Good morning. Always a good morning,
but especially nice today with the sunshine and spring. It seems to finally be here.
So, it's a blessing. Brother Neil told me we were
talking about every day is a fine day, though, isn't it? And it's
true. It is. Every day is a blessing. We need
to remember that because it is. We will be in the chapter that
we looked at today or read that Brother Tim read today, Song
of Solomon, Chapter 4. The name of the message is The
Church, a Garden. The Church, a Garden. Song of Solomon, chapter 4, verse
12, is where our text will be. A garden enclosed is my sister,
my spouse. A spring shut up, a fountain
sealed. A garden enclosed is my sister. My spouse, a spring
shut up, a fountain. Here we have a picture, three
wonderful pictures actually of the Church of God. She's a garden
enclosed, a spring shut up and a fountain sealed. Now this is a time of year when
a lot of folks plant gardens and do a lot of gardening and
stuff. I must profess that I'm not a
very good gardener. I don't do a lot of gardening. I enjoy the fruits of the labors
of other folks when I go and buy the vegetables and stuff,
but I am not a very good gardener. But there's some who are really
good at it. And remember also, there's all different types of
gardens, right? There's gardens where folks grow vegetables.
And there's also gardens like the gardens kings used to have,
where they would walk through these gardens. And they were
enclosed. They were enclosed gardens. They were strictly for
the king and for his family. And they were usually enclosed
off to everyone. And they had trees and different
things and flowers and all kinds of things. But they were tended
and cared for in an enclosed garden. But here we have a picture.
It says, a garden enclosed is my sister. So the church is a
garden, pictured as a garden, but a garden enclosed and garden
enclosed. And as I said, some of us have
enjoyed working on a garden and we've all, all of us have enjoyed
the fruits of a garden. But here before us, we have a
garden enclosed. And this gives us a picture.
And I hope and pray that by the illumination of the Holy Spirit
that He will illuminate the Scriptures for us and that we can glean
about how this is a picture of who we are. The Bride of Christ
is a garden enclosed. A garden enclosed. And He cares
for this garden. And He watches over this garden. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
chapter 5. Now the body of Christ, the bride of Christ is made up
of many different people. Many different people from many
different places. It's made up from those from
every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation. We must remember
that they're all one in Christ. One in Christ. And you notice
it speaks singularly in the text too. A garden. Single. It's a
garden. One garden. It's a garden. Look at Revelation
5, verses 9 and 10. And they sang a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof,
for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood.
So He's worthy to receive all the praise and all the honor
and to open the book. For He was slain. Christ was
slain. He was slain for his people. He died in the room and place
of sinners like Calvary's tree. And has redeemed us. He purchased
us. He purchased those people. He purchased his bride to God
by thy blood with his own precious blood. Look at this, though. Out of every kindred, tongue,
and people, and nation, and has made us unto our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth. So the body of Christ
is comprised of those from every kindred, tongue, nation, but
they're one in Christ. Think of this, a garden is made
up of all different plants, right? All different plants, but it's
one garden. It's one garden. Now a garden that is enclosed
is fenced off. It's protected. And the church is sometimes called
a garden because it shows that we're one. We're one in Christ. We're one
in Him. And as I said in the text, it
says we're enclosed, we're closed off. Now, believers are scattered
all over the world, aren't they? But the Church of Christ is one
body. One body. One people. One in Christ. Look at Song of Solomon, chapter
6, verse 9. And here's some things to marvel
at about the garden, about the church. Song of Solomon, chapter
6, verse 9. My dove, my undefiled is but
one, or just one. One body. She is the only one
of her mother, she is the choice One of her that bare her, the
daughter saw her and blessed her, yea, the queens and the
concubines, and they praised her. So my dove, the bride, is
one. But look at some things to marvel
at here. My undefiled. Oh, God's bride is undefiled. And we're sinners saved by grace,
but Scripture declares we're undefiled. Spotless. Blameless. But only in Christ. And it says, my dove, my undefiled
is but one. One. We're one in Christ. Christ's love is set upon His
bride. Set upon His bride. And no one
else. And she is, to Him, fair and
lovely. And undefiled. Undefiled. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the head. And we who believe are the body, both Jews and Gentiles. And we'll ultimately be bought
into one fold. One garden, one fold, one body. John 10, verse 16 says this,
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also
I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. Now notice the
text there. They shall hear my voice. It's
not a doubt, they will. Oh, God's people will hear the
voice of the shepherd. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Just one. And all true believers, turn
if you would to Ephesians 4. All true believers have one faith. One faith. Just one. What does that say about all
these other religions in the world? They're all false. There's
only one faith, beloved. Only one. One hope, one spirit,
one heart. And we're all united in our glorious
head. The Lord Jesus Christ. We're members of his body and
of his flesh and his bones. Look at Ephesians chapter 4.
