You take your Bibles and turn
with me to Song of Solomon, chapter five. Song of Solomon, chapter five. Our text, we found verses one
through seven, but I would like for us to get to the end of this
and see the fullness of it. So be in prayer that God be gracious
to us. The title of the message this
morning is, How Christ Comes to Sinners. How Christ comes
to sinners. In Romans chapter 2, the Apostle
Paul says this, that God is not a respecter of persons. And what does he mean by that?
He's saying that he is not a judge like an earthly judge. An earthly judge takes into account
the person's situation, or the person's status, or the person's
wealth, and that may sway his judgment in one way or another,
but God is not like that. God is not a respecter of persons
in judgment. If you are righteous, God will
give you the reward of the righteous. If you are a sinner, God will
give you the reward of a sinner. And so in this judgment of God,
he is not a respecter of persons. Yet we know this, that God does
deal with his saints in a much different manner than he deals
with the lost, with the unsaved, the unconverted. He deals with
his elect in a different way than he does with those vessels
that are fitted for destruction. And I want us to understand this,
that in judgment God is not a respecter of persons, but I also want us
to see that God is not a respecter of persons in mercy. In other
words, God is not going to have mercy on me because of my status. because of my person, because
of what I've done, or who I am. God is going to show mercy to
me. If God would show mercy, He is going to show mercy out
of absolute and free, sovereign grace. That's it. There's no
difference between us and any of Adam's race. It is our nature to look around
at men and try to compare ourselves with others. God does not compare
ourselves with other men. He compares us with Himself. The standard of God is infinitely
holy. And if anyone is to meet the
standard of God, it must be in Jesus Christ alone. If God is going to have any respect
to us, it is going to be through an offering. The offering of
Jesus Christ. Remember when Abel offered that
sacrifice? Remember, God said He had respect
unto Abel's offering. Not to Abel. To Abel's offering. He had no respect to Cain's offering.
Because Cain's was one of works. Abel was one of grace. The offering
of another in His stead, which pictures Jesus Christ. Now, in
this text before us, I want us to truly see from this passage
how it is that God comes to every one of His chosen people. Every one of us that He has purpose
to give mercy to, He comes to us in the same manner. He comes to us in the same way. Remember, the Scripture says
that we have one calling. One calling. Your calling is
the same as my calling. I like that because then you
can't brag about your calling. I know my calling must have been
way lower than yours, but I know this, there's only one calling.
So it's really, you have nothing to brag about and neither do
I. We have one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Nothing
for us to brag about or glory in. God's not a respecter of
our person. God had mercy on us because he would. And if he
had mercy on us, this is how he's going to do it. Look at
this in verse 1. I am come into my garden, my
sister, my spouse. This whole book of the Song of
Solomon is regarding two people, the bride and the husband. The
bride and the husband. This is all a picture of Christ
and his church. picture, a type, a shadow of
what it is, the relationship between you and your Savior,
between me and my Savior. The greatest promise in Scripture
is set before us right here in these three words of the first
verse. I am come. Now, from the beginning, God
had promised the Savior. When Adam sinned and fell, God
came to Adam. Adam did not come to God. Adam
was not seeking God. God came to Adam, and He came
with this promise. The seed of the woman shall crush
the head of the serpent. He gave a promise that one should
come. and make an offering for sin.
And then he took those animals. He took the skin of those animals. He killed those animals as a
sacrifice to cover the nakedness of our parents, which was a picture
of the sacrifice of the one who was to come the seed of the woman. This is the promise that he would
come and destroy the works of the devil. That he would send one who was
righteous and obedient and one who would sacrifice himself.
