hand I bring. For,
Lord, we have nothing to bring. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags, and we are all as an unclean thing, so we come
in confession of our sin and of our sinfulness. We come like
the dear apostle of old, and we have to cry out, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Gracious God, we do pray that thou wouldst be with us this
day. We thank thee that thou hast
made a provision whereby poor sinners can approach unto thy
great majesty. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life
of ransom for all to be testified. O most gracious Lord, we pray
that thou wouldst come by thy Holy Spirit into our midst today
Fill, O fill us with Thy Spirit, and with that love that casts
out fear. Grant that the divine power and
the heavenly unction of the Holy Ghost may be known and felt and
realized among us, that the wind of the Spirit may blow. Awake,
O north wind, and come thou south and blow upon my garden, that
the spices may flow forth. O most blessed Spirit of truth,
Thou alone canst give faith, and Thou alone canst bring faith
into exercise. And we pray that it may be so
today, that our hearts may be revived. Faith in the bleeding
Lamb, faith in His precious righteousness, faith in what He has done. O
gracious God, we do pray for the spirit of faith, for without
faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh unto
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. So we come to thee in the name
of Jesus Christ and for the sake of Jesus Christ. We come and
seek and hope to find a portion for our soul. We come with that
desire that we might touch the hem of his garment that we might
draw from that sacred fullness that is in him, and that the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father
and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and
abide upon us. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he may come
and stand in our midst and say, peace be unto you, We desire
the presence of our eternal Father, and that we may have that sacred
realization and witness of the Spirit in our hearts. For the
Father himself loveth him. Gracious God, lead us into that
covenant love, that everlasting love, from the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, that we may truly worship thee this day for thy
great name's sake. Lord, we thank thee for being
returned in peace and safety among our own flock here, and
we pray that thou wouldst bless the ministry of thy servants
that have been among us in these past two weeks, that there may
be something that shall abide, that shall redound to the honour,
glory, and praise of thy great and holy name. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would bless our brethren, the deacons, and give them wisdom
and grace and help in all their responsibilities, not only here,
but among the churches. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would bless each one of our brethren and sisters in
church fellowship. Remember us for good. Bless our
friends here from Holland and Grant, that they may feel at
home among us. And our dear friend here, we
pray that thou wouldst continue to put forth thy healing hand
and be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
May he know that healing in body and in soul. We do humbly beseech
thee. Remember the young and the rising
generation. Bless them with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Graciously grant them the fear
of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Each of our dear young
friends, have mercy upon them, undertake for them, guide them
by thy counsel, bring them to save in faith in Jesus Christ. Make them true followers of thee
and of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. O gracious God, we pray, that
there may be a generation that shall be raised up to call thee
the Redeemer blessed. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst remember that all in the midst of the journey
of life, especially parents, give them wisdom and grace to
bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord and grant thy richest blessing upon each one in the midst of
life's journey. and knows the needs, the concerns,
the burdens, the trials. Lord, we pray that thou will
supply all their needs and graciously help them, bring them to thy
feet as poor penitent sinners to receive of that mercy that
is in Christ Jesus. Remember the prodigals, Lord.
We would not forget them, but we earnestly petition thee to
stretch out thy almighty arm, to cause them to be in one, to
cause them to return. Only thou canst do it, Lord.