And then put your finger in Ephesians 5 too, since you're right there.
But look at Ephesians 4, verse 4. There is one body and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
We have one hope in our calling, and that's Christ alone. We don't
have hope anywhere else but Him. One Lord. There's only one Lord. One. Jesus Christ. No other. There's salvation in only Him.
Nowhere else. Not Mary, not Buddha, not Muhammad. Nowhere else. Only in Christ. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. And then look at Ephesians 5,
verse 30. For we are members of His body
and of His flesh and of His bones. The body of Christ is comprised
of believers. There's only one body. And the body is most blessed
because he's the head. He's the head to whom the whole
body is united. And he supplies all. He justifies
all. He's redeemed all. He's all our
life. He's all our strength. Well,
like Paul said, he's all in all. for the believer. He's everything.
He's everything to us. And Tim brought out in verse
15 of our chapter in Song of Solomon. Go back there to chapter
4, verse 15. The redeemed sing and know this
in verse 15. Because look at what we say. Song of Solomon, chapter 4, verse
15. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters and streams
from Lebanon. He's a well of living waters for us. The church sees Jesus Christ
as the source of life and faithfulness. And we're blessed. We're blessed in Him. We have
all spiritual blessings in Christ. Nowhere else. So let's look at
some things we can learn from a garden and hopefully this year
when Those of you who are gardening, because I won't probably be gardening
a whole lot, but those of you who do, maybe this will be a
good reminder, you know. So back to our text again. The
picture before us is a garden enclosed. It says, a garden enclosed
is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Now
this garden, in all gardens, are predetermined
by the gardener, right? He predetermines, well, I want
to have a garden this year, right? Or they pick out a patch of land. But this garden spoken of here,
as in all gardens, did not bring itself into existence. A garden
can't bring itself into existence. No way can we save ourselves
either. We must be saved by Christ. No matter how much a person stares
at a patch of their lawn, it will never transform itself into
a garden. It won't. The land must be prepared. Must
be prepared. And this is all planned by the
gardener. He plans it all out before he
even starts on it. Remember my dad, he used to put
stakes in the ground and put them white strings there and
we as kids would run and fall over them but that's what he
did. He staked out exactly where he wanted the garden to be. And
he had it all staked out and planned and then he was prepared
to turn that ground into a garden. So the land must be prepared
and it's planned by a gardener. Listen to this in Romans, chapter
9, verse 23. And that he might make known
the riches of the glory on the vassals of mercy, which he hath
aforeprepared unto glory. Oh, what a picture. What a picture. Our gardener will plan his garden. He plans what he wants to plant.
He plans how big it is. And this is all predetermined
by the gardener, right? The gardener predetermines it
all. The garden would never exist
had not the gardener planned it. It would never exist. And unless the gardener took
the initiative to bring it into existence, it would never be
either. Beloved, we would never be saved unless God had planned
and purposed to save us. Oh, the church of old and eternity
was predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. He determines and predetermines
the garden. Our text says a garden encloses
my sister. Think of this, a garden is made
up of those plants chosen by the gardener. A garden is made up of those
plants chosen by the gardener. He decides what he wants to plant
and where he wants to plant it. It's all of his choosing, whatever
he pleases. So with each type of plant, Whatever plant I choose to put
in the garden, it'll be there. I don't want a certain plant
in there, it won't be in there. Well, turn if you would to Ephesians
1, verses 4 and 5. So it is with the church of Christ.
