Song of Solomon, the song. Notice it's entitled The Song
of Songs. He wrote 1,005 songs. David wrote at least of the songs,
at least 140 songs. Moses wrote some. One of the
songs Moses wrote, they're singing it right now in glory. But this
is called The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's, which is
a greater than Solomon actually wrote this. Christ is the sweet
psalmist. He gave this to Solomon to write. This is a song that our Lord
taught him about himself, about Christ and his bride. It's called
the Song of Songs, meaning to him, this is the best of the
best. This is the song, the song of songs. This is the best of
the best because this is the subject of all subjects. This
is the best of the best, the song of song, because it's of
the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is a love song. You love love songs? Everybody
loves a good love song. Mandy's always fond of saying,
I love love. All of God's people do. I would venture to say most of
the songs that have been written down through the years that you
remember are love songs. Either love gained or love lost.
But this is a love song. This is the love song to beat
all love songs, because greater love hath no man than him. Herein is love, John said, not
that we loved him, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to
be the propitiation, the bloody sacrifice, the covering, the
love covering for our sins. And in 1 John 4 it says we do
love Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. So this is a love song of Christ
and His church. It's of His great love for her,
though she's a sinner through and through. She knows it. She's
a heathen. And her love for Him. It's back
and forth. He expresses his love for her
and she expresses her love for him. She expresses her admiration
for him. Talks about his beauty and his
glory and his honor. But you know what? He says that
about her. You've read it with me. We've
been through this before. He said about her, there's no spot
in thee. That's love, isn't it? No flaw. I don't see anything wrong with
you. That's love in it. In that sense, love is blind.
The Song of Solomon. She said in chapter 2, one time,
my beloved is mine and I am his. And she went on to say, he feedeth
among the lilies. He's the lily of the valley. Well, so are they. As he is,
so are we in this world. But no true believer No lover
of Christ talks about their love for Christ, do you? No, no. Pretended lovers do that. Pretended believers talk a lot
about how much they love Jesus. Talk is cheap, isn't it? Young ladies, beware of a fellow
that's all the time telling you how much he loves you. If he
does, he'll show you. Talk is cheap. Talk is fake,
generally. There's an ulterior motive behind
it. A big talker. Real love is not cheap. It's valuable. It's hard to find.
It's precious and it's genuine. God lovers, those who love the
Lord, they mourn over their poor love. Don't you? They mourn over
it. That's the first thing our Lord
said. He blessed the poor. My love is so poor. David said,
this poor man cried and the Lord heard him. And we mourn, don't
we? We're ashamed of our love and
only speak of His. That's why we only speak of His.
Is that not right? Turn with me in Gadsby's hymnal. This is a song you like. I've thought about it many times.
283. Number 283. We can all relate to John Newton. You know, he wrote Amazing Grace.
What a great hymn that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost, but now I'm found. I'm blind, but now I see. Remember,
John Newton was a slave trader. He was from England. He actually
took ships and went to Africa and grabbed men and women and
their children. And he never got over that. And
the Lord saved him. And like Saul of Tarsus that
was hailing men and women to jail for believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ, he never got over that. That's why he said, I'm
the chief of sinners. That's why a man like Newton
could write a hymn like Amazing Grace. If grace is not amazing
to you, you don't know grace. But he wrote this hymn. Listen
to this. 283 John Newton. "'Tis a point
I long to know, It causes me anxious thoughts. Do I love the
Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? You know,
often we act like we're in love with this world. If I love, why
am I this? Why this dull and lifeless frame? You know, I can stand up here
and preach the gospel of time and you feel so cold and dead
and Christ on the cross doesn't touch you. Is that right? I know it's so. So with all of
us. He said, hardly sure can they
be worse who never heard His name. Could my heart so hard
remain in prayer a task and burden proven? Every trifle give me
pain if I knew a Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and black and vain and wild. I'm filled with unbelief
and sin. Can I call myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You that love the Lord indeed,
tell me, isn't it that way with you? Yet, but, God. Yet I mourn my stubborn will. I find my sins a grief and a
thrall or a pain. Should I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love at all? Could I joy, enjoy his saints
to meet, and choose the ways I once abhorred, and find at
times the promise sweet, if I did not love the Lord? Lord, decide
the doubtful case. Thou who art thy people's sons,
shine upon thy work of grace, if it be indeed begun. Let me
love them more and more, if I love at all, I pray. If I have not
loved before, let me start loving you today. Can you enter into
that? Amazing grace. That's a song, isn't it? We don't
speak of our love for Christ. We don't. But we can and we must
surely know if we do. The Lord asked Simon Peter, after
all his denial of Christ and after all his sin, After it was
all over and all said and done, in the very last days of our
Lord on the earth, as you were sitting by the fire, and he asked
Simon Peter one question, didn't he? Lovest thou me more than
all this? Now by the faith, hope, and love,
and the greatest of these is love. Our Lord said, If any man love
father, mother, husband, wife, son or daughter more than me,
lovest thou me. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians,
about the third to the last verse, he said, If any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha, a curse. In the second letter to the Corinthians,
he said, examine yourselves whether you be of the faith. Know ye
not your own selves, how that Christ is in you. That is, a
need for Christ and a love for Christ. We don't talk about it,
but if asked, if pressed, do you? And what did Simon Peter say?
