God praises her beloved. Psalm 5. Putting this message together.
Just excited me to be able to bring it forth. Every preacher will tell you
we're blessed in study. Putting messages together and
we get awful excited to get to preach them. Let's start in Song of Solomon,
chapter 5, verse 9, it says, What is thy beloved more than
another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved
more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? So the
daughters of Jerusalem asked the bride of Christ, Why is thy beloved more than
another beloved? And here's the bride's answer. And she praises
her beloved. My beloved is white and ruddy,
the cheapest among 10,000. His head is as the most fine
gold. His locks are bushy and black
as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves
by the rivers of waters washed with milk and fitly set. His
cheeks are as a bed of spices. His sweet flowers, his lips like
lilies dropping with sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold
rings set with a barrel. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this
is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Last week we looked at verses
two to eight In this chapter, we saw that the bride had fallen
asleep, which pictures when the believers in the cold state of
indifference, one may say a dry time, a dry time. We looked at
how the Lord had withdrawn his presence from her, but we know
that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. Sometimes
he just withdraws a little bit away, but he'll never leave us
nor forsake us. So we can take great comfort
in that. We looked at how the Lord calls the bride with terms
of endearment when he calls her my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. Oh, how the Lord loves his bride. How the Lord loves his bride
whom he hath purchased with his own precious blood. We then consider
that the bride sought out the bridegroom, but he had withdrawn
himself, and we consider that The bride
talking to the daughters of Jerusalem, telling them she is sick of love.
She's truly sorry for her ungrateful conduct. And her heart is warmed
again toward her beloved and filled with his love. Are we
who are the redeemed sick of love as the bride is here? Sick of love. It means the soul
longs for communion with Christ. Do you long for communion with
your Savior? Oh, how we do, don't we? Oh, how we do. We desire Him to speak to us
through His Word, through the preaching of the gospel. We desire
that His love would be manifest to us more and more as we grow and learn more and
more about Him. And that's what happens when
we grow in Christ. We grow in our love for Him. We learn more and more just how
amazing our great God and King is. And when your soul weakens, when
sin robs you of Christ's manifest presence and sweet communion,
as soon as He calls to you through His Word, run to Him. Lead Him. Tell Him you're sick of love.
which means you're enthralled. Oh, my. Let's consider our text
tonight, verse nine, we see again the daughters of Jerusalem here
asking the bride, what is the difference between her beloved
and another beloved? What is thy beloved more than
another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved
more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us? Note they call the bride the
fairest among women. But we know from our study, she
sees herself as black and calmly. Black with sin, yet beautiful
in the righteousness of Christ. We should be thrilled when men
or women inquire about our Savior. We should be thrilled when a
man or a woman asks a question like this. It should thrill us
when they ask these questions. What is thy beloved more than
another? O thou fairest among women, what
is thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge
us? We who are the redeemed love
to tell others about the beauty of our Savior. We love to proclaim
what he's done for us. We love to tell others who he
is. in what He's done. As the Lord opens the door for
us to do that, we don't have to force the door open. If the
Lord opens the door for us to speak about Him, we proclaim
Him. We proclaim the wonders of His
love. We proclaim the wonders of His person, who He is, what
He's done for us. As the Lord told the demoniac,
you go and tell the great things the Lord has done We tell the great things the
Lord has done for us when we tell others about how he's redeemed
us, how he's purchased us, how he died as our substitute. And we love to tell others about
that, don't we? We love it. We love it. We should be thrilled when someone
asks us questions. Now we see the bride praise and
describe her bridegroom starting at verse 10. Look at this, my
beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among 10,000. Here the bride starts to praise
and lift up her bridegroom and tell the daughters of Jerusalem
why her beloved is more than any other beloved, why he's valued
above anyone else. What is my beloved to me? Let
me tell you in light of this wonderful scripture and see if
it's so with you. He's my savior. He's my redeemer. He's my righteousness. He's my wisdom. My sanctification. He's my justification before
God. And it's by his precious blood
that all my sins are forgiven, all past, present, and future. He's the King of righteousness.
He's the King of the ages. He's the King of heaven, the
King of glory. He's the King of kings, and He's
the Lord of lords. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing. All things are in His hands.
