I thought about that when I was
talking about praying for our country. I know our country is
in a mess, isn't it? And we have so much division
and opposition and all that. And when I pray anymore, this
past week I thought about that in my prayers, that I always
pray for our elected officials that the Lord will give them
the wisdom to guide us. But if he doesn't give them the
wisdom, at least override their foolishness. Because that's what
we need, isn't it? We pray for that. All right,
let's look at Song of Solomon, chapter two. This is the fifth
lesson in this, going through this book. And I have really,
I hope you've gotten something out of it. I know I have in studying.
I've never preached verse by verse. I've preached a few messages
out of Song of Solomon. But today we're gonna talk about
Christ, our preserver. Christ our preserver. And of
course we're talking about how not only does God save us by
his sovereign grace and power and bring us into his kingdom,
into his family, out of the world, but he also preserves us unto
glory. The reason we cannot ever be
lost is because God Almighty preserves us through Christ.
He keeps us. John chapter 10 is one of the
passages that I think about. The good shepherd, he knows his
sheep, and his sheep follow him, and he will not let us go. No
one shall pluck them out of his father's hand. And I think about
John chapter 6, you know, where he says, this is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Paul,
the apostle, was inspired by the Spirit. He said, I know whom
I have believed. And I'm persuaded, he said, that
he is able. And I love that. He didn't say,
I'm persuaded that I'm able. He says, I'm persuaded that he
is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. And I thought about this years ago on that verse. What
have I committed to Christ? I'll tell you what I've committed
to him. My whole salvation and eternal well-being. is committed
to Him. None of it's conditioned on me.
It's all committed to Him, and He's able to keep that. Well,
here in Song of Solomon chapter 2, look at verse 1. He says,
I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. Now this
is the bridegroom. This is Christ, the husband of
the church, revealing himself to his bride, revealing himself
in his beauty. And you know, I thought about
this because this is kind of like one of the I am statements.
You know, Christ, there's several statements. He says, I am the
bread of life. I am the resurrection. The I am statements. Jehovah. This is one of those I am statements.
I am the rose of Sharon. I am the lily of the valleys.
And of course the I am, you remember how God revealed himself to Moses. When Moses said, when sent back
to the Hebrew children, who do I say that you are? He says,
I am that I am. And of course that talks about
the sovereign, eternal, self-existent God. None like him. None to be compared to him. You
know, I think about people who try to bring up physical illustrations
to describe the Trinity. There is no physical illustration
that adequately describes the Trinity. The Trinity is an awesome
truth of God's Word. One God subsisting in three persons. But I don't have an illustration.
People try to use the illustration of, like, I'm a father, I'm a
son, and I'm a husband. That's three roles. Well, the
Trinity is not one God in three roles. It's one God in three
persons. And there are no illustrations
that adequately describe that. Because he's so awesome. And
that's what we see in Christ. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. That means the fullness of the
Father, the fullness of the Son, the fullness of the Spirit. If
you wanna know anything about God, his glory, who he is, what
he's like, look to Christ. And that's what he's saying here.
I'm the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys, and all the other
I am statements. And to think of this God, as
being one who loves and chooses and saves sinners like us is
an awesome thought. You see, he's everything, Christ
is everything, and we're nothing. That's basically the relationship
that we have. He's everything and we're nothing,
and yet he gives us of his best. Paul in Romans said, he that
spared not his own son, how shall he not with him freely give us
all things? Blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. And what did he do? He chose
us, he justified us, he redeemed us, he gives us the very best
of all that he has. And what he's doing here, he's
fulfilling the desire of his bride's heart here. And what
is that? To see her bridegroom. That's what we want. We want
to see Christ. When I preach a message, I want
to show you as much as I can, and I know it takes the Spirit
of God to really reveal it to your heart, your mind, your affections.
I want to show you Christ. I want to brag about Him. Now
here is something to think about too. What's He doing here? He's
bragging on Himself. Now if I stood up here this morning
and bragged on myself, I hope that you all would get pretty
tired of that pretty quick. But he was bragging on himself
because why? It's only right that he brags
on himself because he is our all and in all. He is our salvation. And think about it this way too. You know there are people, even
some who claim to be Christian, who do not believe that Christ
is God. who do not believe in his deity.
If he is not God, let me tell you something, if he's not God,
he is the most evil human being that ever walked the earth. If
he's not God. Think about that. I am the resurrection
and the life. Well, who could be the resurrection
life but God? Now, he's God-man, he's got a
human nature too without sin, but he's very God. He's as much
God as the Father and the Spirit in every attribute of his nature.