He didn't hesitate. Lord, thou knowest. Thou knowest. This is a song of love, a first
love. This woman has fallen in love
with Solomon. First love, young love, true
love. There's a song many love like
that title. This will help you to know if
the Lord has begun this good work in you. If he has, he'll
perform it. He'll finish it. He'll finish
it, perfect it. This will help you know if He's
done this work in you. It'll help a new, young believer
to know. And it'll help an older one,
I hope, help an older one maybe rekindle that first love. Do
you remember in the letter to the Ephesians? We all love Ephesians.
But the letter in Revelation 2 to the church of Ephesus, what
did he say? He said, there's something against
you. He said, you've left your first
love. Not lost it, left it. When you leave someone, you go
after something else, don't you? That's what he said. You've left
your first love. And then he went on to convict
her and us of our going after other things. He said, now I
counseled that. Bring that love back. Continue, Paul said, in
the love. Jude, Jude said that. Continue
in his love. All right, look at it. Look at
it in our text. Song of Solomon. Song of songs, which is Solomon's.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For thy love, his
love is better than wine. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth. The first and most intimate expression
of love. When two people are in love.
You hold hands, of course. But then there's that kiss. There's
an old song I told myself, don't do it, don't do it, I'm going
to do it. Is it in his arms? No. Is it in his? No. It's in his
kiss. I did it, didn't I? Got in the
flesh. This is the most intimate expression
of love, face to face. Heart to heart, mouth to mouth. Now how does God kiss us? Right here. Face to face. Heart to heart. He speaks to
your heart through His Word. What comes from His mouth? What's
He put in your heart that comes out of your mouth? His Word. The Lord kisses his
people with the word of his mouth. Love has begun in us when we
pray, let him kiss me. Something has begun, an affection
for Christ when we can say, Lord speak to me. Most, for years and years and
years and, you know, nothing. And then one day, Lord speak
to me. You know what? It means He already
has. He's already kissed you. We don't
kiss Him first. He kisses us first. Oh, let Him kiss me. The Lord kisses His people with
the word of His mouth. And when faith has begun, when
this work in you has begun, this affection, the love of God shed
abroad in the heart, you say, Lord, speak to me. You say, and
we love this psalm, say unto my soul, say unto my soul, I
am thy salvation. Lord, tell me, I'm one of yours.
And if He does, you'll find it's better than anything. Solomon
said, or the woman said, it's better than wine. Wine is often
a type of Christ's blood, but not here. His love is better
than wine. But this is speaking of just
what it's speaking of, wine, which people use and abuse, and
some people need, and they get addicted to it, and they have
it, and the Scriptures warns about it. It's a mocker, and
people just consume with it, and the Scriptures warns us about
it. It gives you a false sense of whatever. Those consumed with
wine talk a lot and act like fools, and they express love
that they don't have, and people find good feelings in it, and
they try to get away from their troubles, And all the wine of
this world, like the water of this world, is a mocker. But the love of Christ, the gospel
of Christ is better than anything, anything in this world. You don't
need any feeling or anything to make you feel good other than
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Right? Better than what? Better than
anything. Better than anything. I wrote
some verses about him being better than. You can't believe how many
scriptures. It says, David said, thy loving
kindness is better than life. Better than life itself. My lips
shall praise thee. A day in thy courts is better
than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. He
said, the law, the word of thy mouth is better unto me than
thousands of gold and silver. He said it's sweeter than honey.