Thou knowest where they are, and that we pray that they may
return. Remember those of us in the evening
time of life journey. Grant that at evening time it
may be light, We may be made more spiritually minded, our
heart and affection set upon things above. Remember our dear
aged sister, dear Ina, bless her richly, Lord, in her old
age and attendant infirmities undertake for her. Remember all
in any trouble, trial, perplexity, sorrow, sadness or bereavement,
Undertake, O Lord, for each one. Send out the light and glory
and power of the gospel into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. Arise, arise, O God of grace,
into thy rest descend, thou and the ark of thy strength, and
let thy priests be clothed with salvation, and thy saints shall
shout aloud for joy. O abundantly bless the provision
of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. Thou hast promised,
O Lord, I will bring thy sons from far, and thy daughters from
the ends of the earth, and they shall come from the north, and
from the south, and from the east, and from the west. O Lord
of hosts, O God of Israel, O thou that dwellest between the cherubim,
shine forth. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, we do humbly beseech thee. Remember all thy servants
as they stand upon the walls of Zion today. Set them free,
set them at liberty. Graciously grant signs to follow
the preaching of the word, the pulling down of the strongholds
of Satan, the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in
the hearts of sinners. Harken, O Lord, we humbly beseech
Thee for Thy great namesake. Lord, we pray that Thou in Thy
great mercy would remember those that labour in other nations
of the earth. We think of those from among
our own little group of churches. The Savannah Education Trust
in Ghana grant that good success that may redound to thy honour
and glory, the engagement of precious souls unto Christ. Remember
the Mombasa mission, and grant the outpouring of thy spirit
there, and thy power and glory to be known there, and supply
all their many returning needs. Remember Ian Sadler as he labours
in so many different countries in the earth, and the distribution
of the word of God, and the instruction in the ways of righteousness
and truth. Lord, bless thy servants and
thy people. We do humbly beseech. Remember
thy people in those nations of the earth where the name of Christ
is hated and where thy people are persecuted even unto death. Lord, send them help from the
sanctuary and strengthen them out of Zion. We do humbly beseech
of thee for thy great namesake. We thank Thee, O Lord, for our
little church and congregation. We thank Thee for the open Bible,
for the liberties that we have to meet around the Word of God.
May we highly prize these privileges. We thank Thee for every mercy
of Thy kind providence. We thank Thee, most gracious
God, for Jesus Christ, for the glory of His name. thanks be
unto God for his unspeakable gift. We thank thee that he was
made of a woman and made under the law, has fulfilled and honoured
and magnified the law on behalf of his people, bringing in everlasting
righteousness for his people. We thank thee for that glorious
sacrifice of Calvary where sin has been put away. where divine
justice has been satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled,
where peace is made between God and man. We thank Thee that He died for
our sins and rose again for our justification and has bodily
ascended into heaven and made a new and living way into the
holy place. We thank Thee that we have a
great high priest who has passed into the heavens Jesus, the Son
of God, gracious God, hear us now. Come and touch one's lips
with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. Make up in giving
where we do so fail in asking, as we ask all for Jesus Christ's
sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 22. The tune is Bodmin, 934. When mourners stand and hear
me tell What beauties in my Saviour dwell, Where he is gone they
fain would know That they may seek and love him too. Hymn number
22, tune Bodmin 934. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, ? On hills of pine in worlds unknown ? God,
He is head, and church is flesh, the Word of God on top is head.
? God's love, gentle light, is
there ? ? Every thought richly bold and fair ? ? In it ever,
love's choice is fair ? ? And in it shall all men's hope
extend ? ? Be as it were, my hope is found ? ? The earthly job my soul can do
? ? I have a passion in this heart ? ? A willful passion in
this heart ? the stars. ? Holy Spirit, Lord of liberty
? ? Love to be with thee forevermore ? ? Children shall wave thy glossy
blue ? ? To them who fear the grave, I go to thee ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Solomon's Song
and Chapter 8, and we'll read verses 2 and 3 for our text. Solomon's Song, Chapter 8, verses
2 and 3. I would lead thee, and bring
thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me, I would
cause thee to drink of the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand should be under
my head and his right hand should embrace me. Solomon's Song is one of the most beautiful,
sacred, books of the Holy Scriptures
of Truth. It is actually Hebrew poetry. It's called the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs. Why is it
called the Song of Songs? Well, it's just like we have
the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. The Song of Songs. There's no subject that can compare
with what is written in this poetry. Not all the best poetry
in the world can be compared to what is written in here by
Solomon under the divine influence of the Holy Ghost. It is a divinely
inspired song or poetry. And substantially the essence
of it is a sacred spiritual dialogue that takes place between Christ
and his church. That's the essence of Solomon's
Song. Christ is likened to the bridegroom,
or the beloved as he's called, and the church is likened to
his spouse. And sometimes it's quite difficult
to discern who is speaking. whether it's Christ or whether
it's the Church. Some modern commentators have
said that it was written at the time when Solomon married Pharaoh's
daughter. I do not believe that for a moment.