And this one who was to come is none other than Jesus Christ
who has come. Lo, I come. In the volume of
the book it is written of me to do thy will. This was God's
promise that Jesus should come. No one that was promised to come,
the one that was promised to come and spoken of here in type,
at the end of the age has now come and accomplished all that
God had promised concerning His elect. He has come and accomplished
salvation. Jesus said, I came not to destroy
the law, but to do what? To fulfill the law. He came to fulfill the law. And so when we read, I am come,
let us remember this, that Jesus Christ has come. That He has
fulfilled the law in all its demands. What does the law demand
of you? Perfect obedience. What does
the law demand regarding your sin? It demands your death. I tell you by the authority of
Scripture that Jesus Christ has already come and accomplished
both of those things. He has already accomplished righteousness
and he's already satisfied justice by his death. I am come. So when we hear those words of
the bridegroom, let us remember that Christ, who was promised
to come, has come. I am come. I am come. Jesus Christ came into the world
to give his life a ransom. The whole life of the Son of
God was for one purpose. And that was to die. How many
times did he say mine hour is not yet come? Because there was an hour He
knew of that was coming in which He would bear the sins of His
people and die. Jesus said to those disciples,
O fools, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have
spoken. Ought not Christ have suffered? Wasn't this the whole
purpose of His coming? To suffer and enter into His
glory. And so as we read these words,
I come. I am come. Let us remember that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that he has come to be
made an offering for sin, and that he should by his one sacrifice
forever put away the sins of his people. I'm come. Do you believe that? I'm not
asking for historical facts. I'm talking about do you believe
that Christ has come? even as he was promised according
to the word of God. Has he finished salvation? As
he said he would. And now Jesus has come and accomplished
salvation for his people. He is now seated at the right
hand of God, ruling all things. For what purpose? Why is he ascended
into heaven, ruling all things? The Scripture tells us in John
17 that all power is given unto him that he should give eternal
life to as many as the Father has given him. This is the purpose
of his ruling right now. You want to know why something
is happening? It's happening so God is moving
all things for the salvation of his people. That's what it
is. Everything is happening according to the divine schedule of God. Nothing is off schedule. I seem
to think my whole life is off schedule. I have something to
do all the time and I'm always late. I'm always running behind. No, I'm running right on God's
schedule. I'm running right on His time.
I don't always understand that, but I know that's so. And I know
this, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save His people. He says, I am come. And notice
this, what Jesus said concerning where he has come. He said, I
am come into my garden. Now, it may be said that Jesus
has come into his garden, meaning the world. And that is true. He did come into his own and
his own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he the right to become the sons of God. which
were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God." We know that Christ came into
the world to be a man, but this has a greater influence. He says,
I am come into my garden, which is his church. His church. The church is his garden. We are called His garden in many
different scriptures, but go over to Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter
32, and look at verse 37. Jeremiah 32, verse 37. Notice this. He said, Behold,
I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven
them in mine anger, and in my fury and in my great wrath, And
I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them
to dwell safely. And they shall be My people,
and I will be their God, and I will give them one heart and
one way that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them
and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I shall not turn away from them to do
them good. But I will put my fear in their
hearts, and they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good." Here it is, I will plant them in this
land, assuredly, with my whole heart and with my whole soul. God says, I will plant them. Who is them? These are the people
of the covenant. These are the children of covenant
promise. God's spiritual Israel. God has purposed with His whole
heart to do us good. He's purposed with His whole
heart and promised that those who were born sinners and rebels
would be His people and He would be their God. That He would put
His fear in their hearts and they would not depart from Him. And He's done this because He
has planted them. Planted. When you plant something,
do you expect it to move or go anywhere? Well, I know I planted
that bush there the other day. Where'd it go? No! When it's
planted, it's firm, it's set, it takes root. God planted His
elect in the Garden of Eternity. His church was planted from before
the foundation of the world. Jesus was purposed to be their
surety, so that His work of redemption
and righteousness, that none of them should be lost, but all should bear fruit of
the Spirit of God. Every one of God's plans. Every one of God's children will
bear fruit unto God because they are planted of God. They are
planted of God. Now, this is a very solemn statement
that every one of you should take heed to, that every one
of us should take heed to. Jesus Christ came into the world,
and he came into his garden. In other words, Jesus Christ
did not come for every man, woman, boy or girl. He came into His
garden. He came for His church. Now, why does a man come into
a garden? If you take all the effort and the labor and you
put it into a garden, and then it's time for the berry, the
harvest. You come into that garden expecting
a harvest. Friends, Jesus said, when I come
into my garden, I expect a harvest. And you know what? There's going
to be a harvest in his garden. There's going to be a harvest
of souls because he planted them. He cared for them. Think of all
the providences that has brought us to know Christ. Think of all
of the things that God has done beforehand. that we had no idea
of at the time, but now we look back and see what God has done
in our life. See all the way that He has led
us until the time that He had come unto us in His garden and rejoiced over us who are
the fruit of His labor. Do you realize that you, believer,
are the fruit of Christ's labor? You're the fruit of His labor. Jesus Christ comes into His garden. This morning, I tell you where
two or three are gathered together in the name of Christ that He
is in the midst of us. And I tell you this, if there's
me and one other person, I know this, that Jesus Christ is here.
