Alright, if you'll take your
Bibles now and turn with me to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon, chapter 3. I thought of a title, and you
know I'm not good at titles. I've tried to give something
that you could remember, This one's quite long, Scott, so you
might want to start writing. The presence of Christ sought,
found, and held. The presence of Christ sought,
the presence of Christ found, and the presence of Christ held. The Scripture says, by night, On my bed I sought Him whom my
soul loveth. I sought Him but I found Him
not. I will rise now and go about
the city and the streets and in the broadways. I will seek
Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him but I found Him
not. The watchman 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 and
would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's
house, into the chamber of her that conceived me. Now, the Scripture
here begins with a sorrowful note. By night, upon my bed,
I sought Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. There's a notable change in this chapter from what went
before. From the previous chapter, it
is a chapter of great joy. Great joy. In the previous chapter,
the bride enjoyed the presence of the bridegroom. Look at this
in chapter 2 and verse 8 and 9. Chapter 2 and verse 8, it says,
The voice of my beloved, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountain,
skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or young
heart. Behold, he standeth behind a
wall. He looketh forth at the windows,
showing himself. through the lattice. She clearly
hears His voice. She sees Him leaping over the
mountains, rushing into her arms. What a beautiful picture. She
sees Him gazing at her lovingly through the lattice. This pictures
for us the sweet times of joy in every believer's life when
we are able to feel the presence of our Savior. When we are able
to feel His presence, there's no greater joy for the believer
than to hear His voice. Is there? Is there anything greater
than to hear His voice clearly? When you hear the Word preached
and you hear His voice, there is nothing sweeter to your ears. When He is near and you hear
Him clearly, clearly, His Word, when it comes, it says
this in verse 11. Look at what the Beloved said
in verse 11 of chapter 2. He said, For lo, this is the
voice that she hears, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over
and gone. What is this but the loving call
that testifies to us of the infinite love that has made us righteous
before God? has made us righteous. This is
Christ's voice speaking. We by nature were like the Shulamite,
we were black, full of sin, the foulness and stench of sin, yet
He by His faithfulness, He, He by His own faithfulness, by His
own obedience to God, has provided for us a righteousness, even
the righteousness of God. You see, He established the law. He honored the law. Established
righteousness for His people. And now, what has He done for
us? He has removed the filth of our garments, the rags of
our sins, and robed us in His righteousness. He has robed us
in His righteousness. And what is the result? The winter
is past. The winter of God's cold justice
is now past. The reign of God's wrath against
our sin is now gone. How is that? That is because
He bore our sin in His own body on the tree. My Beloved did this. My Savior did this. He bore our
sins. In His own body on the tree,
He suffered the just reward for our sins. He suffered the wrath
of God upon Calvary's tree and His blood. His blood has forever
removed our sins from us because His blood satisfied the justice
of God. What our blood could never do.
His blood by His one offering has done forever for us. Forever. You got that? Forever.
Our sins are removed from us. How long? Forever. He has satisfied. He shall see of the travail of
His soul and be satisfied. So when the Holy Spirit comes
in power, look at this, what happens now in verse 12. The
flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing has come.
The voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig
tree put forth her green figs, and the vines, her tender grape,
give a good smell. Does that sound pleasant? It
is pleasant. We're fixing to come on winter.
Around here, we're coming on winter. Is that pleasant? No.
But this is the winter of a spiritual winter. It's past and what comes
up now? By the power of the Holy Spirit, flowers appear. It's
a time of singing and rejoicing. The fig tree puts forth her figs.
Listen, there is nothing greater, there is nothing more joyful
than a soul being quickened from the dead. There's nothing. There's
nothing a believer would rather see than someone come to Christ. Nothing greater, nothing more
joyful, nothing more joyous than when the seed of the Word of
God is planted in the heart and life is given, faith and repentance
come. And one turns from his sin and
self-righteousness to Christ. This is the picture of the flowers
coming up from the dead ground, from the winter. Now there's
flowers and singing. In Luke chapter 15, our Lord
speaks of that shepherd who had one sheep that was lost. And
he went out and he left the 99. He went out in the wilderness
and he found that one that was lost. And he putteth it on his
shoulders and he carryeth it. What's that a picture of? That's
a picture of Christ finding us. He found us. We were lost and
He carried Us. And what did He say when He brought
that sheep home? He said, Come, rejoice with me. For I have found my sheep that
was lost. And He said this in Luke 15,
verse 7. He says, I say unto you likewise.
Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Rather
than 99 people who don't need any repentance. You see, there's joy in heaven.
You got that? There's joy. The angels rejoice
when Christ brings in one sinner. All of heaven shouts. You got
that? All of heaven shouts with joy. The earth? Nobody pays any attention
around here when a sinner comes to Christ. But God says there
is joy in heaven over one that repented. And I'll tell you what,
there's joy in the one that is being carried by Christ. Isn't
there? There's joy in that person. And
there's joy among the congregation of God. Now the world rejoices
in numbers regardless of condition. They don't care if you're saved
or not. As long as you get many people to come, validates their
gospel. If you just get a million people
to agree, that validates their gospel to them. What validates
our gospel is this, when Christ brings one in. Christ brings
a sinner. Christ brings a sinner. The spiritual
world, they don't care about the condition. But true joy is
seen in those lost sheep that are sought and found of Him.
Have you ever been lost? You know, I found that to be
true of some people. Some people have never been lost. They've
been saved their whole life. Listen, if you've never been
lost, you've never been found. You've never been dead. You've
never been quickened. You have to be lost. Have you
been lost? Oh, yeah. I was lost. I was lost. I was vile. and unrighteous before
God? Have you known the blackness
of your own soul? And have you ever seen the Beloved
leaping over the mountains of your sin to rescue you? When
He came into this world, He leaped over every obstacle to get to
me. Even the justice of God. He endured
the wrath of God to reach me. Have you seen Him? I'm not saying have you seen
a doctrine, have you seen Him? Salvation is not in a doctrine,
it's in a person. This text is very personal. The
bride sees Him leaping over the mountains of sin. Have you ever
seen the winter of God's justice and anger melt into the spring
of forgiveness? Have you seen that? Have you
known that? Have you experienced that? Has the Spirit of God come
in power to give you the fruit, the flower of grace? What's the
first fruits of grace? Faith and repentance. Faith and
repentance. How do I know if He died for
me? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Faith is the evidence of this
grace. Faith and repentance. This is
the voice of every sinner saved by grace. Look at verse 16. This
is the one saved by grace. My Beloved is mine, and I am
His. That's the voice of someone who's
heard clearly the voice of Christ. That's someone who truly believes
on Christ. He is mine. I don't know if He's
yours, but He's mine. He's my beloved, and I belong
to Him. I'm not free. I'm bound to Him. What a happy bondage. Isn't that
a happy bondage? To be bound to Him. Oh, it is. How sweet the thought that Jesus
is mine. He is my soul's foundation. Look
at what Christ says in verse 11. I'm sorry, in verse 14. He says, My dove. Look what He
calls us. My dove, thou art in the cleft
of the rock, in the secret places of the stair, See, Christ is
the cleft of the rock. Isn't that where He put us? God
put us in the cleft of the rock. And He shelters us from the wrath
of God. And it is in this cleft. It is
in Christ, and we are able to see God. We are able to hear
Him. Isn't that what happened to Moses?