It's nothing to do with a carnal love. It's entirely to do with
a spiritual love and a spiritual union. that Solomon knew and
tasted, handled and felt of the sacred glories of Christ, of
the love of Christ, shed abroad in his heart. Some of the old
Puritans, they called the Song of Solomon the Holy of Holies
of the Scripture. So why did they do that? Because,
my beloved friends, the only entrance that you and I can ever
have into the sacred truths of Solomon's song is by the experience
of the love of God, of Christ, in our hearts. And it will open
to you the sacred scriptures of truth when we have that experience
by the Holy Ghost of the love of Christ shed abroad in our
hearts. I've often So I look back to
my own early spiritual experience, and when I was under the law,
I remember on one occasion, I wasn't in the habit at that time of
reading scriptures regularly, but I opened my Bible and Solomon
saw. I was under the sentence of death
in myself. I had no hope, no hope. And you know, friends, I remember
reading right the way through this book. And I shut the book. And I said,
I do not understand anything that I've read. It was a closed
book. But you know, sometime later,
probably 18 months later, when Christ was first revealed to
me, how precious this book became. how it was as if the scales fell
off my eyes. I beheld wondrous things in the
Word of God. And what was first made so precious
and sacred to me was the prayers of the spouse, here in Solomon's
Song. She says, let him kiss me with
the kisses of his mouth. That's the desire. You know,
Naturally speaking, in natural love between a man and a woman,
there is that desire for one another's company. There is that
desire for one another's affection. There is that desire for union
and communion, even in a natural love. But here we have something
that is much deeper, it's a spiritual love. And the only way that you and
I can ever know this spiritual love is to be born again, to
be made spiritually alive and spiritually aware of our needs
as a sinner before a holy God, a longing. Christ speaks of it,
doesn't he? Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness and longing. He satisfies the
longing soul. He filleth the hungry soul with
goodness. Let him kiss me. Who's come up
to chapel this morning and that is the desire of your soul? Let
him kiss me. Let him show his love to me. That I may experience that precious
love of God. I look back You know, friends,
the first time that Christ was revealed to me, it was in those
beautiful words in Ephesians chapter 3. And ye shall be rooted
and grounded in love, and know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge in its length and breadth and depth and height. They were
the first words that were breathed into my heart of a hope in the
gospel of Jesus Christ. And what a hope it was. what
light shone into my heart and into my soul, what peace entered
into my heart when Christ was revealed, when his love was shed
abroad in my heart. It's inexpressible, you can't
explain it to anybody else, the sacred sense of his love, his
mercy, his grace to a poor wretched sinner. And then I began to understand
Once I'd known that love of Christ shed abroad in the heart, I began
to understand these prayers. And these are the first things
that were made really precious to me. Let him kiss me. All the longing, desire of my
soul, let him kiss me. With the kisses of his mouth,
for thy love is better than wine. And then she says in chapter
one, verse four, draw me. We will run after thee. That's
the desire of the spouse of Christ. Draw me. Why does she feel that
need to be drawn? Because she feels that lack of
love, that lack of spiritual mindedness, that lack of desire,
that lack of true hunger. And so she says, draw me. Excite
that love in my own heart. shed abroad thy love in my soul
and draw me. There's that beautiful word in
the gospel according to John. None come except the Father draw. Do you feel that need to be drawn?
Drawn nearer to Christ? Drawn into His embrace? Drawn
into His love? Into His mercy? into his grace,
draw me, we will run after thee. I remember my late pastor commenting
on this verse, Mr. Jupp, draw me, we will run after
thee. The we, and he explained it this way, in
the true believer is the Holy Ghost, the divine person of the
Spirit of God, dwells in every believer's heart. That is what
makes them a believer. When the Holy Spirit enters the
soul, quickens the soul. And faith is given. We're from the Holy Ghost. Faith
is the gift of God. It's a divine gift by the Holy
Ghost as he dwells in the heart and he gives faith. And repentance. And there is
that longing desire after Christ. The Apostle speaks of it, doesn't
he? That I may know Him in the power. No, that's what you want
to know. You don't want to just know about
Jesus Christ. You want to know the power of
His love, the power of His mercy, the power of His grace in your
own soul. Draw me. We will. See, the believer in the Holy
Spirit, we will run after thee, run after Christ. The King hath brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. We will remember thy love more
than wine. What do you mean to be brought
into the chambers? The chambers of his grace. The
chambers of his everlasting mercy. The chambers of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. That glorious refuge, a refuge
for sinners. The gospel makes known which
is found in the merits of Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted,
the burdened by sin were never exempted from entering therein.