And it's all according to His good pleasure. It's all according
to God's pleasure. He can do whatever He pleases.
He's God. He's the sovereign of the universe. And He has sovereignty
to do whatever He pleases. So a gardener has sovereign,
he's sovereign over his garden to do whatever he pleases. Ephesians
1, verses 4 and 5, according to this, He has chosen us in
Him. God has chosen the people. Now some folks say, well, that's
not fair. We don't want fair. Fair would be we all go to hell.
And we don't want that. But God in His mercy and His
grace, Scripture declares, chose a people according as He has
chosen us in Him, in Christ. Remember in Sunday School we
looked at if you take Christ out of any of these Scriptures,
there's nothing there. According as He has chosen us
in Him, when? Before the foundation of the
world. That we should be holy, sinners made holy. We can't make
ourselves holy. Folks often accuse us who believe,
well, you guys think you're holier now. No, we don't. Not at all. We're sinners. We can't even
make ourselves holy. Oh, my. But God can make us holy,
and He has in Christ that we should be holy and without blame
before Him, before Him in love. How do you stand in front of
God? We must be justified by Christ, right? He's perfect. We need a perfect righteousness.
We have that in Christ. We should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Now remember, remember
the gardener, he can do whatever he pleases, right? So can God. Even more so because He's God.
Scripture declares, according to the good pleasure of His will,
it pleased God to choose a people. And a garden is made up of plants
chosen by a gardener. The bride of Christ, the body
of Christ is a chosen people. And God has chosen to save whomever
he will. And he has that right to do that.
And we who are saved just say, oh Lord, thank you. What mercy
you've had upon us. Because we know we never would
have chosen him. Left to ourselves. And it's all according to the
good pleasure of his will. Look at our text again. A garden
enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain
sealed. Now think of this. A garden is a property of some
owner. A garden is a property of some owner. The property and
the plants chosen by the gardener are his possessions. He owns
them. He owns them. And the plants chosen by the
gardener, when you go to make a garden, you go to the nursery
and you choose which plants you want, right, and you purchase
them. Oh, what a picture. Grocery shopping
is never the same. Again, after Tom Harden told
me the illustration of we plan what we want to buy, we go to
the store, we pick it out, then we purchase it, redeem it, and
then we take it home. The gardener, he chooses which
plants he wants and then he purchases them. He purchases them. So it is with the Church of Christ,
beloved. It's made up of those chosen by the Father in eternity who are given to Christ, Jesus
our Lord. And then he redeems us, doesn't he? He purchases
us with his own precious blood. and the Holy Ghost. Oh, He regenerates us. And we're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. But in Acts 20, 28, it
says this, the church of God which He purchased with His own
blood. So a gardener purchases the plants,
we are purchased by Christ. He's purchased His people. He's
redeemed His people. And He did it with His own precious
blood. Oh, what a great God we have
in Christ. Look at it also in our text again,
it says, a garden enclosed is my sister. Now this garden is
enclosed. You know why? For its own protection.
For its own protection. Oh, what a picture, eh? What
would we be left to ourselves? Oh my, I don't even want to think
about it. But it's enclosed to prevent animals from entering
into it and people from trampling upon the garden. And some gardeners,
they put edging around flower beds, right? And some gardeners
put whole fences around their gardens. Oftentimes, when it's
a garden of trees and stuff that you walk through, it's fenced
off. Well, this garden specifically in our text is enclosed. It's
an enclosed garden. So it is with the church of Christ,
beloved. We are enclosed for protection. We're encompassed
about with the power of God. And we're protected by Him. We're
protected by Him. Oh, the church is a garden enclosed,
separated too. We're separated. Fence thine. And so the church stands in the
midst of the wilderness of this world, closed in. Closed in. Oh, what a wonderful Savior.