Think about this. If I were to open up this Bible
and say, now let's read Genesis 3.15, and you hear about the
seed of woman, and I looked at you and I said, now that's me,
that seed of woman, that's me. Now, what would you think? Well,
you'd think I'd gone crazy. Well, when Christ stood before
the Pharisees, and think about this when people say that Christ
never claimed to be God. He looked at the Pharisees and
he said, you do search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life. He said, they are they which
testify of me. Now, if he's not God, that's
the most arrogant human being that ever walked the earth. But
he is God. He is God. And thank God he is
God-man, God manifest in the flesh. And think of this, his
condescension to be made like unto us without sin and to obey
unto death, even the death of the cross. Now he describes himself
here first to his bride as the rose of Sharon, the lily of the
valleys, speaking of his own beauty, his own glory as he's
revealed. and continues to reveal himself.
He speaks, and again, this is no boast in him, but it's only
right that he should do it, because it's essential that our Lord
speak of himself. As I said, he's our salvation,
the way, the truth, and the life. He's our very life. And this
Sharon, he's the Rose of Sharon. Sharon was a real fertile land. in that day. You can read about
it in Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 65, but it was a real fertile valley
type thing. And he chose this fruitful place
to describe himself because he's the one who creates, he's the
one who gives the beauty of eternal life and glory to his people.
And we think about the rose. The rose is almost like we could
call it the king of the flower garden. And the red color of
a rose would certainly remind us of the blood of Christ, the
red blood of Christ, shed for our sins and that covers our
sins and brings forth only righteousness whereby God is just to justify
us. And as I said, roses are usually
the pride of the garden, and Christ is certainly the pride
of his people. Paul wrote, God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
roses are usually planted, and in a sense, our Lord, he was
planted, wasn't he? He's the seed of woman. He was
sent to this world, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary
without the aid of man. He grew and was sent to grow
and accomplish the work of redemption for the salvation of his people.
And then he calls himself the lily of the valley. The lily
usually grows wild. And it's abundant even without
being touched by man. Remember Christ used the lilies
as one of the illustrations of those whom God takes care of,
like the sparrows and the lilies and all of that. And the common
phrase, lily white, you've heard that? That's somebody who's above
reproach, and certainly that describes our Savior, isn't it?
He himself, sinless in himself. Yes, he was made sin, and he
died for our sins, but that was by imputation. That wasn't by
any corruption or contamination of our sin to him. He is truly
lily white. And of course, the valley could
symbolize the depths of his humiliation, the lily of the valleys, the
valley of the shadow of death you think about in Psalm 23.
We go through many valleys, he did too. He suffered the infirmities
and the weaknesses of the flesh just like we do, yet he did it
without sin. But he went through the valley
of the shadow of death for us. And he walked through it to put
away our sins. And then look at verse two. Now
listen to what's happening here. He says, as the lily among thorns,
so is my love among the daughters. Now he's talking about his bride
as being the lily among thorns. And that's amazing grace. Because
you know, if you look back up in verse five of chapter one,
she says, I am black, but comely. Now what she's saying there,
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinful person. I have no right. I have nothing
to recommend me unto God. I'm just a sinner. But this is
the way the Lord sees his bride, as a lily among thorns. And how
can we be described, like he said he's the lily of the valley,
how can we be described as a lily among thorns? Our bridegroom
has created for us a lily white robe washed in his blood. His
righteousness imputed when we stand before God and that's no
fake, that's no fiction. How do you know? Because this
is the way he sees it. I hear men talk about the imputed righteousness
of Christ as if it's a legal fiction or it's a pretense or
something like it. Let me tell you something, if
that's the way God sees us, that's the way it is. And yes, it's
a legal matter, but it's not only a legal matter. It results
in a new heart. It results in new life given.
But all of this, it's real. And how do we know it's real?
Because that's the way the bridegroom states it. He looks at his bride
as the lily among thorns. Every sinner who is married to
Christ, all who believe the gospel of his grace, that's what you
are. were lilies among thorns. And
you know what the thorns symbolize. If you go back to, you don't
have to turn there, but I've got it marked in your lesson.
If you go back to Genesis 3, 17 through 19, you remember that's
where the Lord pronounced the curse upon Adam. You know, here's
three curses pronounced there in Genesis 3 after the fall.
The curse upon the serpent, that's where he reveals Christ the seed
of a woman who's going to come and bruise the serpent's head.
Then there's this curse upon woman that she'll be cursed in
childbirth. And incidentally, that's not
talking about just the pain she has having a baby. That means
the pain that she'll go through and suffering throughout her
children's lives. And it'd be sort of a curse for
her. And then the curse upon man,
and one of them, he's gonna make his living by the sweat of his
brow, and God's gonna curse the earth with thorns and briars.