He has this morning come into His garden. He has come into
his garden, and he will come and save and
call his children. Every time you come to hear the
gospel, do you hear the voice of the Son of God? I hope you
do. I hope you don't hear me. I hope
you hear the voice of the Son of God calling and feeding you
and caring for you. Jesus comes to his garden, and
look what he says in our text. He says, I am come into my garden,
and notice who he calls my sister, my spouse, my spouse. Jesus is no adulterer. He does
not come to the house of the harlot. He only comes to the
house of his saints. He only comes to the house of
his bride. Jesus said, I am come to seek
and to save that which was lost. I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. The bride of Christ is not like
a prostitute that paints up herself to make herself look pleasant.
No, the confession of God's church is I am black. I am a sinner. I am black but comely, not because
of myself, but because of my Savior." The bride confesses
to be a sinner. And all those who are born, God knows this, that we were
born altogether dead in trespasses and sins. That we could not please
God by any works of the flesh. These are the very ones that
he has chosen to save. The ones who could not save themselves. God doesn't come to anyone who
is pretending to be righteous. If you are pretending to be righteous,
he's not come to you. God comes to those in need of
mercy. Now, if you need mercy, you're
in a good place. You're in a good place because
all of God's bride needs mercy. All of God's bride, we're not
painting ourselves up, trying to look presentable for the Lord.
No, we come as we are, sinners by birth, sinners by choice,
seeking mercy. Do you need mercy? Are you a
sinner that has no claim on God or heaven? Are you without hope
of pleasing God or meriting His acceptance? Then I tell you this
morning, Christ has come. Christ has come to give mercy
to those who have need of mercy. And notice this, when Jesus comes
into His garden, He comes prepared. He said, I have gathered my myrrh
and my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk my wine with my
milk. Now, where does it say your? Where does it say my? He said,
I've gathered my myrrh. Where's your myrrh? He didn't
gather your myrrh. He gathered his own. Where's
your spice? Where's your wine? Where's your
milk? Where's your honey? You didn't have any. I don't
have any. This is speaking of His work
of salvation. When Jesus Christ comes to a
sinner and He knocks on the door of a heart of a worthless sinner,
what He does is He comes prepared with salvation. He comes prepared
with His salvation, with His righteousness. He comes to the
sinner that he has chosen to be his bride, having made all
things ready. Remember the wedding feast that
the Lord spoke about? He said that that king had made
a wedding feast and he invited those to come and he said, all
is ready. And they began to make excuses
one after another. I got to do this. I got to do
this. That's not important. Just give him my excuse. He'll
have to accept it. And what did the king say? He
said, you go out to the highways and the hedges and you get the
beggars, you get the blind, you get the lame. But I know this,
my house will be full because my wedding is ready for my son. And he did. All things are ready. This is the message of the gospel.
All things are ready. I know that everybody here, when
they get invited over somebody's house, think they got to bring
something. Oh, I just can't come empty-handed. I've got to bring
a casserole or something. I've got to bring some flowers.
I've got to bring something. And you know what? That's good,
because I like y'all's casseroles. I like whatever it is. I invite
you to my house. Y'all can bring the whole thing
if you want to. That's okay. But when this matter
of coming to Christ, this matter of believing in Christ, it is
sheer necessity that we come empty. Why? He says, I've already made
all things ready. I've come with my spies. What
do I need your spies for? I've come with my righteousness.
What do I need your righteousness for? I've come with my blood.
What do I need your blood for? I've come with my spirit. What
do I need yours for? He said, I've made all things
ready. Why wouldn't you come? Isn't that something that God
has prepared all things and made all things ready? Acceptable. He's made an atonement that God
has accepted. He's made a sacrifice that God
has forever accepted. He has made a righteousness that
God has forever gloriously accepted. And yet we want to bring our
own junk and mix it with His righteousness. No. When Christ comes to a sinner,
He comes prepared. He has made all things ready. What must a sinner do to be saved? Absolutely nothing. You don't
need to do anything. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Well, you're saying I have to
believe. Yes, you have to believe. But let me tell you this, that's
not your faith you're believing with. You don't even bring that. You we don't even bring the faith.