What a wonderful Savior we have. We are gathered in by sovereign
grace and enclosed where the gardener can watch over us and
protect us and take care of us. Is that not what our great King
does? He protects us and takes care of us. Turn, if you would,
to Isaiah chapter 5. Isaiah chapter 5. We are fenced in, beloved. Fenced
in from the wilderness of this world. Isaiah chapter 5, verses
1 and 2. Now will I sing to my well-beloved
a song of my beloved, touching his vineyard. My well-beloved
had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill and he fenced it in. And he fenced it, and gathered
out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and
built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress
therein. And he looked that it should
bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Oh, we are
a garden enclosed, beloved, protected, protected. A garden enclosed, back to our
text, is my sister. A garden enclosed. Now a garden
is distinguished from other ground as it is prepared ground. It's
prepared ground. Luke chapter 8 says this, and
so it is, so it is with the church of God. Now that ground, the
ground is distinguished from other ground, it's prepared ground,
and nothing grows there except the plants which the gardener
chooses, right? So it's prepared ground to receive
the plants of his choosing. And it's closed in. Now what
makes that ground Before we get into Luke, what makes that ground
different from another patch of ground? Well, the gardener
prepared it, didn't he? It's prepared ground of his choosing. Of his choosing. The ground can't
make itself to differ. No more can we, beloved. who
are saved make ourselves to differ from our family members. It's
only by the grace of God in Christ, only in Him. That's why we give
Him all the glory and all the honor and all the praise because
He's done it all. Luke 8 says this, Luke 8.8, and
other fell on good ground, prepared ground. The parable, in all the different
grounds, one fell on good ground, and what? And sprang up. Oh,
does not the word of God go forth with power and saves one and
passes by another? Because there's good ground prepared
by the garden. Oh, distinguishing, God's distinguishing,
marvelous grace. And it springs up, and what?
And bear fruit, and hundredfold. And it's all by the gardener's
dew. He takes care of it, he waters it, he takes... And when
he had said these things, he cried, he that hath the ears
to hear, let him hear. This good ground is ground prepared.
And what a pitcher also of provenient grace. Grace before grace. That's
why I say we don't know who God's elect are. We preach. We for
grace preachers, we preach the gospel that God did to save him.
He prepares the ground to receive the seed. He does the saving
and the regenerating, and He gets all the glory and all the
honor and all the praise. And when that person is saved,
it was that person's exact time to be saved. That's why God gets
all the glory. Creatures are just instruments.
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. That's why
we say, look to Christ. Don't give us any glory, look
to Him. He gets all the glory, all the honor, all the praise,
because He does it all. He does it all. Turn, if you
would, to Acts chapter 16. Speaking of this good ground,
this good ground, prepared ground to receive the
Word of God, to receive the good news that Christ died for sinners. Oh, look at this in Acts chapter
16, verses 13 and 14. Now we know there was multiple
people here. Acts 16, verse 13 and 14. And on the Sabbath day,
and this speaks of grace going before grace and preparing our
hearts to receive Christ. And on the Sabbath day we went
out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made
and we sat down and spake unto the woman which resorted thither.
So Paul's going there and he's going to preach, speak to these
women. And a certain woman named Lydia,
now here's God's distinguishing grace, a seller of purple, of
the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us. She heard, right?
She heard the gospel. Whose heart the Lord opened.
There it is. And she attended unto all things
which are spoken of Paul. She believed. But what does it
say? Whose heart the Lord opened.
He did it all. That was prepared ground to receive
the Word. He's the Savior of sinners. Now,
what made her to differ from the other woman? God's grace. That's all. She had nothing to
boast in. She didn't make a decision and
run to Paul. Doesn't say that, does it? That's
what I used to believe. But Scripture doesn't say that,
does it? It doesn't say that. It says the Lord opened their
hearts. He's the one who does the work. He's the one who makes
the scales to fall off our eyes and we see him and we go, oh
Lord God, I'm such a sinner and you're so merciful. God be merciful to me, the sinner. And God has mercy on his people. Oh. The Lord opened her heart, whose
heart the Lord opened, and she attended on it. She believed.