The King hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. And then if we just look for
a moment at verse seven, another beautiful prayer in verses seven
and eight. In verse 7 is the prayer. In
verse 8 is the answer from Christ. So the spouse, she says, tell
me, O thou whom my soul loveth. You see, this union between Christ
and his bride is a union of love. And where there's that true union
of love, there's communion. One with another. Union and communion. And surely this is at the very
heart and the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ, union
and communion with Jesus, the Son of God. There is one God
and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave his life on ransom for all to be testified in due time. Oh, my beloved friends, all that
we might know more of this union and this communion Tell me, O
thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest? What the spouse means here is
not so much where Christ feeds, but where he feeds his people,
where thou feedest, where thou openest thine hand and satisfy
the desire of every living thing, where there is a living ministry,
a ministry that is under the power of the Holy Ghost. That's the desire of the spouse.
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest? Where
thou wouldst feed me? 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? Tell me. Is there one here who's come
up to the house of God today, and that is the very longing
desire of your heart? Tell me. You long for the Lord to speak?
You know, the Lord's silence to the true child of God is something
that is very trying, very perplexing. David, he says, be not silent
unto me, O God, lest if thou be silent unto me, I become like
them that go down into the pit. He knew that the word of the
Lord needed to be sealed into the heart. Is that what you're longing for?
For the word of the Lord to be sealed into your heart? Now,
listen to the answer because Christ gives an answer immediately
in verse 8. If thou know not. O thou fairest
among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock.
What are the footsteps of the flock? The footsteps of Christ. My sheep, they know my voice
and they follow me. And a stranger will they not
follow? Is to follow Christ. If they'll
know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the
footsteps of the flock and feed thy kids beside the shepherds'
tents. Tell me all that these things
indeed that may there be that living experience
in our hearts as the Holy Spirit may be pleased to open the word. Now let us come more closely
to our text, and that is, I would lead thee. In the beginning of
chapter 8 it says, O that thou wert as my brother, that suck
the breast of my mother, when I should find thee without, I
would kiss thee. Yea, I should not be despised. I would lead thee. It's a most unusual thing, because
My sheep, they hear my voice and they follow me. They're the
words of Christ. But here, it's the spouse speaking
to Christ and she said, I would lead them. I would lead them. And I was thinking much on this
and there is in scripture a place where, which probably explains
it perhaps clearer, the fiery cloudy pillar that the Lord gave
the children of Israel in the wilderness. And that fiery cloudy
pillar is a beautiful type of Christ. It was a fire by night
and a cloud by day. So whether it's day or night,
they could see that fiery cloudy pillar. And when the fiery cloudy
pillar was to get the children of Israel to move, he lifted
off the tabernacle. And as soon as that happened
all the children of Israel packed up their belongings ready to
follow that fiery cloudy pillar in the wilderness. But there
was one occasion just one occasion when that fiery cloudy pillar
went behind them and that was at the Red Sea. We have that illustration there
the children of Israel coming to the Red Sea, and at Pisgah,
mountains on both sides, and the Egyptian army pursuing behind. Just remember, friends, there
was a vast number of people there. It's reckoned as probably around
about two million people, the children of Israel in the wilderness,
that escaped out of Egypt. And here they were at the Red
Sea. The sea before them, the mountains beside them, the Egyptian
army behind them. Utterly, utterly finished. And Moses cries unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses,
why cryest thou unto me? Say unto the children of Israel
that they go forward, that they go forward. Impossible. They were to walk
into the sea. And the Lord said to Moses, lift
up thy rod over the sea. And the seas parted. And the
children of Israel went over by dry land. And as Paul says
in the epistle to the Hebrews, the Egyptians are saying to do
so. What does he mean? He means they
tried to follow the children of Israel. And then we read,
that as the children of Israel were passing over, the fiery
cloudy pillar went behind the children of Israel and stood
between the Egyptian army and the children of Israel to defend
them. In Isaiah it says, I will be
thy rear reward. He went behind them to protect
them and defend them from the Egyptian army. They carried on
and went over and in that song of Miriam after that, how they
sang that they saw the bodies of the Egyptians in the water
drowned. Children of Israel, they all
got safely across the Red Sea into the Promised Land. You see, it's an illustration. I would lead thee. This desire
of the spouse. of the Bride of Christ, I would
lead thee. What it means is, when the love
of Christ is really shed abroad in your heart, Christ is made
precious. You know, you'll run to the house
of God. You'll run to the house of God. heart will be on fire. You long
to be there. You long to be in the services
of God's house. You long to be under the ministry
of the word and the exposition and preaching experimentally
of the word. I would lead thee and bring thee
