The Yuba Sutter Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by Pastor Don Fortner
of Danville, Kentucky. For information about how to
obtain a copy of this sermon, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. And now, here is Pastor Don Fortner. I find in my soul a constant
struggle with coldness toward my God, indifference to the things
of God, and emptiness and barrenness of heart, spiritually. And I
suspect if that's true of me, that's true of you as well. It
is my constant desire that the Lord God may be pleased to grant
to me personally the reviving of soul and spirit, reviving
of love to Him, reviving of commitment and devotion to Him. And it's
my prayer that He will do that for you. As I prepare to preach
to you and pray for you, I pray that God will keep our hearts
in the love of Christ. If he doesn't, they will not
be kept in the love of Christ. If he doesn't keep us, we will
not be kept. If he does not hold us, we cannot
hold ourselves. If he does not keep us from the
temptations of Satan, the allurements of this world, the snares of
covetousness and the corruptions of our own hearts, we will surely
perish with the world. Now, with those things in mind,
I want you to turn with me to the Song of Solomon, and I want
to preach to you from the first four verses of this song. Oh,
how I yearn for sweet, intimate, constant fellowship with the
Son of God. Don't you? I think perhaps the
greatest glory of heaven will be the privilege of sweet, intimate,
constant fellowship with the Son of God who loved us and gave
himself for us. Oh, ever to set at his feet with
Mary and hear his words, to lay my head on his chest with John
and learn of him. How blessed, how blessed, how
blessed it will be to have this desire fulfilled that was expressed
by the Apostle Paul. Oh, that I may know him. I want
to know Him. The song of songs. Now that opening
statement, no introduction, no explanation given, that opening
statement tells us that this song is the song of all songs. It is the best, it is the noblest,
it is the richest, it is the most instructive, the most worthy,
the highest of all songs written by men. It is the highest, noblest,
richest, most instructive of all songs written in the book
of God. That's written by inspiration,
you know. The song of songs. And when you read through the
Song of Solomon, though in our English translation it does not
read like a song, and we certainly couldn't begin to sing it in
the sense in which we would currently think of singing, this whole
eight chapters of the Song of Solomon is a song. And it is
a song of Solomon, that is, a song written by Solomon. And Solomon
was, as you know, the son of David. So was our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the Son of God. Solomon was, of all Israel's
kings, the wisest and the most peaceful. So too is the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This song, then, is that written
by Solomon as the type and representative of Christ our Lord. And as you
read the song, understand that this is a spiritual song, not
a carnal song. Now, there are passages in this
song clearly that may be applied to the relationship of a man
and his wife, and there's nothing wrong with making such an application,
but that is not the interpretation of the song. The relationship
here spoken of is the relationship between Christ and His church.
It is a song of correspondence, if you will, a song of mutual
affection between the bride, the Church of Christ, sinners
saved by His grace, and Christ Himself as He speaks adoringly
and lovingly of His Church, who has been clothed with the beauty
and needlework of His own making, who's clothed as with the gold
of Ophir so that we stand before Him robed in His righteousness,
washed in His blood as perfect, holy, and pure. And He speaks
of us throughout this psalm, even in our times of failing,
in just exactly that manner. So as you read the psalm, don't
ever interpret it carnally. Don't ever interpret it literally.
It is an allegory. It is intended to give a spiritual
instruction about spiritual things. And there's absolutely no understanding
of the psalm until you understand it in a spiritual way. the song
of songs which is Solomon. Now here we see that true spiritual
saving knowledge of Christ creates an ardent love for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Truly to know Him is to love
Him. Oh, would to God you might know
Him. If you knew Him, You'd love him.