And by him, all things consist. He's my surety. He's my salvation. That's my Lord. That's my heavenly
bridegroom. That's my savior. And his name
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my prophet. He's my priest. He's my king. He's my all in
all, my Lord and my God. Oh, how I love to tell others
about Him. He's so fair and lovely to me
that none compare to Him. None compare to Him. And truly,
He is the cheapest among 10,000 to me. Is it so with you? Is it so with you? Oh, thank
God if it is. Thank God if it is. And I pray that God would make
it so if he's not that to you. That he grant you faith to believe
on him. Who is altogether lovely. Altogether lovely. Note the verse
here before us, the bride describes her beloved as white and ruddy.
The white speaks of his divinity, beloved, and the red speaks of
his humanity. And he is the partaker of the
same flesh and blood with his people. Fully God, and yet fully
man. White also points to His purity,
His holiness, and He being without sin. In red or ruddy speaks of
His bloody sufferings, which He shed when He shed His blood
on Calvary's cross to redeem His bride, His people from their
sins. And He paid for the sins of all
His people. And think of His beauty here.
The bride calls Him the chiefest among 10,000. The chiefest among
10,000. He's the bride's mediator, and
He alone is full of grace and truth. And He is most lovely
to His bride. Most lovely to His bride. The
one that she desires. The one that she desires. Christ is the cheapest among
ten thousand, as He is the ruler over everything, visible and
invisible. Whether they be angels or men,
he's the creator of the angels and the object of their worship.
He's king of kings, and he alone is Lord over all. Oh, he's the
chiefest among 10,000 below. In him resides all the perfection
of the eternal God, because he's God incarnate in the flesh. And
he must have the preeminence over all creatures, he must.
He must. We saw that in our study in Colossians.
That book is all about the preeminence of Christ. And how He is preeminent
over everything. Everything. He alone is King. Let Him ever
be so proclaimed and acknowledged amongst the people of God. He
is higher than the kings of the earth. And He has obtained a
more excellent name than any in heaven, earth or hell. Psalm 89, 27, the scriptures
proclaim, and I will make him my firstborn higher than the
kings of the earth. Nothing compares to him. This
is why the bride calls him the chiefest among 10,000. The bride
is here bringing forth that none compare to Christ. Nothing compares
to him, actually. Nothing. Everything pales in
comparison to him. The love that we have for our
spouses pales in comparison. And we know we have love for
our brides, don't we? We men and the ladies, you have
love for your husbands. It pales in comparison to the
love that Christ has for his bride. It's amazing. Truly He has the
preeminence in all things. And because nothing compares
to Christ in the heart of the believer, the believer cries
out that He alone is the chiefest among 10,000 to my soul. And let us remember that He is
the chiefest among 10,000 in the sight and choice of God the
Father. and in his people. The bride
continues to tell of his beauty. And is this not the way with
we who are redeemed, as we tell others about our wonderful Savior,
we get often carried away when we're telling others about him. When we tell others about he
who is the lover of my soul. The bride sees Christ excellent
in beauty. Again, there's none that compare
to him. And she continues to proclaim that Christ and Christ
alone is worthy of our love and our praise. Look at verse 11.
His head is the most fine gold and his locks are bushy and black
as a raven. Now in the preceding chapter,
the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ had been commending the
beauty of his church. And now she holds forth his beauty. with her own words proclaiming
the grace and loveliness of her bridegroom. His head is as the
most fine gold. This speaks of our Lord's sovereignty
over all things, including the church, as He is the head and
we are the body. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. He is sovereign
over all. Ephesians 1, verses 15-23, Wherefore I also, after I heard
of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in
my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
and the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened. See, we won't learn anything. from the Scriptures
unless the Holy Spirit enlightens them and illuminates them and
teaches us. And this is the preacher's prayer.
And I know this is the prayer you all pray for me too before
I preach. We pray that the Lord would feed
us and teach us, don't we? Well, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His
calling. Oh, the hope of His calling.