So the thorn here is symbolic of the fallen, sinful, sin-cursed
world and all of its inhabitants. And what is his bride? Sinners
chosen by God before the foundation of the world, upon whom Christ,
wherein Christ was given, they were given to him, and all of
their sins imputed to him, and then they were justified, redeemed,
sanctified, all of it. They are called out of the world
into the family of God, into the light of his truth, and what
are we? We're lilies among thorns. We
walk on this earth. this sin-cursed earth, in this
valley, in this veil of tears. And so he says, she's the lily
among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. And what are those
daughters? I believe it's talking about
our brothers and sisters in Christ, sinners saved by the grace of
God. Look at verse three. As the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, that apple tree, you know, what's Most everybody
would say apple pie is my favorite. We love apples. And apples are
special. Even though they're abundant,
they're special. Love for their fruit, the apple tree. And of
course, the bride here expresses how special Christ is to her
and he expresses how she is special to him. So unique. He's identified in the Bible
as the son of God. And he stands alone among all
the sons of God. He is the only begotten son of
God. And then all believers are the
fruit of his death. I love that passage in John chapter
12 where he talks about a corn of wheat or a seed of wheat.
When it falls into the ground, it must die, and from it will
spring forth much fruit. And then he says down there in
John 12, I believe around verse 31, 32, and 33, he says, and
I, if I be lifted up, will draw all unto me. And it says there,
this he said, speaking of his death. And that's what the illustration
is. Christ was the seed planted in
the ground through his death, his suffering unto death, and
out of his death comes the salvation of all for whom he died. All
of his people. Our sins are put away. And look
here, he says, All believers are brought by God the Holy Spirit
to sit down under the shadow of his great delight. Look at
that in verse three. As the apple tree among the trees
of the woods, so is my beloved among the suns. Christ so special. And he said, I sat down, or if
you have a concordance you might say, I delighted and sat down
under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my
taste. Sitting under the shadow of his
wing, under the shade of the apple tree, delighting in the
fruit thereof, his word, his spirit, his fellowship. And what's so amazing about that,
and we're gonna see that, look at verse four, we'll go on there
and show you this illustration. He brought me to the banqueting
house, the house of wine, the banqueting house, and his banner
over me was love. Often in the scripture, salvation
is illustrated by sitting at a table that's been prepared
and feasting on the food, which is the word of God. Feasting
on all the blessings. I always, I think I brought this
out last time, I always think about old Mephibosheth. David's,
Jonathan's son, and you remember David and Jonathan made that
covenant, and Jonathan and that covenant was that David would
not harm any of the descendants of Jonathan. that he would bless
them. And one day, the king, after
Jonathan was dead, and after Saul was dead, and David sat
down, and he asked his courtiers, he said, is there anyone from
the house of Jonathan, or the house of Saul, he said, because
Mephibosheth was Saul's grandson, that I can bless. And they went
and got Mephibosheth. You remember the story of Mephibosheth,
how when he was born, he was dropped, and it broke his legs,
and he couldn't walk. So David said, well, go fetch
him. Go fetch Mephibosheth. Brother
Mahan preached a message on that so many years ago called Fetching
Grace. And what a picture of our fall,
where we have no ability to walk in the ways of God, but God sent
his son to go fetch us and bring us into his house. And he set
Mephibosheth down at the table, and the Bible says Mephibosheth
feasted at the king's table all the days of his life. And that's
us. Sinners saved by grace. Well,
here we are. He brought me to the banqueting
house. You notice that? In verse four, we didn't come
of our own free will. We didn't come of our own power.
Like Mephibosheth, he came and fetched us. He brought us there.
That's what he has to do. Before he brings us, before he
meets with us by the power of his spirit, we have no taste
or desire to sit at his table and eat the feast. By nature,
we're enemies of God. Enemies in our minds by wicked
works, the scripture says. But what does he do? Well, he
comes and he gets us. And he actually gives us an appetite
for his his sweet food, the things that he brings, and the table
is set. We don't bring our own dishes.
The table is set. It's a finished work. All wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and all redemption is already
prepared. This is a table prepared. And all we do is come and eat
because He brings us. And He brought us by His will,
His power, and His grace. He drew her with cords of love. And that's what it took. And
it says He spread His banner here in verse 4. His banner over
me was love. That's that godly, redemptive
love that He expressed in His death for our sins. Herein is
love. Not that we love God. but that
He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. And that love is a banner. It
shows that we cannot be separated from His love. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the banner of His people. Back over in Exodus chapter 17,
it speaks of Moses who raised this banner, calling our Lord
Jehovah Nissi. One of the compound names of
Christ, the Lord is my banner. Our Savior, the Lord our banner,
in the majesty of his person, in the power of his work, in
the merit of his blood, in the perfection of his righteousness,
is the certainty of his victory. Like soldiers going into a battle
waving the banner, he is our victory. And his banner is love. What can separate us from the
love of God in Christ? Nothing. He loves us, he keeps
us, and he does it in a just way. And then look at verse five.