She believed. And so it is with the church
of God. God's people are plants planted in the garden of the
Lord. And the garden is prepared. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
15, verses 12 and 13. Anything not put in there? by God is rooted out, like weeds
and such, He roots them all out. Look at Matthew 15, verses 12
and 13. Then came His disciples and said
unto Him, Verse 12 and 13, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were
offended after they heard this saying? But he answered and said,
Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall
be rooted up. Notice plants. Let's go back
to a psalm in verse 12 and chapter 4 again. A garden enclosed is
my sister, my spouse. A spring shut up, a fountain
sealed. The next point is this garden is highly esteemed by
the gardener. Highly esteemed by the gardener. He cherishes the garden. He cherishes the garden. He cherishes
the plants because he's purchased them. He chose them and he purchased
them. Oh, so is it not with the Church
of Christ? Turn, if you would, to Ephesians 3. The saints are
cherished because they were redeemed with His precious blood. And
we are rooted and grounded in Christ. Rooted and grounded in
Christ. Highly esteemed by the gardener. Redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ. Look at Ephesians 3, verses 16-19. That He would grant you according
to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by
His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
were rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, may be able to
comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length
and the depth and the height, and to know the love of Christ,
which path is knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God." Oh, we are rooted and grounded in Christ,
beloved, and in Him alone, in Him alone. Back to our text in
Song of Solomon. In the garden are a variety of
plants, but it's one garden. Now we hit on this a little bit
already. A garden enclosed is my sister. There's a variety
of plants in the garden. The gardener goes to the nursery
or wherever he wants to purchase the plants, and he chooses, and
usually there's all different kinds of things in there, right?
All different kinds of plants. And depending on what kind of
garden it is, there'd be a variety of vegetables, or if it's a flower
garden, a variety of flowers, or if it's a tree garden, a variety
of different trees and things. But there's always a variety.
No one buys the same thing and plants a whole big garden of
just one kind. No, there's always a variety
in it. And think of this in the Church
of Christ. And turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12.
In the Church of Christ, in the Church of Christ, no two people
are the same. No two people are the same. We may be of the same race, or
of the same nationality, but each one of us is unique. Each
one of us is unique and different. Each one of us in the body of
Christ have different gifts. Different things that you can
do. And these gifts, And operations
are different in themselves, and they're bestowed upon different
persons, yet they are all wrought by one Spirit, the Spirit of
God, who is Jehovah. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, verses
4, and we'll look all the way to verse 12. Now there are diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit. Now there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities
of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in
all. But the manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one
is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. To another, the word
of knowledge by the same spirit. To another, faith by the same
spirit. To another, gifts of healing by the same spirit. To
another, working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another,
discernment of spirits. To another, diverse kinds of
tongues. To another, the interpretation of tongues. But all these work
at that one and same one and the self, same spirit, dividing
to every man severely as to his will. For as the body is one
and has many members, and all the members of that body of that
one body being many, our one body, so also is Christ. We're
one in Christ, beloved. We're different people and different
personalities. I remember a dear brother who
worshiped with us in Oregon, and he was an elderly gentleman.
I've told you guys this story before. He said, Brother Wayne,
and we were all standing around talking, and he said to all of
us, he said, you guys aren't the kind of people I would have
hung out or even been around. He said, but I love you all.
I love you in Christ. And see, there's the bond. It's
Christ. There it is there. We're all different people with
different personalities, different races, all different, all different,
but we're one in Christ. It's amazing. And so a garden
is comprised of all different plants, but they're still one
garden, right? They're one garden. The next point is this. A garden
is under the eye and inspection of its owner and often visited
by him. Often visited by him. The gardener
visits his garden daily to inspect it. Daily. And to watch over
it. I remember when I was a kid.