into my mother's house. The mother's house is the church. In Psalm 110, that beautiful
Messianic Psalm. It says, from the womb of the
morning. What's he speaking of? The church. Soon as Zion traveled,
she brought forth her children. I would lead thee and bring thee
into my mother's house who would instruct me. Into the church. Among the people of God. followers
of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,
numbered among them would I be now and to eternity. What a mercy if indeed we do
have these longing desires after Christ and if the love of Christ
has been shed abroad in your heart and you long to lay hold of that
hope that is set before thee in the Gospel, and you long to
be among the Lord's people, and under the ministry of the Word,
I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house, who would
instruct me. You see, we receive instruction by the Spirit. It's through the
foolishness of preaching. The Lord feeds his people with
the bread of life, with the water of life, with the wine of the
kingdom. In the third chapter of Solomon's
psalm, it says there, by night on my
bed I sought him whom my soul loved I sought him, but I found
him not. See, there's a going forth. What does the by night on my
bed represent? It represents a laziness, a slovenliness,
a backwardness. That's what it represents. A
backwardness in the things of God. Although she was, Seeking
Him, I sought Him, I found Him not. Not on that bed of ease. No. There's a need to arise. There's a need to move forward. I will rise now and go about
the city in the streets and in the broadways. I will seek Him,
whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. still seeking him. The watchman,
that's the ministers that go about the city, found me. To
whom I said, saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a
little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul
loveth. I held him. What a wonderful
thing that is. I've often thought of Simeon
when he came into the temple by the Spirit when Joseph and
Mary brought the holy child Jesus. And Simeon took that holy child
in his arms. He said, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Satisfied. in afterlife, satisfied
with favour, full of the blessing of the Lord. You know, if you
have Christ in your arms, satisfied. It's a precious thing, you know,
to feel that satisfaction, that peace, that reconciling grace. It was but a little I passed
from them, that is from the watchman, but I found him whom my soul
loveth, I held him, and would not let him go until I brought
him into my mother's house, into the chamber of her that conceived
me. You see, the church, in the chamber
of her that conceived me, into the church of God. See, you're
to arise, And the spouse here, she rises into the church of
God. No more a stranger or a guest,
but like a child at home. Following your Lord and Master.
Walking in the footsteps of the flock. Christ made precious. His holy commandments in the
gospel made precious to your soul. The sacred ordinances of
the gospel, you see Christ in them. And that is what they speak
of, Christ. You think of the ordinance of
Believer's Baptism. What does Fawcett say in that
lovely hymn, view the right with understanding, Jesus' grave before
thee lies. Be interred at his command after
his example rise. It represents the sufferings,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what baptism represents. And then there's the sacred ordinance
of believers, that believers follow Christ in the Lord's Supper,
this do, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death until he come. What a wonderful simple thing
the gospel is. The Lord's death in the wine
and in the bread represented the broken body of our Lord Jesus
Christ, suffered and bled and died for our sins, was wounded
for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement
of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed.
These things are so clearly set before. It was but a little that
I passed from them. But I found Him. She found Christ. She found the Beloved. I found
Him whom my soul loveth. I held Him. How sacred to hold
Christ in the arms of faith. To be enabled to say my Beloved
is mine. and I am his, I held him and
would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's
house, into the chamber of her that conceived me. That desire. What it is, the apostle speaks
of it, doesn't he? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ dwelling in your hearts
by faith. Christ made so precious. Now,
that desire then is to be in the house of God. If you love
me, keep my commandments. That's the desire. That's the
longing of the living soul. Now, it says more than once here,
but here in chapter 3, I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. That's her fellow believers.
by the rows and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not
up nor awake my love till he prays. What does he mean? She
had him in her heart. She was enjoying his presence
and she wanted to take him to the house of God and go with
him to the house of God in her heart. I would lead thee and
bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me. You see,
my beloved friends, these divine commandments. It's the part of
the office of the Lord's servants to instruct, to teach, to guide,
to direct under the sweet power of the Holy Ghost. We read that divine commission
that was given to the Lord's servants, that they were to go
into the world, preaching the gospel unto every creature. And that those that believe should
be baptized. It says, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. and lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. You see this, these gospel ways. The only way that you and I can
keep the holy commandments of Christ is when the love of Christ
is shed abroad in our hearts. And you feel such a love to Him.