Our hope is in Christ and him alone, and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power. He's absolutely sovereign. To
us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
he translated us from darkness to light. We're regenerated by
the Holy Spirit, all by God's power. which He wrought in Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right
hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power
and might and dominion, in every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come, and put all
things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things
to the church." He's not only sovereign over everything, He's
sovereign over the whole church too, isn't He? Absolutely. He's
the head, or the body. which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. So the gold here speaks of his
sovereignty, beloved, most fine gold. And then it says his locks
are bushy and black as a raven. Well, we know from other scriptures
that his hair is white, too. But it says here his locks are
bushy and black as a raven. His hair is at the same time
white and black. Now whiteness denotes his eternality
and wisdom. And I'll read two scriptures,
one from Daniel chapter 7 and one from Revelation chapter 1.
I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the ancients of
days did sit, whose garment was white as snow and the hair of
his head like pure wool. His throne was like the fiery
flame, and his wheels as burning fire. His head and his hairs
were white like wool. His white as snow, and his eyes
were as a flame of fire. Daniel chapter 7, verse 9, and
Revelation chapter 1, verse 14. But here it says, his locks are
bushy and black as raven. The whiteness denotes his eternality
and his wisdom, but the blackness here speaks of his perpetual
strength, beloved. his perpetual strength and power,
and speaks that in him, as Matthew Henry comments, is no decay,
nothing that waxes old. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He doesn't change. Therefore,
his strength doesn't change. We get older and we get weaker,
don't we? The ancient of days is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Oh, and this is most beautiful
in the believer's eyes. Look at verse 12. His eyes are
set as the eyes of doves by the rivers of water washed with milk
and fitly set. Now the brightest said to have
dove's eyes, which we learned are eyes which are fixed. Fixed
upon what they look at. And here we see our beloved's
eyes are as eyes of doves by the rivers of water washed with
milk and fitly set. Now think of this, what we learned
in previous studies about the dove's eyes, that they're fixed.
This is telling us that, and what a blessed fact this is for
God's people to know that the Lord's eyes are upon his people
and they're fixed upon. Isn't that wonderful? To know
that His eyes are fixed upon us. Fixed upon us. With love and the meekness of
a dove. Fixed upon us in love with the
meekness of a dove. And His eyes are pure eyes, aren't
they? Pure eyes. And to know that the Lord's eyes
are upon us, upon his people, brings the believer great joy. His eyes constantly look upon
us, we who are his bride, his beloved, his sister, and his
spouse. And his eyes are penetrating
eyes, too, aren't they? They're penetrating eyes. Turn,
if you would, to Luke, chapter 22. His eyes are penetrating
eyes, Luke, chapter 22. One look of his eye struck Peter's
heart, beloved. After he denied the Lord three
times, one look from our Lord struck Peter's heart. Look at
Luke 22, verses 61 and 62. And the Lord turned and looked
upon Peter. He fastened his eyes upon him,
beloved. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord. How he had said unto him before the cock crow,
thou shall deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. The eyes of love, but also penetrate
in Isaiah. Oh my beloved. But let we who
are the redeemed of the Lord take great joy that his eyes
are always fixed upon the objects of his love. His eyes are always
fixed upon the objects of His love, fixed upon those He has
redeemed with His own precious blood, His people, His bride. The Lord never loses sight of
His people. He can never be out of His sight because His eyes are fixed upon
us. He will be to his people a well
of living water and streams from Lebanon. Look at verse 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet flowers, his lips like lilies dropping sweet-smelling
myrrh. The bride who is enamored with
a bridegroom speaks now of his cheeks and lips. Cheeks being His face and the
very sight of His face brings her great joy. I was thinking
about... Remember we men who saw our bride
coming down the aisle? How we were fixed upon her? And
remember how you, you ladies coming down, you were fixed upon
your husband that was waiting there. Oh, I was thinking about
that. Time of great joy, anticipation
and be married. My, you ever had this happen? You'd be in a room with a bunch
of people and you look across the room and you see your spouse
and it's like she's the only one in the room. That's how the Lord looks on
us. Oh my, this is wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. What
great love. And the believer, when he or
she sees his face, either through the preaching of the word or
through the gospel, don't we rejoice? Don't we rejoice? Oh my. Now think of this too. The bride is enamored with the
bridegroom. The very sight of his face brings great joy to
the bride. She's revived and she's refreshed. And are we not revived and refreshed
when we see our heavenly bridegroom through the preaching of the
Word? Oh, does it not bring us great
joy? Does it not fill our heart with
joy? When we think of our blessed
Redeemer, and we think of what He's done for us, when we hear
that proclaimed and preached, does it not fill us with great
joy? And think about this, this refreshing
and revival we have here before us, and the bride speaking of
her bridegroom with praises. Think of this in light of the
coldness the bride had experienced in last week's study. Oh my. Her heart's revived, beloved. When someone asks her about her
beloved, her heart's revived. Oh, let me tell you about him.