God put him in that cleft of the rock, and he was able then
to see the glory of God, wasn't he? The only way you're going
to see the glory of God is if you're in the cleft, if you're
in Christ. And what do you find there? You
find a fortress, a fortress surrounded, a refuge from every trouble. He is a refuge. He's a very present
help in trouble. And because I've been put into
union with Him before the foundation of the world, I was in Him. It pleased God, and He pleased
God, and He ascended to the throne. Therefore, all that He has obtained,
all that He has, this is what that statement is, My Beloved
is Mine, and I am His. All that He has is Mine. You've got to let, you've got
to chew on that for a while. What belongs to Christ? Tell me, what
doesn't belong to Christ? Now, what belongs to you? Everything
that belongs to Him belongs to you. Don't you have reason to give
thanks? Since He's obtained everything. And He gives it freely to you. Freely. Freely. Consider the
weight of this truth. For the Spirit Himself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and
if children, then heirs of God. Heirs of God. What are you going
to inherit? God. You don't inherit a car, or a
truck, or a house, or money. You inherit God, who owns all
things. You inherit God, who is the joy
of our life. You inherit Him. And joint heirs
with Jesus Christ. Consider the weight of this,
that all that belongs to Christ, as adopted sons, belongs to us. He bought us with His blood,
He called us to faith in Christ, He quickened us from the dead
so that you should be heirs of God. That's what He told Abraham,
I am the exceeding great reward. I am the exceeding great. Therefore
we love God. As the bride loved the bridegroom,
we love God. Because He first loved us. He loved us, He chose us, and
His love is immutable. I want you to get that. His love
is unchangeable. Now, the circumstance of the
bride is going to change. The circumstance of the bride
is fixing to change. She is going to go from ecstatic
joy to utter despair. Now, she changed. But one thing
that never changed was the love of the bridegroom for the bride. It never changes. His love is
immutable. It is unchangeable. So your circumstances
never change the love of God for you. I don't care what it
is. I don't care what happens to
us. If God has loved you, He will
always love you. Because that's who He is. He
is an immutable God. Behold, I am God, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. His love is immutable. It's higher
and greater than any love we could possibly imagine. It's
greater than our love. That's an understatement. I don't think I can understate
that any more than that. Our love is very mutable. But
I tell you this, we do love Him. Are you not? I love Him. Do you love Him? I do. Oh, I want
to love Him more. And we prize our Lord and Savior
above all things and above all people. He is our portion. Therefore, we hold to God in
Christ as all our salvation and all
our inheritance. Now, look back at your text and
see that there's something that changes. You see the joy now
in chapter 2. Can you see that? Can you see
the joy there? But now something happens in
chapter 3, verse 1. It says, By night on my bed I
sought Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. Now we know that this promise
of Christ is sure. Now I want you to get this before
we get into losing His presence. I want you to understand this.
When Jesus says this, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Now that promise is true whether
you feel His presence or not. Whether you know it or not, He
will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Never. Never. That promise is as sure as He
being God. I mean, if He lied about that,
He would cease to be God. That just can't happen. He will
never leave the Holy Spirit. In fact, that's why the Holy
Spirit is in us. It is there. If any man had not
the Spirit of God, he is none of His. We have the Holy Spirit
in us. He never leaves us. Yet we are
not always aware of His presence. We do not always feel He is near. Because oftentimes, oftentimes
our Savior hides His face from us. Oftentimes, by night. This was a night season. It was
a dark season. Truly, it is a dark season for
every child of God when we cannot see His face. We cannot because
our faith is weak. We cannot feel His presence in
our prayers. We cannot hear His voice in our
study. How dark is this season to us?
Now, I'll give you a couple of reasons, and I'm not going to
deal with these reasons in depth. There are a couple of reasons
why He hides His face. First of all, it could be no
fault of your own. As in Job. As in Job. When God allowed Satan to destroy
everything Job had. It was not anything that Job
had done. God intended that Job should
grow in faith, in love. But it was not particularly anything
that happened. And that's what's happening here.
The Shulamite has done nothing in this chapter that seems to
deserve Him hiding His face. But yet He does leave her for
a season. Now, the other reason is this,
because of our sin. Oftentimes, He hides His face
because of our neglect. Now, if you want to see that,
you can go to chapter 5, when He comes to her door, and He
pleads for her to open unto Him, and she refuses. Then what does
he do? He leaves. So it could be some neglect of
our communion to spend time with Christ. And that's what Christ
warns the bride of in chapter 2, verse 15. He says, take us the little foxes
that spoil the vines. See, that's a warning saying,
look, if you desire to keep the presence, then you should be
aware of the foxes that spoil the vines, the sins. those pleasures
and things of the world that would draw us away from Him. So sometimes it's our neglect. But either way, the night season
is the most fearful time for a true believer in Christ. Someone
told me this illustration. I thought it was good. He said
there was a father and a son walking in the mall, and the
son kept running on out there in front of him, and the dad
said, no, come back here. Get back here. I want you by me.
And the boy, he wouldn't listen. He just kept running on out,
running on out. And every time he'd run out,
he'd look back, make sure his dad was still there. One time
his dad let him run on out, his dad just walked behind this pillar.
And that boy turned around, and oh my goodness, his dad was gone.
Now his dad was there. He didn't know it. And he began
to cry. He began to wail. Daddy! Daddy! And his daddy just stepped out.
Sometimes God does that to us. He hides His face from us. And
when we turn around, He's not there. It was very fearful. Very
fearful. Now, false professors have no
trouble with this. They just don't have any trouble with it.