I go out with my dad in the morning, and actually not in the morning,
he usually took off pretty early. But at night, him and I would
go out and walk around the garden. Usually in the morning with mom,
we'd walk around the garden. But especially after dinner,
mom and dad both went out and I was just a little tyke, so
off we go. We inspect the garden and look around and watch over. You're looking for different
things that are going on. You're seeing if there's any
plants that the weeds are choking or anything like that. And if
there's any disease on any of the leaves, that's what we used
to do. And we just had a little backyard garden. But we did that
all the time to make sure that everything was okay with the
garden. And it was daily. And daily tending
by a gardener allows him to care for his plants before any diseases
can do any irreparable damage. The gardener, as I said, also
prevents weeds from developing and taking deep root. Because
what happens if you leave a weed? It takes deep root, doesn't it?
And even more spring. And the funny thing with weeds,
they're like sin. They just come. You don't even have to plant
them. They just grow. And they just keep coming. They just
keep coming. So the gardener daily cares,
daily inspects the garden, watches over it daily. So with the Church
of Christ. Turn if you would over to Song
of Solomon chapter 6, verse 2. And then we'll go back to verse
16 in chapter 4. The church speaks of our Lord
to this effect. My beloved has gone down into his garden to
the beds of spices to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies.
Song of Solomon 6, verse 2. And then Song of Solomon 4, verse
16. Awake, O north wind. She invites
Christ to come. Awake, O north wind, and come
thouself. Blow upon my garden that the
spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his
garden and eat his pleasant fruits. And then look at, it says, I
am come unto my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my
mirth with my spice. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse
1. So the gardener daily visits
his garden. And it's a benefit to the garden. It's a benefit to the garden. Psalm 68 verses 19 and 20 says
this, Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us down with benefits. Daily. The Lord daily loads His
people down with benefits. Daily. Even the God of our salvation,
Selah, He that is our God, is the God of salvation and unto
God the Lord belong the issues from death. Daily. We don't always feel it, do we?
But we're daily loaded down with benefits. What care this gardener
has for his garden, eh? What care a human gardener has
for his garden? But how much more our heavenly
gardener who watches over and protects So the Lord not only
gives us benefits, but He loads us with them. He loads us with
them. And this is not only now, but
it's daily. He daily loads us with them. He cares and watches
over His sheep every single day. Do you know that nothing happens
to you without Him knowing? Nothing. Nothing. He watches over His
sheep with that much care. Scripture says not even a sparrow
falls to the ground without Him knowing. This is a great God and a great
Savior. And He's the Believer's God now
and forever. Now and forever. And all the
issues of life and death are with Him. And how blessed are those who
put their trust in Him. Back to our text again. A garden
requires much care in dressing and pruning and weeding. Much care. A garden must be regularly nourished,
right? So it is with the Church of Christ.
We must be watered and fertilized with the Word of God. We need
it. It brings us hope and strength. It builds us up. Isaiah 55, verses
10 and 11 says this, For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,
and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to
the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my Word Be that goeth
forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void. We've
often said that. Yes, it will not. It feeds God's people. It
nourishes God's people. It strengthens God's people.
It points us to Christ. It will not return unto me void,
no matter what. It will go forth in salvation
or condemnation too. It will not return unto God void.
But it shall accomplish that which I please." Remember, the
gardener can do whatever he wants. God can do whatever He pleases. People say, well, that's not
fair. We've heard that so many times.
This is God we're talking about. And He can do whatever He pleases
to do. He holds the stars and the universe
and everything in place. And people say that He can't
move unless they let Him? That's no God? That's a figment of someone's
imagination. But the God of the universe can
do whatever He pleases, whenever He pleases. And no one can say
to Him, what are You doing? No one. That's the God of the Bible.
That's my Savior. That's my King. That's who my trust is in. And
every believer, we all say amen, hey, because that's the truth.