Oh, let me tell you about him. She praises him. She's refreshed
in just thinking about her bridegroom. Is it not so with us? Are we
not refreshed when we think about our king? Can we not be going
through a circumstance that's very trying and think about our
king and look to him and pray to him and talk to him and see
him in his word? And does it not refresh us and
revive us? And she praises him. Again, she's
refreshed and just thinking about her bridegroom. Is it not so
with we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ when we think of
him? Look at the verse again. His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet flowers, his lips like lilies dropping sweet smelling
myrrh. Now she speaks of his lips, which
are like lilies dropping sweet smelling myrrh. Think of this. From His lips proceed His words. From His lips proceed His words. And oh, how the bride of Christ
loves the words of Christ. They bring great joy. They revive
us. They refresh us. They point us
to Him. And they speak peace. Peace to
the bride's soul. Peace. The words of Christ are
like lilies dropping sweet smelling myrrh. They're pure words, beloved. Beautiful words. Free from the
pollution of sin because he is the sinless one. And He is God
and there is no deceit, no malice, no mixture of sin. His words
praise the Father and His words glorify Him. And Christ's words
are full of grace and mercy to His people. Full of grace and
mercy. To those who have seen the King
in His beauty and who have had Christ revealed to them and heard
His gracious voice, and the words which have proceeded out of his
mouth, nothing can more strikingly set
forth the person and offices of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
words of Christ's lips are sweeter than the honeycomb to the believer, for his people. And they bless
our souls, don't they? There was a time when they meant
nothing to us. Now all tell me about my Savior. Speak to me His words. Grace and mercy proceeds from
His lips, beloved. Grace and mercy proceeds from
His lips. And we who are redeemed of the
Lord know this to be true. As His very words as He dies
on the cross of Calvary as our substitute are full of grace
and mercy. Out of His lips at Calvary when
He says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And then He cried again in majesty,
triumphant majesty. It is finished. Words of grace and mercy, beloved. Words of grace and mercy. Grace,
grace, wondrous grace pours forth from His lips. And as our Savior, He comes to
His own in the time of love and spreads over His redeemed the
skirt of His righteousness. And what does He say to us? Live. Live. He tells his people this. I have
loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Are these not sweet words of
mercy and grace to God's people? Look at verse 14 here. His hands
are as gold rings set with the barrel. His belly is as bright
ivory overlaid with sapphires. In biblical times, great men,
wealthy men, were sometimes known by the rings and rich jewels
which they wore. And so Christ is looked at as
the greatest of all by his saints. We who are the work of His hands, look upon Him as the greatest
of all. Isaiah 64, 8, the scriptures proclaim this, but now, O Lord,
Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter, and
we all are the work of Thy hands. Now Christ's hands, which are
the instruments of action, may be compared to gold rings, set
with one or other of these stones because of the variety of His
works in nature, providence, and grace, and because of the
preciousness and value of His works, and because of their perfection
and their completeness. Never do the hands of Christ
appear as beautiful is what is brought forth here,
then they are described over in John. Turn, if you would,
to John chapter 10, as grasping, holding, and retaining His people
in His hands, out of which they can never be plucked. Oh, the hands of the Eternal
One hold me. John chapter 10, verses 27. to 30. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them, Gnoska, I know them intimately. And they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. It's not something you can purchase.
It's not something you can get by walking the Nile. It's not
something you can get by praying a prayer. Eternal life is a gift
from God. It's a gift from God. And I give
unto them eternal life. And look at this, beloved, and
they shall, there's another one of them little hinge words, never
perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Notice
the word any there. I can't pluck myself out of God's
hands, neither can you. No man. If you're in God's hands,
you're secure, beloved. Not that we would want to pluck
ourselves out of God's hand. No one would want that, who's
a true believer. But we get these foolish people who say you can
lose your salvation. It says, neither shall any man. That includes anyone who says
that garbage. And that even includes me. No man. Neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. That's eternal security, beloved.