They're always at ease regarding spiritual matters. They're not
troubled about their condition before God. Because they have
no need of Christ's presence. This morning, some of you may
not have any desire for Christ's presence. You don't care. Well,
that's because you're lost. You're dead. But to us who believe,
we surely do care. We care. We need His presence. And when He hides His face from
us, our hearts are troubled. And we must seek Him. This is not an option for us. I need Him. I need His presence. If I'm to have any assurance
and I am not to fall off into utter despair, I have got to
have His presence. I've got to have Him. That's
what the bride says, I sought Him. He was gone. Why would she
seek Him if He was there? He was gone. Now, did he cease
to be her husband? No, he was still her husband.
But she lost his presence. She lost sight of him. She says, I sought him. Where? On the bed. That's the first
place she sought him. On the bed. She found him not. Believer, are you without the
presence of Christ this morning? Do you not feel His presence? Then let us arise. That's what
she does in verse 2. I will rise. I will rise now. And go about
the city in the streets. I will rise when? Now. If you're without the presence
of Christ now, stir your heart to rise now. You need Him now. Don't wait. Don't wait. I like that. If you tarry until
you're better, You'll never come at all. Believer, if you're without Him,
rise now. May God put His hand to the hole
of your heart, and may the smell of His love and grace move your
soul to go and find Him. Find Him. Where is such a child
of God to seek Him? Well, first of all, She goes
into the broad ways and the broad streets. Now sometimes when we're
desperate, we'll just do anything. And most likely it's wrong. Most
likely it's wrong. Broad is the way that leadeth
what? To destruction. Sometimes we
just are desperate. I mean, there are times when
I've been so desperate that I would I would tune into those broadcasts
with all that excitement. You know, you hear all these
churches with all that excitement. And I would try to stir up my flesh. We use
every earthly means to try to get Him. And that will always
fail. You know, if you've got people
treating church like it's a football game or something, you've got
to be excited. You've got to stir yourself up.
How long does that last before you've got to have another shot
of adrenaline to stir yourself up again? That's not what I'm
talking about. It's not physical. These are
spiritual. Sometimes we try to use broad
ways and broad streets to find Him. No, we must use spiritual means. We must use spiritual means. The ways and means of which God
has ordained and used before to save us are the same means
by which we may still enjoy His presence. Namely, by the worship
of God. By the worship of God. How did
He first find you? Where did He find you? Where
did you first find Him? Was it not under the gospel?
Did you not hear someone preach the gospel and the Spirit of
God use that message and find you? Yes, that's where you found
Him. You found Him here. Go and use
earthly means to find Him. You'll find Him where you first
found Him. The preaching of the gospel.
And I want you to consider this. Why does God leave His church
in this world? Why did He not take you immediately
to glory when He saved you? His church is here because He
still has others He must bring. The church is here as the means
to gather in His sheep, to call them. by this gospel. And when
He calls them, the means of the church then is to comfort and
courage and feed those sheep that He brings in. This is the purpose of the church. We are assembled together for
each other. You got that? We're here not
just for ourselves. We're here for one another. We're
here to encourage one another. to provoke one another to love.
That's what Paul said in Hebrews 10, verse 25. Forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together, listen, as the manner of some
is. Even in Paul's day, you realize how soon Christ had risen from
the dead and the church was established? And Paul said it's already the
manner of some to forsake this. Don't forsake the assembling
of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but, listen,
exhorting one another. provoking one another to love.
You know what? You provoke me to love. You do, just by sitting there.
You sit there. Provoke me to love. You encourage
me. You strengthen one another by
sitting there. That's what God intended for
this. The assembling of the saints. See, that's a faithful attendance. It's not just for you, but for
the brethren. And if you neglect this, you're
neglecting the feeding and comfort of other souls. Why would you
do that, Paul said? Why would you do that? Because
in neglecting them, you're neglecting what? Yourself. You're denying
yourself encouragement. You're denying yourself love.
You're denying yourself the feeding of your soul. Also, if you are
seeking the presence of Christ and longing for Him to be near
to your heart, then why should you neglect the place where He
promises to be? Tell me, what did He promise?
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, what? There
I am. You know, the first person that
was here wasn't me. I walked through the door first,
but I wasn't here. He's already here. He's already here. He already prepared this for
you. He did that. If you want His
presence, why would you neglect where He is? Don't do that. Come
where He is. Is this not where we first found
our Beloved? Among the congregation of the
saints. Did we not seek Him and enjoy His presence in this place?