We are at His whim. That's why the publican cried
out, God be merciful to me. He knew he couldn't do anything
on his own. There's the Pharisee over there,
right though? Well, I thank God that I'm not like that publican
over there. so full of self-righteousness. And there's that sinner who's
a picture of us who believe. God, be merciful to me. Oh, please,
God, I beg you. Be merciful to me. Oh, and then he builds us up
and he gives us strength. As we read his word or we hear
gospel messages, it builds us up. And the doctrine of the Bible
drops like rain for us. Turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy
32. The doctrines of the Bible. People
say the doctrine's not important. Oh, it's refreshing. We find strength in the great
doctrines of the Bible. Redemption, justification, sanctification. There's such propitiation. There's
such joy in these doctrines. They bring the believer such
great comfort and strength. And they drop. They drop like
rain. Deuteronomy 32, verses 1-4. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak. And hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb. and as the showers
upon the grass, because I will publish the name of the Lord,
ascribe He greatness unto our God." He is the rock, right? Christ is the rock, isn't He?
And look what it says. Oh, there's comfort here for
us as believers. His work is perfect. Perfect,
beloved. Perfect. He wrought out a perfect
salvation, a perfect robe of righteousness for His people.
Perfect. Perfect. Nothing can be added
to it. It's perfect. His work is perfect. In all His ways are judgment.
A God of truth. God is the God of all truth,
beloved. All truth. And without iniquity,
just and right is He. He's just and holy. Oh, and in
order for us to be in His presence, we must be made holy. We must
be clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. And by faith we are.
Oh, He grants us faith and repentance and we flee to Christ. The believer
is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That's grace. That's grace. And He is so great. He's so full
of grace. So full of grace. Now, a garden
must also be weeded. As I said, weeds, they just grow.
You don't have to plant those things. They just grow like crazy.
And that's like sin in our lives, too. It just pops up everywhere, right?
So it is with the church of God. The weeds of ungodliness and
heresy must be excluded, must be torn out. 2 Thessalonians
says this, Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother
that walketh disorderly, and not up to the tradition which
he has received us. We don't chase after false doctrine. If
it doesn't say it in this book right here, we don't believe
it. This is our final authority, right? And we look at what scripture
says. This is it, right here. God tells
us that man is bound up in sin, right? Can't make a decision
all on his own. There goes free willism right
out the window. No, man's dead. He can't choose. He must be made
willing. Scripture declares that. He's
made willing in the day of God's power. He gives us faith. It's a gift. It's given to us.
He regenerates us. We can't regenerate ourselves.
We're born again of the Holy Spirit of God. It's all his doing. So if a scripture or if a doctrine
doesn't line up with the word of God, out it goes. And it goes. The last point is this, a garden
must, will bring much satisfaction to the gardener. Much satisfaction
to the gardener. Look at verse 16 of Song of Solomon,
verse, or chapter 4. Awake, O north wind, and come
thou south. Blow upon my garden that the
spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his
garden and eat his pleasant fruits. A garden will bring much satisfaction
to the gardener, and he will rejoice in the fruits of his
efforts. Look at Song of Solomon 5, verse 1. I came into my garden,
my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my mirth with
my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drank my wine with my milk. Eat, oh friends,
drink, yea, drink abundantly, oh beloved. Robert Hawker says
this, so Jesus for his own glory gathers the fruits of his own
Holy Spirit planted in the hearts of his redeemed well on earth.
He gathers us at death and transplants his people into his garden above
to flourish under the almighty hand in glory forever. Oh, what
a picture we have, beloved, before us of Christ and His bride. The church is a garden enclosed,
a garden enclosed. Spurgeon once said at the death
of one of his deacon's wives, he was sitting in the garden
with the deacon and they were talking
about his wife who had went home to be with the Lord. And Spurgeon
brought out one of the most incredible illustrations that I think I've
ever heard. And it's very simple. He said,
Brother, we're like flowers in a garden. We're like flowers in a garden.
And the Lord saw one of the choice ones and cut it and took it home. And that's what he does when
he takes a believer home. He takes the flower home to be
with Him. It's beautiful. So let the saints
rejoice in Him who cares for us as His garden. And let us live our lives for
His glory and His honor and His praise.