The faith is a gift of God, not of worse. Why? Because we would
boast in it. And God said, there's no boasting.
There's no room for your boasting. I've brought everything. I've
made all things ready. You remember that man that when
he came to the feast, the king's feast, that he came in his own
garment. And he was cast out. If you come
to Christ. In your own garment. You will
be cast away from this table and have no part in the wedding.
This man was cast out into outer darkness where there was weeping
and gnashing of teeth, what is gnashing of teeth, what is that
regret? Why would you come in your own
filthy rags when Christ has already made a righteous road for you? He said, I've come and I've come
prepared. This is the message of God that
all things are ready. The gospel of God's grace is
full and complete and requires nothing from the sinner. Jesus
comes to sinners as they are. And he comes having prepared
all things for the glory of God and nothing, nothing, nothing
must be added to his work unless you've defiled the sacrifice.
You remember when God told Moses to make that altar, he said,
I want you to take stones and I don't want you to touch them.
I want you to put them on there, put them together, pile them
up. And don't you take one hammer or nail to it. Don't put one
little chisel mark in it unless you defile the sacrifice. If you add anything to the offering
of Christ, you've defiled the sacrifices. No good. Jesus said
if you be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. He is
saying if you are bringing one ounce, one work of obedience
that you have done, to this offering, you've defiled it. It's no good
to you. Christ has made all things ready.
He's made His righteousness ready. He's made His blood an offering
for sin, and God has already accepted it. Jesus comes to his church, and
he comes to them as a husband to a wife, and he comes prepared,
having all their salvation. And thirdly, he comes to his
bride as a friend. If this is not the most humbling
thing in all the world, O friends, I'm not worthy to be his slave,
much less his friend. But that's what he calls me. Is not your spouse supposed to
be your best friend? You know who my best friend is?
Jesus Christ. He is my best friend. Not that
I'm worthy to be his friend. But the fact that he calls me
is altogether glorious. O friends, drink and drink abundantly,
O Beloved." He calls me Beloved. He calls me Beloved. What a message
for sinners. That all is ready. Come. Come and do what? Come and enjoy. I like that when I get invited
somewhere, I like to come and enjoy it. Oh, how much more Christ
says, come and enjoy what I've prepared. Now, then notice the response
of the bride, when Jesus Christ comes to every one of us, we
have this same experience that is mentioned concerning the bride.
Look at this in verse two. First thing the bride says is,
I sleep. I sleep. I sleep, but my heart waketh.
It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh. We would expect the bride to
be so excited when she hears of the great provisions that
her husband has brought. You think that she would be so
excited that she would spring up Immediately and run to him
with open arms. Is that what you did when you
heard the gospel? You just immediately spring up and just run to Christ.
Oh, no, that's not what we did. We said, I'm sleepy. I'm in bed. This gospel is inconvenient.
I'm all ready. Everything's all right with me.
I'm tired. I sleep. When Christ comes to
the heart of His elect, He comes to us in the same condition,
dead. Asleep to all that really matters. Have you noticed how the flesh
is so excited about frilly little things that really don't matter? And we just get so excited about
stupid things. Oh, so-and-so is coming! Wow,
that's just going to be so great! This is great! But when it comes
to the things of God, what does the flesh do? Oh, the flesh is
weary. Oh, it's so weak and weary. Just try to read or pray and
see what happens with the flesh. It becomes burdensome. Christ comes to us all by nature
in the same condition. He comes to us dead in our sins.
He finds our hearts. He comes to our hearts and we
will not open to Him because we love and desire the things
of the flesh more than the things of God. I like this. One man said, once I was a stranger
to the grace of God and knew not my danger. and felt not my
load. Though friends spoke in rapture
of Christ on the tree, Jehovah Tiskenew was nothing to me." This gospel means nothing to
a lost, dead sinner. As I preach of sin, righteousness,
and judgment, the lost men are strangers to such feelings of
guilt, sorrow over sin, desire for Christ. These things are
foreign to the flesh. The only difference between the
bride and the harlot of false religion is that Jesus speaks
to the heart of the bride. That's the only difference. There's
no difference between us and anyone else other than this.
Jesus comes to us. And He speaks to our hearts.