Look at this in chapter 2, verse 16. The bride in her joy knows
where to find Him. Look at this. My beloved is mine
and I am His. Where is He? He is feeding among
the lilies. If you read in the first part
of this, He is the rose of Sharon, a lily among what? Thorns. You see, He is the rose of Sharon. We are the lilies among thorns.
He's the rose. Now what is a lily? That's us. Where does He find
Him? He's feeding among the lilies.
Among His people. I like this. I think it's in
chapter 5 or chapter 6. He says He's among the nuts. Find Him among the nuts. Yes!
That's where He's at. Among His people. Among His people. I encourage you, child of God,
do not neglect the assembling of yourselves together. And I
tell you this, don't neglect fellowshipping with one another. If two of you are together, listen,
there He is. There He is. calling each other. I know you always think, well,
I just don't want to bother anybody. If somebody from the church calls
you, have they ever bothered you? No. Why would you think you would
bother anybody else? As a matter of fact, it would be a joy to
hear from you. Isn't that something? We do neglect our own souls.
But what is the most important part of worship and assembling?
What is it? What is it about us being here? It's not just
us being here talking and fellowshipping. What is the main purpose of us
being here? It is the preaching of Jesus Christ. It is the declaration
of His person. It is the declaration of His
work that stirs our hearts, that moves our souls to embrace Him,
to love Him and believe Him. It is the preaching of the Gospel.
Now look back at your text. And she's in the broad street.
She still didn't find Him. So she goes to the place where
she should have went to begin with. The watchman. The watchman. This watchman. The watchman go
about the city. He found me. And I said unto
him, Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth? What is a watchman? A
watchman is to stand on the wall with a trumpet in his hand. And
the trumpet makes a distinct sound when it's blown. A very
distinct sound. One sound would be a warning,
right? If there's an enemy coming, the
watchman would warn you. But also, he has another job
of when the kings come, or when someone is coming of great note,
it's a triumphant blow of the trumpet. Like when they come
in from battle, they're sitting there waiting for a trumpet sound.
So the watchman, he declares both a warning and victory. And this is exactly what the
men of God are called here. We are watchmen sitting upon
the wall of God's Word, and we make a very distinct sound both
of warning and of victory. Go to Isaiah chapter 62. Isaiah
chapter 62, look at verse 6. God says, I have set watchmen, upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
which shall never hold their peace, day nor night. Ye that make mention of the LORD,
keep not silent, and give him no rest till he establish and
till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. What are the watchmen
to do? They shall never hold their peace.
But what are they saying? What are they making mention
of? The Lord. I only really have one note on
this trumpet that I'm blowing. I have one note. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's the only thing that I'm
interested in declaring to you. I really don't have anything
else. If you want something else, again, entertainment, that's
for somewhere else. It's not here. I'm not here to
entertain you. I'm here to show you Christ. I'm here to set Him
before you as He declares Himself to be. That's it. That's it. We are to not cease. That's the
job of the watchman, is not to cease. What good is a watchman
that doesn't blow the trumpet? He's useless. We are constantly
to sound the praises of God, sound the gospel of Jesus Christ. All preachers must be vigilant,
sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.
I love what God says to Ezekiel. He said this in Ezekiel 2. He
said, Thou shalt speak My words. You got that? You don't speak
your own words. You don't have anything to say.
You know why I believe this? Why many of the false religion
messages are so short? It's the only thing you say. I tell you what, I've got a lot
to say. I've got a lot to say. But they're not my words. They're
His words. Speak my words and listen. Speak
them whether they hear or forbear. It doesn't matter what response
I get, I am still to speak His Word. Preach the Word. Be instant
in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering. It is our responsibility, preachers.
And then He says, Open thy mouth, and I will give thee to eat. So what do I do every week? I
just open my mouth. And He feeds. He puts it in.
He puts it in. This morning, if you just open
your mouth, He'll put it in. He'll feed you. He'll feed you. And He does this to His watchmen.