That's eternal security. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. Again, no man. No one. I and my Father are one. Oh,
the hands that hold me are the hands of the Eternal One. The
hands that keep me are the hands of the Eternal One. And if you're
one of His people, it's so with you too. It's wonderful. Let's go back to the Song of
Solomon. 5.14 says, His hands are as gold
rings set with myrrh. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphire. Most commentators bring forth
that this speaks of the human nature of Christ. His humanity,
which Grail brings forth here, described by one part of it because
of its frailty and weakness in itself, and compared to bright
ivory partially because of its firmness and consistency in suffering,
and partially because of its purity, holiness, and innocence,
which is said to be overlaid with sapphires because of its
exaltation and glory at the right hand of God. So it speaks of
his humanity. Look at verse 15. His legs are
as pillars of marble, set upon fine sockets of gold. His countenance
is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedar. So the bride just continues
praising who Christ is. Praising who her beloved is. She's looking at details in him
now. His legs are as pillars of marble. Does this not point to Christ
who is our rock? His legs are set firm. Set firm. He alone is our sure foundation.
He's the one we rest in. And He is the one we trust in.
And He alone is like pillars of marble set upon sockets of
fine gold. He alone. See, men who think
they're trying to work their way to glory or to heaven, they're on a shaky foundation,
aren't they? Sinking sand. But the believer, the one who
holds the believer and keeps the believer, is the one here
that said his legs are as pillars of marble. Turn, if you would,
to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 22, verse 23. We know that in our weakness
he's strong, right? And his legs are strong like
pillars. And his legs are stable, they're
set upon sockets. That's what the scripture there
brings forth. The Lord is ever dependable,
beloved. You know why? Because He's a
nail in the sure place. And that goes right along with
this here. Look at Isaiah 22, 23. It says this. And see, this
is why our hope and trust is in Him. He's a sure foundation. He's a sure Savior. He's the
only sure thing. Look at this. I love this verse.
And I will fasten him as a nail in the sure place. And he shall
be for a glorious throne to his father's house. Now, a nail in
the sure place is a nail on the strong part of the wall. Or timber where it shall not
fail. where it shall not fail. And
it ties right in here with his legs, they're like pillars of
marble. He won't fail. He's dependable. He's immovable. He's a nail in a sure place.
And the nail in the sure place will not let what it holds drop. What is hung upon it is sure
to stay. And it's a picture which brings
forth the stability and continuance and strength and support. And is this not brought forth
in the fact that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is stable,
firm, set as pillars of marble, set as pillars of marble, set
upon sockets of fine gold. And this is also expressive of
the strength The strength of Christ as the mighty God. God, the God-man, the man of
God's right hand, able savior, mighty redeemer of his people.
And think of the stability of his person, beloved. Think of
how this brings forth the stability of his person. It's unchangeable. It's unchangeable. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. This is wonderful for the boy.
He's unchangeable in his office as prophet, priest, and king.
He's unchangeable as our mediator. He's unchangeable as our head.
He's unchangeable as our surety of the covenant. He never changes. His priesthood doesn't pass from
one to another like men's did. In His kingdom, beloved, is an
everlasting one. An everlasting one. His truths and His ordinances
are unshaken and immovable. Therefore, He is a nail in the
sure place. He is a nail in the sure place.
And we cast ourselves upon Him, don't we? Trust in Him to hold
us and keep us. My and He is fixed both in the
church Where is the everlasting head husband and Savior of it
all he's fixed as a nail in the sure place And he's fixed as
a nail sure in the sure place in heaven Oh His legs are like
pillars of marble Set burn Set upon sockets of fine gold and
movable. And then the scripture continues,
His countenances is Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His countenances is Lebanon.
Christ as God may be compared for His height being higher than
the kings of all the earth. He's in glory, higher than all,
than the angels of heaven, than the heavens themselves. for His
glory and righteousness and for the fruitful trees of righteousness
to His people that grow in Him. Where's our root? In Him. He's
the vine, we're the branches. And our fruitfulness only comes
from Him. And it says here, excellent as the cedars. These cedars grew
up, grew in Lebanon. And they were the choicest of
trees. They were the choicest of trees.