And in that feeling sense of love to Him, you desire to do
what he has commanded. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And everything in the New Testament
Church points to Christ. And at the Apostle Paul it stands
out probably most clearly in the epistle to the Ephesians,
but in all the epistles. But in the Ephesians in particular
it always seems to stand out so clearly It doesn't matter
whether he's speaking of doctrine, of experience or practice. He
uses these terms continually, in him, through him, by him,
unto him. Everything is in Christ. It's
all in Christ. I would lead thee and bring thee
into my mother's house. who would instruct me. I would
cause thee to drink of the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. This is the sweet graces of the
Spirit. The love of Christ shed abroad
in the heart. I would cause thee to drink of
spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. You know, the graces
of the Spirit in the heart. I've come into my garden, my
sister, my spouse, that precious love of God, motivating, motivating
to follow Christ. And you feel so drawn to Christ,
you see a beauty in Christ, you see a loveliness in Christ. He's
the beloved. His desire, your desire, toward
Him, to follow Him, to serve Him, in your day and in your
generation. It says here in verse 3, His
left hand should be under my head and His right hand should
embrace me. If you look at its metaphorical
language here, what does left hand mean? And what does right
hand mean in this metaphorical language? The left hand are providential
blessings. That's what it represents. In
the book of Psalms, we hear of the hill Mizer and of the Mount
Hermon. And again, the hill Mizer represents,
the hill Mizer means a little hill, And that represents providential
blessings. The Mount Hermon represents those
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. His left hand. You see, it says
in Psalm 95, I think it is, in his hand are the deep places
of the earth. Doesn't matter where you are.
It's all in his hand. In his hand are the deep places
of the earth. And in another psalm, Psalm 145
I believe it is, Thou openest Thine hand and satisfyeth the
desire of every living thing. Now look at that naturally. Every
living thing, the Lord opens His hand and satisfies the desire
of every living thing on earth. But now look at it spiritually.
He opens His hand and satisfied desire of every living thing,
all those that have been born again of the Holy Ghost. Convinced
of their sin, fleeing unto Jesus, thou openest thine hand. What
is in that hand in those spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus? There's forgiveness of sins.
But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.
He opens his hand. He grants the forgiveness of
sins. There is the glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness of
Christ that covers the nakedness of a poor sinner. What a wonderful thing to be
covered in that everlasting robe of the righteousness of Christ
and to appropriate it by faith. Jesus thy blood and righteousness My glorious dress, he says, doesn't
he? It's wonderful, you know, that
beautiful hymn, 103. And Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are, my glorious dress. Amidst flaming worlds in these
arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. When from the dust
of death I rise, to take my mansion in the sky, In then shall this
be all my plea, Jesus has lived and died for me. Bold shall I
stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge shall
lay, while through thy blood absolved I am from sin's tremendous
curse and shame. All the wonderful blessings and
favours that dwell in Jesus Christ. He's the heavenly storehouse. Every blessing, every favor freely
flows through Jesus' precious blood. You know, when I was brought
into Gospel Liberty and so richly blessed, I remember I was in
the town of Kroger at the time, and all the wonderful blessing
I had in my soul, overflowing. Such a sense of the love of God
to me. A poor sinner. A poor sinner. A poor wretched sinner. A poor
helpless sinner. And yet, see, I had Christ in
my embrace. And I was in His embrace. His
left hand. You think of this. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
Heaven, And my righteousness and all these things, that's
providential things, shall be added unto you. Take no thought for the morrow.
Let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. You see, his left hand is under
my head. He will not foul you. those providential blessings.