Now notice, as soon as she went the way that God ordained, notice
what happened in verse 4. It was but a little that I passed
from them, but I found you. Isn't that what she's been looking
for? She found Him. How did she find Him? The way
God ordained for her to find Him. The same way you always
will find Him. By the watchman. By the watchman. Do you ask of Me? Have you seen
My Beloved? Are you without His presence? I say, yes, I've seen Him. He
is both God and man. I've seen Him. He is both God
and man. I have seen Him and He has loved
His own with an everlasting love. I have seen Him because He has
obtained eternal righteousness. for every one of His people.
I have seen Him who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. I have seen Him who has satisfied
God's justice forever. I have seen Him who has risen
from the dead. I have seen Him who is exalted
to the throne of God where He sits ever living to make intercession
for His people. I see Him who now rules all things
after the counsel of His own will to bring in His people.
I see Him who keeps us sustains us, nurtures us. Yeah, I've seen
Him. I've seen Him. How will you know His presence? Believe on Him. Now listen, I'm
talking about believing Him. Not believing a doctrine I'm talking about believing Him.
You see, He is able to keep that which I've committed unto God
against that day. He is able to save us to the
uttermost. Believe Him. Believers, see that you're beloved.
Now, I want to tell you why He hides His face. Why? Why does
He hide His face? Is he cruel? Is he being cruel? No. There's a reason why he hides
his face. The reason our beloved hides
from us and is absent from us is so that our hearts might be
stirred to long for him more. To cause us to love him and trust
Him more. Is this not your prayer? How
much do you love Him? Go ahead and measure it, if you
can. Do you not want more? How about your faith? Can you
measure that? Do you not want more? This is how He causes those things
to grow, by His absence. He stirs our hearts. You who
desire assurance, if He did not hide His face from time to time,
we surely would trust in our feelings rather than Him. Feeling His presence is not salvation.
He is salvation. You're saved whether you feel
it or not. And if you feel His presence too long, often we trust
in the feeling. How do you really know you trust
Him? When that feeling is gone and
you've got nothing else, and you are still trusting Him. Your faith must be tried in the
furnace of affliction. Why? To prove your faith. I want to know that my faith
is real. I'm serious. I've got to know. Is my faith
real or am I deceived? Friends, I do not want to fall
into death and wake up deceived. Do you? Many are going to be
deceived. Many will wake up expecting glory
and be in torments. I do not want that. I've got
to know if I am His and He is mine. And how He does that is
He leaves us. Painful though it is, it is necessary
to prove our faith. Necessary to prove our faith. Not to Him, but to us. Try our faith. That's why Peter
said the trial of your faith is much more precious than gold
and ferrous, even though it's tried by fire. Isn't this the
worst fire you can think of? Is to not feel His presence. You that do not have His presence,
what would you do to get it? You who love Him, what would
you do? Not do anything. How about this? Would you sit
still? Would you sit still? Would you sit still and look
upon His person? Just sit still. We said stand
still. See salvation. Stand still. Would you just gaze
upon Him? Think of Him. Would you keep your gaze fixed
on Him? And I'll tell you this, it will
not be long until you find Him whom your soul loveth. Now lastly,
what do you do when you find Him? Listen to what she did.
Go back. She said, but I found Him whom
my soul loveth. And what? I hailed Him and I
would not let Him go. That's what you do when you find
Him. You hang on to Him with faith and you don't let Him go.
You're like Jacob. I will not let you go till you
bless me. We hang on to Him because there
is nothing else. But hang on to it. What in this world can you keep? What are you going to keep? And why hang on to it so dead
gum tightly? And not hang on to Him? When you find Him, take all your cares All your troubles, give them to Him. I can't bear it. Take this from Me. Cast all your cares upon Him. Why? He careth for you. Did He not leap over the mountains
to get you? Did He not find you in the waste,
howling wilderness of sin? Did He not find you dead and
alone? Did He not give you life? Is
He not the joy of your soul? When you lose Him, get up now
and find Him where you found Him. Find Him where you found
Him. Watchman. Hold on. Hold Him by faith and
never let Him go. Let's stand, be dismissed, and
pray. Our Father in heaven, rain down blessings upon us.
And the blessing we seek is Christ. The one we love is Christ. The one we long for is Christ. Oh, Father, give me Christ. I pray that you would do this
for every soul in this place. that you would leap over the
mountains of sin and rescue them from death. And Lord, call them that we may
rejoice. And those who have lost Thy presence,
give grace that we may find Thee and hold Thee. I ask this in
Christ's name. Amen.