Notice this. I sleep, but my heart waketh. My heart waketh. I sleep, but
my heart waketh. It is the voice of my Beloved
that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. Sinner, have you heard the voice
of Christ? Has the voice of Christ stirred your heart? I'm not talking
about your flesh. Our flesh is still corrupt. It's
still weak. I'm talking about matters of
spiritual things. Has He stirred your heart to
wake, to hear His voice knocking? Have you heard the voice of Jesus
Christ and the power that causes us to wake out of slumber and
spiritual death? To hear the voice of our beloved.
And what tenderness, what words of tenderness he comes with.
He says, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. Now those are words that I never
would speak of myself. And yet they are spoken of my
beloved when he calls me. Who am I by nature but defiled? And what is my heart but set
on sin? And what are my eyes but filled
with wickedness? How is it that Jesus should call
me with such affectionate words?" How do men think that Christ
should come to them? What's the most popular view
of this? That somehow there'll be some
big explosion. that they'd be struck by lightning
of some sort, that all of a sudden the earth would quake, and they
would be so afraid, and then they would run to Christ. That's
not how God draws His people. If you've come by that way, you've
not been called by the Savior. Someone once said this, it's
true, that which begins in the storm dies in the calm. So if your Christian life began
with a storm, eventually you're just going to it's going to die
out when everything goes back the way it was. Had so many men
come here, grown men come into my office and cry and weep and
weep because of some tragic thing that is going on in their life
and how how sorry they are for their sins. And sure enough,
when everything settles out, where are they? I hadn't seen
them in years. I don't know where they are. Died in the car. Because Christ
didn't come to them, you see, when Elijah example, this is
Elijah when he was in that cave and the Lord called unto him,
he said, what are you doing here? And he said, Elijah, I want you
to go to the top of the mountain, and he did, and the Lord sent
a wind so strong that it crushed the rock. He sent an earthquake
that split the earth wide open. He sent fire from heaven. But
you know what the Scripture says? That the Lord was in none of
those. The Lord is not in the bang.
He's not in the big epiphanies, as men would say. The Scripture
says He was in the still, small voice. Still, small voice. This is how Christ comes to his
bride. He comes with a voice open to
me. Now, I'll tell you this. He has every right to break down
the door and drag that bride out by the hair of her head.
He had every right to do that. He does none of us that way.
He does none of us that way. But He comes with such sweet
words. In Hosea, I like Hosea. This is a picture of us in Christ. In Hosea chapter 2, verse 14,
it says, Therefore, behold, I will allure her. You know, one thing about it,
I didn't come to my wife demanding when we were courting. I didn't
come to her and demand one thing. I allured her. I wooed her because
I loved her. How much more is it with God
when He comes to His saints? He says, I will allure her. And
where does He allure us? He said, I will bring her into
the wilderness. Why? So she can see her need. He allured me and brought me
into the wilderness so that I would see my need of Him. And then
He speaks comfortably to me. He said, I will speak comfortably
to her. I will give her her vineyards
from thence and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. And
she shall sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the
day when she came out of the land of Egypt. It shall be at
that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Isha and shalt
call me no more Balali. That means you shall call me
husband and no more master. I like that. This is how he calls
us. He said, you don't have to call
me master. You call me husband. For I will take away the names
of Balaam out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered
by their name. And in that day I will make a
covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the fowls of
heaven and the creeping things of the ground, and I will break
the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and
I will make them to lie down safely, and I will betroth thee
unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." I'm so
glad that he betrothed us in such a manner that he can be
both just and the justifier of the ungodly. You see, God has no problem forgiving
my sins. I have a problem with my sins. But because of Jesus Christ,
God has no problem forgiving my sins. I am his bride. He is my husband. Because he
has he's bought me with his own blood, the Lord comes. by grace and teaches us of his
love and his mercy and his kindness. And this is what it is that wakes
the heart of men, not thunder, not law, but grace. It is the
goodness of God that leadeth men to repentance. God says, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love. How do you suppose he would come
to us? He will come to you with love. And He says, therefore,
with lovingkindness I have drawn thee. Even with such tender words of
love and affection, the slumbering nature of man
still strives against the newly created Spirit of God. When you became a believer in
Christ, did you have a warfare? Was there a struggle that began
in your own heart concerning yourself, your sin, and the love
and affection of God? Is there a battle today? Do you
struggle with these things? Because I do. There's always a struggle. And
the flesh says things like, I've already put off my coat and washed
my feet. How in the world could I come
to you? Is this not the natural man's
answer? I've already made a profession
of faith. I've already had my sins washed away. What do you
mean, come to you? You see, if a man has to come
to Christ and he has to admit that all of his religion is vain,
he has to admit that he's lost. He would have to confess that
his religion was not enough. That's what the flesh is constantly
against. Is it not the major obstacle
of every lost man to forsake his thoughts and ways and come
unto God for mercy? I love this quote, A sinner is
a sacred thing because the Holy Spirit hath made him one. Are you a sinner? Do you have need of forgiveness? Do your feet need to be washed?