He said wisdom, Proverbs 8, wisdom is better than rubies. It's not
to be compared with fine gold. Better than. And what about Hebrews?
All through Hebrews it starts out, Christ is better than. Better
than the angels. Better than Moses. Better than
Aaron. Better than the Lord. Better
than. So when she believes that Christ, we believe that Christ
is better, we don't need anyone or anything else but Christ. Is that true with you? We really
don't. Those three things, three characteristics
of God's true people, they worship God in the Spirit. We come here
to worship God. Nothing else. Right? And how
do we worship God in the spirit? Well, we rejoice in Christ Jesus.
That's who God said. This is my Son. You hear Him.
And we have. We've heard His voice. He's kissed
us with the kisses of His mouth. So we worship Him. We're in love
with Him because He first slept with us. And no flesh. Don't
want any flesh, do we? Don't want any flesh. Don't need
it. Don't need it when you've got the Gospel, do you? Don't
need anything. No props. Better than wine. Verse 3, she
said, because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name
is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love
thee. Now, that reminded me of Psalm 133. Don't you love Psalm
133? I love it. Listen to it. If you
didn't turn, you should have. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. What is the unity?
What is the tide that binds? Why are we here? Oh, are you
the wife, the bride of Christ? Then that's why you're here.
This is the dress rehearsal for the great wedding. You know then,
you're wearing the garment. This is where the friend of the
bridegroom rejoices to hear the bridegroom's voice. You remember
that message, a friend closer than a brother? This unity around
Christ and His gospel is like the precious ointment. Where
did it come from? Upon the head. Christ is anointed, means Christ. The Holy Spirit has anointed
Him with the Spirit without measure. And that ointment runs down upon
Aaron's beard, down to the skirts of his garment. He said, I'm
the lowest of the low. It still reaches down. This ointment,
this perfume of the gospel, the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
which is Christ, the gospel of Christ, better than the savor
of thy good ointments in thy name, thy name, oh my, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
why our God and Savior, this is why it pains us to hear people
take His name in vain, that His name is precious. We make mention
His name is exalted. And when you hear somebody take
that name in vain, it hurts. Doesn't it hurt? If somebody was butchering my
wife's name all the time, cursing with her name, would that make
me mad or what? Well, how much more? Oh, His
name. There is no name so sweet on
earth, no name so dear in heaven. His name above every name. You know, the gospel is a sweet-smelling
savor of Christ. It talks about the ointments
of His name. The gospel is a sweet-smelling
savor of Christ. It's sweet to God's people and
it's sweet to God. You know that? Paul said, You
are a sweet smelling savior of Christ to him. He loves his son and he loves
people to talk about his son. You know who he loves? He loves
those who love his son. That's right. And it's a sweet-smelling
savor of Christ, the ointments. It's all the characteristics
of Christ and there are many spices mentioned throughout the
psalm. The psalm is spikenard and saffron.
One time it says, my spikenard, Yeah, in verse 12, the king said
at his table, my spikler sendeth forth the smell thereof. You
see that verse 12? Does that remind you of a story? Huh? Mary Magdalene took a box and
broke it and poured it over her lord and they said, that's a
waste. That's a waste. Oh no, Christ said, this will
be remembered forever. She loves me. And you know what's a waste?
You know what's a waste? Everything but the worship of
Christ. It's done. Paul said, I've lost all things.
But it's just done. It's not a waste. It's the only
thing on earth that's not a waste of time. That's a fact. But this sweet-smelling savor
of Christ, like perfume or cologne that your wife or husband wears,
it reminds you of them. Did your husband or your wife
wear a perfume that reminds you of them and you think of them
all the time? I've told you about my grandfather, Granddaddy Freeze. Oh, he was a lovely man. He loved
Christ too. He was a Christ-like man. Wonderful,
wonderful example to me. Oh, I loved that man so much.
We all loved him so much. So generous. But anyway, he always
wore one One cologne, Old Spice. Like this, his cheeks are a bed
of spices. And every time I think of Granddad,
I smell that Old Spice. I told you, right before Christmas
one day I told you about that, and I got two gallons of Old
Spice for Christmas. I think I've still got it. But
it's out of season. It's old-fashioned. Only old
people wear that now. Well, this gospel is out of fashion
too, isn't it? Not to me. It's a sweet-smelling
savor of Christ. That's what people want to hear.