If you knew him, you'd understand the devotion of his people. If
you knew him, you'd be concerned and confused that his people,
whose devotion you now think is so outlandish, is indeed so
fickle and so frail. If we don't love Christ, if we
don't love him, if you don't love him, if you haven't yet
fallen in love with the Son of God, I don't care what else you
have. I don't care what else you've
experienced. I don't care what else you say. If you don't love Him,
you don't know Him. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be damned, the Apostle said, the Lord is
coming. Now as we look at these verses
2, 3, and 4, I want to call your attention to four things clearly
set before us. Here's the first thing I want
us to see. I hope we can enter into it. The one thing we want
is for Christ to manifest his love to our souls in sweet, intimate
communion constantly. The song begins very abruptly,
just like this. with a longing cry of a soul
in love with the Son of God, with an expressed desire for
some clear manifestation of His love. It is almost as though
you had a picture of a woman whose husband had been away for
a long time, and now she is anxiously anticipating his return. And
this is the prayer, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. I came here today with this prayer,
O Son of God, Come now and kiss me with the kisses of your mouth. I hope you have. This is what
we want if we know Him, if we love Him. Oh, that our Redeemer
might return and smother us with the kisses of His mouth. Jeremiah
Burroughs in his commentary on the Song of Solomon said it is
a marvelous thing, a marvelous thing for the king to stretch
out his hand and let you kiss his hand. That's a wonder. That's a wonder. If somebody
were to visit the Queen of England, just some ordinary Joe like one
of us, and we had any respect for the Queen of England, you
walk over there, if she just stretched out her hand for you
to kiss her hand, you'd say, boy, she has honored me. I'm
somebody, not many folks ever got to do that. But here, the
king of glory, is spoken of as kissing us with the kisses of
his mouth. He doesn't just stretch out his
hand. And we don't ask just that he stretch out his hand and let
us kiss him. That's one thing. Oh, but for
him to stoop now to kiss us with the kisses of his mouth. What
can that mean? You remember when the prodigal
came home? He said, I will arise and go
to my father and I'll ask him to let me be as one of his hired
servants. The father saw him when he was yet a great way off
and he rose and ran to him. And he fell on his neck and he
kissed him. And that word kissed him, we
read it in the English as though it were, he just kissed him on
the cheek and that's enough. But the word means he kissed
him and he kissed him and kissed him and kissed him. You ever have one of your babies
to be in grave danger, and you finally are able to put your
hands on that child that you thought surely you'd lost. And
you pick them up and you hug them and you just kiss and kiss
and kiss and kiss. That's the picture. Our Lord
God has received us in Christ and smothers us with kisses.
And any sinner who's ever experienced it longs for the fresh kisses
of His mouth continually. A kiss from the Savior's mouth
is a token of deep, deep love. It is a sign and evidence of
complete forgiveness, complete pardon, complete acceptance,
and fellowship restored in its entirety. The ardent kisses of
His mouth are so many evidences of His great love deeply felt
and freely bestowed. Oh, I rejoice in the Lord's daily
providence. I give thanks for His covenant
mercy. I delight in His word of promise. I find great security
and peace in both His word and in His power. But I want Him,
His presence, His manifest love. His immediate intimate fellowship. That's what I want. I hope you
do. We long for Christ himself because
we know by experience what is stated next. Thy love is better
than wine. Oh, people who have experienced
love. Now I'm not talking about passion. That's nothing. You young people think you fell
in love, you know, and I know it's real to you, but that's
not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about some temporary
spasm. That's not what I'm talking about.
People who have experienced love, really experienced love, wouldn't
take anything in the world for it. Nothing. Take everything
I have the ability to possess everything, everything. Take
from me every comfort of life. Take from me anything, anything
except the love of that woman. Oh, I can't live without that.
I've got to have that. That's the stay of my life as
a man in this world. And yet that love compared to this. That's nothing. That's just nothing. That's nothing. Wine is comforting,
strengthening, an exhilarating beverage. It's spoken of in the
scripture as rejoicing the heart, reviving the spirit. It soothes
the nerves of a man. So that a man takes a glass of
wine, He sips a glass of wine before he goes to bed at night
after a day of weary work and his mind is all twisted and bent
and wound up tight as a banjo string and he just sits down
and has a glass of wine and he relaxes. His heart's lifted and at the
same time calmed, his nerves are calmed. Now our Savior's
love is better than wine. When the love of Christ is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, it is like drinking some
heavenly wine. Oh, that we might be filled with
this blessed intoxication, the love of Christ. Find me a man
or a woman intoxicated with his love. I'll find you a man or
woman the world has no power against. Find me a person. intoxicated
with the wine of Christ's love. I'll find you a person against
whom Satan has no power. Find me a person intoxicated
with the wine of Christ's love. I'll find you someone whose heart
is set on the glory of God and will not be turned aside. I rejoice
in the knowledge of his love. Oh, love without beginning and
without cause. Love without variation or fluctuation. Love that knows no change, love
that knows no end. Everlasting is his love. Our
Savior's love is spoken of in the scripture as electing love.