Stay me or keep me with flagons. The flagons there are like flagons
of wine. The bride asked her bridegroom
to preserve her. He is our preserver. Stay me,
keep me with flagons of wine. Comfort me with apples. Keep
feeding me the fruit. For I'm sick of love. That means
I'm sick with love. This is truly a lovesickness. You ever seen a couple of teenagers
who think they're in love and they act crazy? Of course, they
act crazy anyway, don't they? They're lovesick. But this is
a real lovesickness that means something that's gonna be fulfilled.
It's the love of God that he imparts within our hearts. Herein
is love, not that we loved him, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. It's the love of
God that the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts. And so
what she's saying here is, I'm eat up with my love for my Savior.
Now our love is not yet perfect love, but it still is love because
it's founded upon Christ and his truth. It longs to hear of
him. Think about it. Could you sit
in a congregation where a man stands up and tells falsehoods
on your savior, your bridegroom? You couldn't do it, because you
love him too much. Now, can I say my love is perfect,
that I love him enough? No. I hope my love grows. But here's the thing. I can't listen to anybody lie
on God. I just can't do it. I don't care
who they are. I don't care what reputation
they have. I'm not going to sit in a congregation and feed upon
the husk of the world. And that's what she's saying.
Look at verse five again. She says, comfort me with apples. Feed me with those blessings
and truths that honor Christ. He speaks comfort, speaks peace
to His people in a way that honors Him, that honors God, a word
fitly spoken. And so we long to hear more,
to see more of our Savior who lived and who died and who arose
again for us. Keep our minds focused upon Him. And then look at verse six. His
left hand is under my head and His right hand doth embrace me.
You see, He keeps us. We're not on our own. It's not
a situation where you make a profession, God saves you, and then you work
it out. I know the Bible says to work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling, but it also says
it's the Lord that worketh in us. It's his work, and we follow
him. So he not only saves us from
sin, but he preserves us throughout this fallen, sinful, thorny world. Under glory, he keeps us, he
won't let us go. His left hand is under my head,
his right hand doth embrace me. He's got us clutched in the arms
of his love and power. He embraces us and he preserves
all for whom he saves. And then verse seven, we'll close
with this. He says, I charge you in your,
in concordance you might see the word adjure, I adjure you.
O ye daughters of Jerusalem, By the rows, the row is a gazelle,
remember, and by the hinds of the field like a young deer,
that you stir not up nor awake my love till he please. Now,
what I believe that's being stated there is the simple phrase that
as we are confident of his power to save us, his love for us,
and his preservation of us, As we walk through this valley,
as we walk through this sin-cursed, thorny world, let's wait on the
Lord. He's going to work in His good
time. In other words, these creatures, like this gazelle and this deer,
they're creatures who are easily preyed upon. If you watch some
of these National Geographic programs, you always see those
are the ones that go down, you know, when the lion comes. When
the hyenas come, they go after the young gazelle or they go
after the young deer. They're easily preyed upon. And
that's what we are. While on this earth, we're easy
prey for sin and Satan and the world. You remember Christ told
Peter, he said, I pray for you. The devil, he wants to, Satan
wants to sift you as wheat. But I prayed for you, he said.
Satan can't do it. We're told to put on the whole
armor of God that we may be able to withstand the wiles of the
devil. Without that armor on, which every piece of armor, I've
been thinking about doing a series on that, you know, the armor
of God. Every piece of armor is the work of God's grace and
power in Christ. It's not our power. It's not
our goodness. It's His. So without that armor
on, what are we? We're easy prey. And so he says,
as we walk through this world, or she says, as we walk through
this world, realizing that Christ will never leave us or never
forsake us, we, and we can never leave or forsake him because
he won't let us, let's rest in him, let's wait on him. He's
going to work all things for his glory and our good. And so
while we're on this earth, continually recognize that we're totally
dependent upon the Lord for salvation. And there are times, you know,
when we feel like we've been forsaken, but he hasn't. He hasn't
forsaken. So let's not do anything here
in verse seven. He says, that you stir not up
nor awake my love till he please. In other words, let's not, let's
not act on our own power or some view of our own goodness. Let's
wait on the Lord. He'll work. He'll keep us. He'll
do his good work and he'll preserve us unto glory. All right.