That's what God's people... This is all about Him. He said. This is the true test. What we're
going to see here. This is the true test. Her love
is all about Him. This is what this whole book
is about. It's a hymn. It's a song of song because it's
a hymn book. It's all about hymn. And she
doesn't know if he's going to have her. She thinks he's too
beautiful and too wonderful. He's a king. She's a black... Surely he doesn't love me. But
I sure wish he would. Is that you? Notice it says, verse 3, the
virgins love thee. She said, the virgins love thee. She thinks everybody, all the
other maidens are better than her. She says, I'm black. The virgins. She thinks they're
all better than her. Listen to me, people. Listen
to me. And I hear some of you say all the time I'm not worthy. I'm the worst. I'm a black sheep.
I'm not like other people. That's what Ruth said. Remember
what Ruth said? How could Boaz take notice of
me? I'm not like his other maidens. Right? Listen to me. Everyone, listen very carefully
now. There's not one believer in this room that would want
you to know their thoughts today. There's not one true believer
in here that doesn't think he's the worst sinner on the top side
of God's earth. Job was the best man on earth.
That's what God said. There's none like him. You know
what he said? I'm vile. When did he find that out? When
he heard Christ speak. When he saw His glory. He said,
I'm vile. If anybody doesn't think they're
the cheapest sinners, they don't know Jesus Christ. They hadn't
seen His beauty. When you see His beauty, your
comeliness fades into corruption, doesn't it? Daniel was the finest
man on earth. He said, My comeliness melted
into corruption. John, no greater man born a woman. John said, He must increase,
I must decrease. What's your name? I don't deserve. My name is not worth hearing. Oh, but the ointment of His name. The virgins love you, but me?
I don't know. I don't know if you'll have me
or not. But now listen to this. Over
in Revelation 14 it says all his people are virgins. You know
that? All his people, it doesn't matter
if they're harlot or publican, they have no past. Are you with
me? They are holy, unblameable, and
unapprovable. They have no past, no record,
no blots. He's able, he's the only one
able to present them faultless for the presence of his glory.
Behold, I and the children, all chaste virgins, here they are.
No sin. No sin. That's sin. Turn to Hosea
3. Hosea chapter 3. Oh, Hosea. Don't you love Hosea? That's
a love story, isn't it? Same story. Same subject. Same
Christ. Same sinners. Hosea 3, you have
it? Verse 1, Then said the Lord unto
me, Go yet, love a woman, beloved of her friend, yet she is an
adulteress. according to the love of the Lord toward the children
of Israel who looked to other gods and loved flagons of wine.
That is, they used to. So I bought her to me, fifteen
pieces of silver. And verse 3, Hosea 3, 3, you
can remember this. I said unto her, Thou shalt abide
for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot.
Thou shalt not bid for another man. And so will I also be for
thee. You are mine now. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Go back to Solomon now. Look
at what she says. Verse 4, draw me. Song of Solomon
1, draw me. We will run after thee. Draw
me. Draw me nearer, nearer. Robin
played that. Nearer, blessed Lord, to the
cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer. You know,
our Lord said, All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me,
and him that cometh to me. Now, no wise guy said that. I
give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
Nobody's going to pluck them out of my hand. He said, But
no man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw them. How you know that you're being
drawn, how you know that He's drawn you and you're being drawn,
is if you can truly say from your heart, draw me. Are you with me? There was a
time, brother, I wasn't in here. I wasn't here. I wasn't sitting
here. I wasn't calling on God. I wasn't thinking about God.
God was not near him, I thought. I was here like some, and I didn't
want to be here. I couldn't wait to get out of
here. Not here, but where I grew up. And I wasn't calling on the
Lord. I wasn't interested in Christ.
His Word didn't mean anything. There was nothing sweet and precious
about it to me. When the Gospel was preached, it had no effect
on me. But God said, draw Him. Holy Spirit, O come, O north
wind, blow. That's one of my Oh, that's one
of my plants. Blow on him. Draw him to me. You know what I started doing?
Lord, draw me. Speak to me, Lord. Young Samuel.
Young Samuel was being called and didn't know it. And the preacher
wisely said, hmm, God's speaking to him. He said, Samuel, go home
and lie on your bed. And you call, Lord, speak to
me." And he did. And he followed the Lord the
rest of his days. Draw me. That's how you know. Draw me. Prodigal son. My dad preached that message.
It had no effect on me. Then I became him. Then I was the prodigal son.