He loved me, chose me. It's spoken of as redeeming love.
He loved us and gave himself for us. It's spoken of in scripture
as saving love. He loved us and therefore he
called us and drew us unto him. His love is persevering and his
love is everlasting. I know those things. My soul,
I've got a head full of knowledge about those things. No, I know
all the facts. related to those things revealed
in Scripture. I've got the doctrine down right. But I sure would
like to taste the sweetness of that love afresh constantly. I long to taste His love in the
daily experience of my soul. It revives dead hearts, it comforts
troubled spirits, it strengthens weak minds, and it satisfies
and refreshes thirsty souls. Now secondly, our hearts burn
with love for Christ. If we know Him, they really do, because we know Him. John said
we love Him because He first loved us. Now, I don't much like
to talk about my love for Him. It's so. By comparison, by comparison
with His love for us, our love for Him is just, it's less than
insignificant. I don't mind you singing, oh
how I love Jesus, but I can't. I just can't. My love for him
is not worth singing about. I'd like somebody to write a
song on how he loves me. That's another story. But my loving
him, that's not worth talking about. And yet, we do love him
because he first loved us. That means, Bob Pontzer, that
his love precedes our love by eternity. He loved us before we loved him.
And that means that our love is caused by His love. It is because He loved us that
we are now caused to love Him. No man loves Him naturally. And
yet it is true. Every believer loves Him. Look at verse 3. Because the
savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured
forth. Therefore do the virgins love
thee. What a way for you and me to be described
in the Word of God. Virgins. When we're all just
harlots who spend our lives going a-whoring after other gods. When
we are by nature the most impure. the most vile, corrupt things
imaginable. But here we're described as we
shall be described in heaven's glory. You remember in Revelation
14, we who are clothed with white raiment are described as virgins,
chaste, pure, holy, undefiled, uncorrupted. How can that be? He made us such. He washed away
our sins. He robed us in his righteousness.
He made us all together new. Therefore, do the virgins love
thee? Do I now? Yes, sir, I do. You remember our Lord came to
Peter and Peter had boasted that he would die with the Lord Jesus.
And he was telling the truth. But at the same time, he was
awfully proud. He said, though all these forsake you, I'll not
forsake you. I'll die with you. And he did. He did die with him. He he was crucified for the honor
of his master, for faithfulness to his master. But he had learned
something. He had learned something of his
own inward corruption and weakness and his utter dependence upon
God's grace in Christ. And so the Lord said, Simon,
do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And the third time Peter was
pricked in his heart. And he said, Lord, you know all
things. You know what I've done. These disciples, they don't know
everything. All they know is what I've done.