Jesus said that to his disciples. He said, you don't need to be
washed whole. You just need your feet. Why?
Because we walk about in this world. We still have sin. We still have need of being washed. Scripture says, seek the Lord
while he may be found and call on him while he is near. Let
the wicked forsake his way. and the unrighteous man his fault."
This is repentance. This is repentance. Jesus is not asking for a decision,
is he? When he comes to the door of
our hearts and knocks, he is not asking us to come. Was there any chance the bride
would not have come? When he called Lazarus, was there
any chance that Lazarus would have not come out of that tomb? No. But he still calls us the
same way. And he stirs our hearts and he
causes us to come out from our unbelief. And even when we come,
we are yet so full of unbelief that we would try to mix our
works with it. Look at our text. She said, I
sleep, but my heart waketh is the voice of my beloved that
knocketh. thing open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, mine
defiled, for my head is filled with the dew, my locks with the
drops of the night. I have put off my coat, she says.
How can I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? My beloved put his hand by the
hole of the door. And my bowels were moved for
him. I rose to open to my beloved. But here's the problem, and my
hands drop with myrrh and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh
upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved, but my
beloved hath withdrawn himself. Why? She brought her own myrrh. When God the Holy Spirit puts
His hand to the door of our hearts and the sweet fragrance of His
power comes and draws us to Himself, the first instinct of the flesh
is to make excuses as to why we didn't come sooner. We dip our hands in the excuses
of our sin, hoping that somehow this would help please Him. But we know that this only drives
him away because he said, I've already brought the myrrh. I
don't need yours. When Jesus Christ comes to the
sinner, he expects him to come empty handed. Empty handed. Do you need a Savior? Because I do. Have you heard
His voice calling? And should we not open to Him
and enjoy His presence, enjoy His sacrifice, and leave our
stuff behind? We should. And if we don't, we've
all found this to be true, He withdraws Himself from us Now,
does that discourage the bride? No. When she opens the door and her
beloved is not there, what does she do? She goes and seeks him. She seeks him and will not be
satisfied until she finds him. Well, how does she find him? Verse 7, the watchman that went
about the city found me, and they smoked me, they wounded
me, and the keepers of the wall took away my veil from me. These are the gospel ministers
that God sends with His message. And it's the gospel that smites
the heart of God's people. It's not the pastor. It's not
the preacher. It's the message. The same message
that called me and says that God loves me is the same message
that chastens me. It's the same message that feeds
me, that encourages me, and also it causes me great grief and
sorrow when I come to Him in such a way as to bring my own
works. And then He causes this. He causes
us to charge anyone. If you've seen my beloved, you
tell him that I am sick, that I am faint, that I miss him. Have you ever missed the Lord?
Do you miss his presence at times? I do. It's my own fault. I should have come with nothing.
And I would have enjoyed his presence. Instead, I came with
something and he withdrew himself and now My heart is broken. And you know what restores the
bride's heart? To speak of her beloved. Have you need to be restored?
Then speak often of Him. Witness of Him. Testify. What is thy beloved above another?
Oh man, my beloved is way above everybody else. He's God and
man. My beloved, his eyes are like dove's eyes.
You know what a dove is? A dove is a bird that stays with
a mate until it dies. It has its eyes set only on one
mate. That's what Christ is. His eyes
are only set on me and no other. His legs are his pillars and
can sustain me and hold my soul, even when I cannot stand on my
own. He holds me. He is altogether
lovely. And you know what? When she found
that out, when she realized this, and she was asked, well, where
is your Beloved? Well, wait a second. He's right back where I left
Him, in the garden. He's among His church. He's here. If you want to know where Christ
is, He's here among His bride. We can only pray that God would
give us grace to love Him like He loves us. To long for Him as He longs for us. To believe on Him and trust Him
even as God trusted Him. I pray that God would bless this
to your hearts. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.