He said, this will have no effect on you until you experience it. Until this Word has a place in
your heart. Until you become that chief of sinners yourself.
The prodigal son came to himself. What happened? The Lord joined
him. The Lord made him see himself
for what he was. Where was he? In a hog pen. He was in there a while. He liked
it. Oh, he came to himself, came to see himself, what he was doing
to himself, what he'd done to the father, what he'd sinned
against God and against his father, and everybody loved him and all
that. And you know, what did he do? He started calling. He
said, I'm going to run home. I'm going to go home to my father.
That's what I'm going to do. Who did that? Huh? Well, you
know, what happened? What happened in that story?
Huh? So he starts running home. Draw me, we'll run to you. We
won't unless he does. We'll run to you. What happened,
John? He's running home. Look here. Father's running to
him. The father ran out, fell on his neck and did what? Did
what? Kissed him. My son. Let's celebrate. He was lost. He's found. He's dead. He's alive.
Celebrate with him. Joy and heaven are once and for
all. Draw me. Young people ask him
to do that. Old people. Some old people don't
know the Lord. Draw me. That was too late. Draw me. We will run after them. We? Who's we? Well, Solomon wasn't alone. You
know how many wives he had? Three hundred. Seven hundred
concubines. A thousand. How many wives does
our Lord Jesus Christ have? Ten thousand times ten thousand
and thousands and thousands. The only reason the Lord allowed
Solomon to have multiple wives was the type of Christ. We will
run after them. Now listen, here's three ways
you know that you're being drawn. If the Lord loves you, if He's
chosen you, called you, you want to hear His Word. Let Him kiss
me. You want to hear his gospel.
Nobody will have to force you to come. You'll come willingly. And you'll call upon him. Draw
me. Draw me nearer. You're drawn
if you ask to be drawn. And you want to run to him. You
want to run to him. There was a time when we were
running from him. Right? Running from him. Now you want to run to Him, don't
you? In the time we were not of us, but now you want of us.
You want to run to Him and after Him, and you want to run with
His people. You want to be with His people.
Draw me and we will run after they. We. You become companions of
God's people. That's how you know. You want
to be with these people. There was a time when we said,
those people. I'm not going to go in there
with those people. Now all of a sudden, it's my
people. Like Ruth said, your God is my God. This is my God. This is my gospel. And these
people are my people. John Cheesley right there. We're
different walks of life and come from different places, but that's
my kind of people. Right there. That's who I want
to be with. That's of the Lord, you know?
To knit the hearts of people that are so different in this
world. Not really, though. Not really. Just a different generation.
Well, that's what Ruth said. And she was amazed that Solomon
spoke to her and spoke so kindly to her. And she said, I'm not
like your maidens. Look at verse 4. Draw me and
we will run after thee. Here's the test, people. The
king hath brought me into his chambers. He did bring her into
his chambers. He did draw her. He has drawn
you. Wednesday night, cold and blustery.
Now here you are. Don't you have better things
to do? Don't you have anything better to do? Isn't there anything
to do on your house, Sarah? Anything left to do? It's all
finished? All the boxes unpacked? Not even closing. Anything? Got work to do at home? Don't
you have anything better to do? Can you not say from your heart,
there is nothing better? Can you say that? The King hath brought me into
His chambers. The King. Now before she calls Him beloved,
what does she call Him? King. Before she knows Him and calls
Him her beloved, she calls Him, He's my King. Martyrs used to
say, you can't have Jesus as Savior, then make Him Lord. Oh
no. The way the Lord does it is He causes you to bow your
knee and you confess that He's Lord before you think you're
saved. Before you think you're one of His elect and called and
chosen and all that, you say, I can't be one of them, but I
know He's Lord, and He'll do with me as He pleases. He's the
King. You see that? The King hath brought
me, though, into His chambers, of all people. Of all people. Now look at this. Here's the
test. Say, we will run after Thee. We will be glad and rejoice
in Thee. We will remember Thy love more
than wine. The upright love Thee. You see what this is about? You
see what she's talking about? You see what the church is about?
Do you know where His true church is and His true people are? You
know what they're doing? They're talking about Him. You look all over the place,
you see these signs, Boy Scout Sunday. The church doesn't do anything
but worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus.