You know all things. You know what I've done. You
know what I am. And you know what's in the deepest
recesses of my soul and my heart. You know that I love you. We
love him because He first loved us. His good ointments, I think,
cannot possibly represent anything except his attributes, and they
are sweet-smelling ointments to the believer. There's no aspect
of his character, no attribute of his nature that is in the
least measure repugnant to us. There is nothing about him that
we don't love. God's people do. Show me anything
you want to in this book about the Son of God. I've looked at
Him from every angle by which He's been revealed to me. I've
looked at Him from every aspect of my experience, and I have
yet to see anything about Him, anything in Him, anything done
by Him, or anything spoken by Him that is not altogether love
there. And not one attribute, not one
word, not one act of our Lord revealed in this book that is
not altogether in harmony with this statement. He is altogether
lovely. Speak of his humanity or his
divinity, he's lovely. Speak of his justice or of his
mercy, he's lovely. Speak of his purpose or of his
providence, he's lovely. I find nothing at all with which
to argue with the character and deeds of my Savior. His name
The name by which He has revealed Himself, the name which represents
Him. His name, that's Him. And whenever
you read in the scripture of His name, praying in His name,
believing in His name, trusting in His name, calling on His name,
worshiping in His name, being baptized in His name, serving
in His name, His name represents all that He is. His name is like
an enchanting perfume to our souls. Thy name is as ointment
poured forth. The virgins, those who have been
made pure by Him, Love him because of who he is, because of his
name. Let me see if I can remind you
of his name. His name is Emmanuel. Oh, I love him because he's God
in my nature. We could never know God did he
not come here in our nature. We could never experience the
knowledge of him were he not himself made flesh to dwell among
us. His name is Jesus. That is Jehovah, Joshua, or Jah
Hosea. It means divine savior. This man who is God, this God
who assumed humanity, is himself God, our savior. Our salvation
is all together His. His name is Christ, God's anointing. He is that one whom the Lord
God anointed and appointed to be our Savior. His name is Jehovah
Sedkinu, the Lord our righteousness. In the eyes of His own, He is
truly precious. The believer looks at Him and
everything represented in His name and is compelled to cry,
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. Oh, the sweet fragrance of his
name. If I were out in the crowd somewhere
and I heard somebody call Faith, I'd be looking around. I know
that name. Man, that girl, I've raised her,
and I love the sound of her name. If I were somewhere not expecting
Shelby to be there and somebody said, Look around, where is she? Love the fragrance of that name.
His name is as sweet perfume, filling the room, wherever it's
spoken, wherever it's mentioned. John Gill referred to that woman
who brought the alabaster box of ointments, precious, spiked
and broken, and anointed the Savior, and the ointment, the
fragrance of that sweet aroma filled the room where they sat.
He said, that's like preaching the gospel. The preacher comes
and he takes the alabaster box of scripture and breaks open
the word of God. And as we break open the scriptures and preach
Christ crucified, can you get a smell? His name is as ointment
poured forth, refreshing. Therefore the virgins love thee.
Thirdly, draw me and we will run after you. If the Lord is
pleased to draw us by the cords of His love, we will run after
Him. But I think there's something
here referred to that we might miss at first glance. The text
does not say, draw us, and we will run after them. It says,
draw me, and we will run after them. as if to suggest both our
helplessness and our usefulness if He draws us. If we are left
to ourselves, there'll be no reviving of our souls. You see,
this thing of revival is not something we work up or even
pray to have. It's something God does in us. He draws us after
Him. And yet, if He draws me, all those influenced by me, I'll
lead to run after Him. Bobby, if He draws you, maybe
you can lead the rest of us to run after Him. Do you follow
me? As our hearts are drawn individually,
we affect one another to run after Him and run in the way
of His commands. Now look at one other thing.
In verse 4, the King hath brought me into His chamber. We will
be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love more
than wine, the upright love thee. That is to say, even in our times
of spiritual emptiness and barrenness, we must, and by his grace, we
will rejoice in our Savior and his love. The King, after all,
I cannot doubt it. The king has brought me into
his chambers. He's married me. I'm his and
he's mine. Regardless of my state or circumstances,
that'll never change. We will therefore remember his
love and the many proofs and evidences of his love. He may
for a time hide his face from us, but he loves us still. In fact, the reason He hides
His face from us is because He loves us still. And even now,
though our hearts seem so dull and empty, so barren, so heavy,
we love Him. We'll wait before Him in loving
submission. Whatever He's pleased to do,
if He makes Himself known or if He hides Himself, if He kisses
me with the kisses of His mouth, or if he hides his face from
me, I'll remember his love and I'll love him because my beloved
is mine and I'm his. Amen. "'Tis not that I did choose
thee, Lord, You have just heard a sermon
by Pastor Don Fortner of Danville, Kentucky. For a copy of this
message, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. This is Pastor Rick Warta of
the Yuba-Sutter Grace Church. Each Sunday we meet at 11 a.m. in the Yuba County Library located
on the corner of 2nd and C Street in downtown Marysville. We pray
that God would be pleased to make himself known to you in
the gospel of his son.