They were preferable to all others. They were preferable to all others.
To which Christ may be compared to for his majesty. As again,
the bride proclaims him as the chiefest of 10,000. Oh, my. In height and strength and power
and grace and beauty and in love, beloved, he excels all others.
He has no rival. Let's consider the last verse
here. His mouth is most sweet, yea, he is altogether lovely. There's a whole message just
right there. He is altogether lovely. Oh my. This is my beloved. This is my friend, oh daughters
of Jerusalem. So the last verse here sums up
the bride's feelings as she proclaims that Christ is to her altogether. She sums it all up, beloved.
If you can do that, our words really aren't sufficient, are
they? But we tell others about He who
is altogether lovely to us. About He who has redeemed us.
Oh my. We see her mention His mouth
again. And His words we know proceed from His mouth and they
are most sweet to the bride, beloved. They are most sweet
to her. And think of how sweet the words of Christ are to you
who are a believer. Think of how sweet they are.
They never get old, do they? They never get old. I remember
talking to one grace preacher one time, we were talking about
studying and putting messages together, and he said, it never
gets old. And I said, no, it never does,
does it? It never gets old. We hear scriptures that we've
heard before, never gets old. It never gets old. Tell me about
my King. Tell me about my Redeemer. Tell
me about the one who is the lover of my soul. Tell me about the
one who is altogether lovely to me. Tell me. Tell me about
Christ Jesus, my Lord. Oh, what a Savior. What a Redeemer. And the precepts of His Word
are sweet to the believer. The promises of His Word are
sweet to the bride. They drip with love and grace
and mercy, and they have a sweetness in them. And having proclaimed
these truths about her bridegroom and the fact that He is altogether
lovely to her, the bride proclaims that this is her beloved to the
daughters of Jerusalem. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this
is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. He is lovely to the
saint of God. He is precious to the saint of
God. Everything about Christ is lovely
to His people. And there's nothing in Him that
is not lovely. There's nothing in Him that is
not lovely to the bride. He's all we need. He's all we need. He's full of
grace. He's full of truth. He's full
of mercy. And all that we need, all that
we need is found in Him. All that a sinner needs is found
in Christ. In His divinity, He is absolutely
lovely to us. In His humanity, He is absolutely
lovely to us. In His redemption of our souls,
oh how lovely, He is absolutely lovely to us. In His salvation,
that He purchased with His own precious blood for His people.
Oh, how lovely He is to us. In His works of providence in
our lives, and in all the world, how lovely He is. The bride concludes that He alone
is altogether lovely. Altogether lovely. His loveliness
is perfect. It's perfect. And there is nothing wanting
that. Nothing. Nothing wanting. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. This is my
friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. what love the bridegroom has
for his bride. Beloved, let us leave here tonight
considering this wondrous love, this wondrous love that Christ
has for His people. And may it make us cry out, He
is altogether lovely. His love for His people is electing
love. His love for His people is redeeming
love. His love for his people is life-giving
love. His love for his people is preserving
love. His love for his people is interceding
love. His love for his people is forgiving
love. His love for his people is unfailing
love. His love for his people is immutable
love. His love for his people is everlasting. There's none like it, and no
words can fitly describe it. But is it any wonder why the
bride here in our text bursts forth in these words? When she thinks about her beloved,
when someone asks her a question, what is your beloved more than
others? Oh, my. We have looked at. When asked, what is the difference
between her and her beloved? We have looked at that tonight,
the wonders of who Christ is to his bride. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we thank thee for your mercy and grace to us. Oh. We marvel We marvel that we who
once had no desire for you, Lord, now you are altogether lovely
to us. We who are born again of the
Holy Spirit, you are everything we want and everything we need. We pray that you would be glorified
by this message, that you would use it for your glory. Oh, that
you draw in lost sheep, Lord, we pray. May you be honored and
glorified and magnified, and may we leave this place rejoicing in the fact that we can say,
we who believe, can say that you are altogether lovely. In
Jesus' name we pray, amen.