Right? You fellowship together, yes,
but it's all about Him. We pray and hope our conversation
always turns to Him. That's the test. It really is. It really is. Her language. She's
not speaking of herself, but of Him. Thee, thee, thee, thine,
thee, thine, thy love. Thee and thine. Now look at this. She says, I'm black. She thinks the king's brought
me into his chamber. Why me? I'm black. I'm black. Every true child of God believes
they're the chief of sinners. But they're all loved equally.
They're all sinners saved by grace, all loved equally. And every one of them are black.
Yes, they're sinners, but comely, but beautiful to their Lord. Why? What's the first thing that
the father did to the prodigal when he got home, after he kissed
him? He clothed him. He took off his old rags and
robed him in his righteousness. Now he looks a whole lot better,
doesn't he? I bet that robe was perfumed
with myrrh and he smelled better too. I'm black, but comely. Oh, you daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Keter, as the curtains of Solomon, the tents
of Keter, the black tents of the wicked, and the curtains
of Solomon are glorious and beautiful tapestries. How can a believer
be both a sinner and a saint? How can a believer be black and
yet comely? How? You know this, don't you? In Christ. In myself, in Adam,
I died. In Christ, I made alive. I'm
a sinner, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. In Christ I'm
perfect, I'm holy, I'm clean. The world says, I don't understand.
Well, we do, don't we? Verse 6, she says, look not upon
me, because I'm black. In other words, don't look at
me. Don't look at me. We're not here to be seen. Let's see him. We're just a bunch
of sinners who need the same Savior. Don't look upon me, because
I'm black. The Son has looked upon me. I labored under this Son, and all
it's done is made me a sinner. My mother's children are angry
with me. They made me the keeper of the vineyards and my own vineyard
have I not kept. She's alluding back to her past
when she was at home and she was in false religion. That's
what they're talking about. She was in false religion. This whole story takes place
in a vineyard. You know that? A garden? It's
a vineyard and there's one vine. Does that sound familiar? There's one vine. grapes, and
there's an orchard in the same garden. It's a garden where the
Lord feeds, among the lilies and all that, and all these spices
and apple trees and all these, spikener and saffron and calamus
and cinnamon and apple trees and all that, but there's one
principal thing in the middle of that garden, there's a tree,
there's a vine with grapes on it, the blood of that grape,
and that's Christ. And it's his vineyard. And there are other
vineyards, but they're not his. They're not his. And she said
I was in false religion, other vineyards. And I had my own little
religion, but it didn't keep me. It did me no good. That's
what she said. It did me no good at all. And then she left, the king had
brought her into his chamber, brought her to himself, to his
vineyard, to his garden, and her family got mad at her. That's persecution for the gospel.
We see that. Happens every time. You think
that's the only vineyard in town? There's lots of other vineyards.
You think that field, Ruth, you think that? That's where Boaz
is. And notice with me, verse 7 says,
Tell me, O whom thou my soul lovest, thou whom my soul lovest,
where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock, your flock. And on down, he said, if you
don't know, you go by the footsteps of, verse 8, the flock, the church. Don't attend the church of your
choice. No, no, you find the church of
his choice. How do you know? That's what
we've been saying all night. It's where he's worshipped. I
mean, really, he's worshipped. It's where God's people do one
thing, because there's one thing to eat for. Right? So she says, tell me, tell me,
O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest. Is she hungry? Oh, blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. Is she thirsty? Where's she going to get food
and water. Tell me where thou makest thy
flock to rest. Do you seek rest? Oh, religion
is so active and so much activity going on. Oh, no, no. We want
to rest, don't we? Why should I be as one to turn
to the side by or from the flocks of thy companion? And here's his answer to her,
and I'll close. He says, if you don't know, Verse 8, look at
it. If thou know not, O thou fairest
among women. He loves her. How do you know?
He directs her to where God's true people are. How do you know if you've been
chosen? How do you know if you've been drawn? How do you know if
you've been called? How do you know if He loves you? How do
you know if you've been called by Christ? You go where the gospel
is. You go where the flock of God
is. Where the people of God are.
Where they do nothing but worship Him. That's a fact. He says, you go by the footsteps
of the flock. You follow them that follow Christ.
You find out where they are. And you feed your kids. You feed your kids by the shepherd's
tent, because he has some true shepherds. He has some true shepherds. It reminded me of Psalm 84. How
amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. That the bird
Sparrow hath found a place that she may rest and nest and lay
her young. You feed your kids. You find
out where the flock is and you take your kids there and you
sit down and you feed on the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be
well with you. And if you do, He loves you. Stand with me.