My God shall supply all your need according to his riches
in glory by Christ Jesus, all your need in providence and in
grace. His left hand should be under
my head and his right hand should embrace me. You think of this
It's obviously the picture of two lovers. His left hand supporting, it's
Christ, his left hand supporting and sustain her in all, every
providence. The very hairs of your head are
numbered. Not one of them fall is without your father's leave. My life, my newtish circumstance
is subject to thine eye. At the moment, we're just looking
at Providence. But how much greater in grace
His right hand does embrace me, showing His love, shedding abroad
His love in the heart, so that you're drawn out in holy love
unto Christ. I could from all things parted
be, but never, never, Lord, from Thee. In Him is life, In him
is life, and this is what the spouse sees. In union with the
Lamb, from condemnation free, the saints for everlasting were
and shall forever be. That wonderful union between
Christ and the believer. It's a spiritual union. It's
an eternal union. If once the love of Christ I
feel, impressed upon my breast, the mark of that celestial seal
can never be erased. See, here, there is that desire. Just look at the following verse,
look at verse five. Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness, leaning upon a beloved? It's the spouse of
Christ. I've raised thee up under the
apple tree. There thy mother brought thee forth, There she
brought thee forth that there thee. I raised thee up under
the apple tree. Just look at chapter 2. And we
find in chapter 2 in verse 3, as the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, so is my beloved among the suns. I sat down under
his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my
taste. Christ said, from me is thy fruit
found. And again, he says here in that
second chapter, his left hand is under my head and his right
hand doth embrace me, doth embrace me. And that right hand embracing is those wonderful spiritual
blessings that the Lord discovers to the soul of his people, that
he loves them with an everlasting love. that he suffered and bled
and died for their sins, that he lived for them. See, Christ lived and suffered
and bled and died for his people. That wonderful grace of God in
Jesus Christ. You know, all the dignity, worth,
power and grace that is in Christ is in this, that he's the eternal
Son of God. It's an infinite supply. He is
full of grace and truth. He's always full of grace and
truth. He always will be full of grace and truth. But what
it implies is an exhaustless supply of grace. That's that
lovely word in James, and he giveth more grace. And you know,
the living child of God, they feel to need more grace. They
feel their emptiness. The apostle says, we have this
treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might
be of God and not of us. Earthen vessels are leaky vessels.
The excellency of the power might be of God. You might say, what
does it mean? The indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
Think of those lovely words of Christ to the woman at the well. If any man drink of the water
that I shall give him, it shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. What is it? It's the Holy Ghost.
That's the water, the living water. And where the Holy Ghost
dwells in the heart, it'll never leave. It shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. And these wonderful promises
of God to his people, I would lead thee. Oh, that the love
of Christ may be so shed abroad in our hearts that we may run
to the house of God, that we may run in the way of his commandment,
that we may follow the Lord Jesus with us wherever he leads. I
would lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house who would
instruct me. I would cause thee to drink of
the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand
should be under my head and his right hand should embrace me. You see, you think of those wonderful
hands. The eternal God is thy refuge
and underneath are the everlasting arms. They're always there. You
do not feel the comfort and the strength of those arms until
you fall into them. And when the Lord brings us into
various places in our experience, we're brought to fall into those
everlasting arms. That wonderful, precious experience
many years ago now, in a time of great affliction, and the
words in Solomon's Song, chapter one, were made so exceedingly
sacred and precious. My beloved is as a cluster of
campfire in the vineyards of Engidae. And the effect of those
words, just as if the Lord put his arms right round me. And
those words followed him with such savour, sweetness and power.
The eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting
arms And what the Lord showed me at that time so clearly was
those everlasting arms had always been there. It's only when I
came into that time of great need and distress, we fall into
those everlasting arms. And we then feel the direct support
of those everlasting arms, his left hand. It is under my head
and his right hand should embrace me. Oh, what a wonderful thing
when we are in the embrace of Jesus Christ, feeling the love
of Jesus Christ shed abroad in our hearts. Christ made so exceedingly
precious unto us all. You hear his voice, you see his
countenance, you long to lay hold of him and to follow him
and to serve him. in your day and in your generation. Father, these words then may
be a very special help to one and another here this morning.
I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house who would
instruct me. I would cause thee to drink of
the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand
should be under my head and his right hand should embrace me. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 268. The tune is Cleavager, number
20. If Jesus kindly say, And with a whispering word, arise
my love and come away, I run to meet my Lord. Hymn 268, tune
Clivager number 20. ? And river is river ? ? And river
is river ? ? And river is river ? ? And river is river ? My soul lives in Thy praise,
My heart is all on Thine. I'll light a spirit of vintage,
And now turn it my way. Thy record so well-write, And
ye have jingled spring, And doth through all the world describe, There visits I am to seek He
meets me with a kiss And with a smiling face I taste the dim enchanted bliss
and wonder at his grace. The world now drops its trust
My idols all become Sure as I meet my Saviour's cross ? I give Him all my heart ? ? The
soft and tender side ? ? Now meet my ever rest ? Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each. Amen.