Good morning, everyone. If you
will be turning to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon. We're going
to look at chapter two. And as you're turning, let me
say what a privilege it is to be here. I've met some of you 40 years
ago. I met some of you recently. But it's a joy. It's a joy to
be in the house of the Lord where the Gospel is taught, where the
children of God meet, and where we're gathered here this morning
to look at His Word, to study His Word, to see what He says
unto us. It's one thing for the Word to
be preached, but what does it say to me? The scripture that we're going
to look at this morning, what does it say to me right now?
Right now is when I need it. Right now. We know that we believed
years ago. We believe today. By the grace
of God, we'll believe tomorrow. So what does this word, what
does it say to me right now? And that's what we want to try
to look at. Solomon was a man that God used greatly. Some say
that he was the wisest man other than the Lord Jesus Christ in
all the scriptures and all the days. The writer of 1 Kings chapter
4 and verse 29 said this concerning Solomon, And God gave Solomon
wisdom and understanding exceedingly much, exceedingly much, and largeness
of heart, even as the sand is of the seashore. And Solomon's
wisdom excels the wise of all the children of the east, and
all the wisdom of Egypt. And he spake, he spake three
thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. And
if you read Solomon's writings, he has one thing set forth clearer
than any other writer that I've read. And that is the love that
Christ had for the church. And the love that we have for
our Lord. This thing of love, if you read
the Song of Solomon, it's a love story between the church and
her bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. And they begin to expound
upon one another. And to the point that it's hard
to tell Sometimes, is it the church speaking or is it the
Lord speaking? And as they say their vows, they
say their statements to one another, it is so intertwined with this
thing of love. And that's what we want to try
to look at. Solomon chapter 2, verse 1. This is our Lord speaking. He
said, I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley. As
the church sees Him, oh, the beauty, the majesty, the glory
that belongs to Him. And as we see Him through the
Spirit, as we see Him through the Word of God that is taught
and preached, this is Him. There's no one that can compare
to him. He's greater than all. And if you read the book of Revelation,
it talks about him when John said, I turned and saw him, and
his face was like the shining sun. Here he says, I'm the rose
of Sharon. I'm the lily of the valley. These
are the words concerning himself, describing himself. And they're
the only words that can even come close to describing Him. Who can describe the beauty of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? He is preferred above all. When we see Him rightly, When
we see Him by the grace of God, when we see Him by the wisdom
that God gives us, we have to say, oh, He is the most beautiful,
powerful Savior that ever came into existence. And as God saw Him, Paul said,
therefore God has highly exalted Him. When He saw the finished
work, when God saw the finished work, that our Lord Jesus Christ
did for His people, God said, come up here. Sit down on my
right hand. High exalted. There's no other
name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. And this is
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Bridegroom. Our Bridegroom. He has entered into a relationship
with you and I as the husband and the wife enters into a relationship. They become one. And we become
one in Him. When this relationship comes
to an understanding and when it comes to the thoughts and
intents of our heart, we enter into it and we say, we're one
with Him. We're one with Him. Just as the
wife and the husband is, so are we. And even closer than that. Even closer than this natural
relationship that we have. But only the church, only the
believers can enter into this. Other men stand and say, well,
what's any different from the God that I serve? Much. Much in every way. Because He,
and He alone, is the Savior of sinners. These other gods that
men talk and teach about, they're trying to do something, they
attempt to do something, but eventually it just left up to
you. Oh, this God. This Lord. This Savior comes
with power and might, with authority and says, come! And what do we
do? We come. We come at His bidding. We come and we are joined together
with Him to the point that we are one with Him. Look what He says in verse 2. As the lilies among the thorns
So is my love among the daughters. Our Lord says that His church
is as the lilies among the thorns. We live in a world, we live in
a congregation, we live in an association or a society that
is nothing but thorns and thistles and rocks. Oh, but thanks be
unto God. He comes through and says, this
one's mine. I've picked the lily, this one's mine, and I'm his. The daughters of love among the
daughters. Although growing among thorns
and unfruitful tares, he declares us to be the lilies of the valley. Look what he says in verse 3. Here's the response. of the church
back to our Lord. As the apple tree among the trees
of the woods, so is my beloved among the suns, among the suns. And she said, I sat down. I sat
down under his shadow with great delight. Is this not
the truth concerning us? Of all the troubles and trials
and tribulations of this life, we come to Him and we sit down.
Sit down. Under the shadow, out of the
heat, out of the terrible winds, and out of the dust storms and
such, just sit down. Sit down. with much delight,
just sat down here where I am, and His fruit was sweet to my
taste." Oh, the Word of God is sweet. It tells us all the goodness
and the glory that Christ has. We see through the glass dimly
or darkly, but oh, when we see Him, there's none to be compared
to Him. He is as the apple is among the
trees of the woods. He's the only fruit we have.
These other trees are barren. They bring forth thorns and thickets,
but he, oh, he brings forth this good fruit, ready to be desired,
ready to be taken in, and it's sweet to my taste. Oh, that may
be. As the writer here, Solomon,
said, His tree is a place of shade and a shadow. And I sat
down with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. So Christ, so our Lord Jesus
Christ, our apple tree for shade, our rest, and our food. Mr. Gill said, I sat down under his
shadow with great delight, under the shadow of the apple tree
to which Christ is compared, whose person, his blood, and
his righteousness cast a shadow, which is a protective shadow
from the heat of the divine wrath of God, from the curse of the
fiery law. We're under a shadow. We have
a shade tree. We have a place of delight in
him. We have a place of rest in him,
and from the fiery darts of Satan, and from the fury of persecution,
as is a cooling, comforting, and refreshing one, like the
shadows of a great rock to a weary traveler. Is not this his fruit,
sweet to our taste? His word is a lamp unto my feet,
And his word is sweet to my taste. Look what he says in verse 4. This is the church. He brought
me to the banquet house. Boy, is that not where we're
at today? Is that not what we're here for
today? A banquet house. The table is set. The food is
supplied. Come and dine. Come and dine
with us. Brother Scott Richardson said
years ago, he said, come with us. We'll do you good. And that's what it is. We've
entered into a banquet house, a place where there's everything
that we need to find satisfaction and delight. We find it right
here in this banquet house. By his grace, he sought me. By
His love, He called me. And by His blood, He bought me.
And by His Spirit, He brings me into the house of the Lord.
He brings me to the place where I can sit down and just worship
the Lord. There's no worshiping running
and jumping and all these things. We come into a house that is
prepared for us. And we come and we sat down in
comfortable seats and we sat here and just, feed me. Oh, feed
me. Give me drink. Give me understanding. Give me love. All that is poured
out upon us. The scripture says, he loadeth
us daily with benefits. The benefits of his love and
his mercy and his grace is so abundantly unto his people. Is
not this the banquet house where we feed upon Him and rejoice
in His great love? Look at the next phrase. And
His banner over me was love. Why did He seek me? Why did He
call me? Why did He bring me into the
banquet house? It's because of His love for
me. for his love that he so gave himself. No greater love has
any man than this, that he's laid down his life for his friend.
And that's what he did. But he laid down his life, and
while we were yet enemies against God, we were reconciled unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. We were reconciled by Christ
unto God. The reason for my being in the
banquet house It's because God loves me. John said, herein is
love. Not that we love God. Old men
want to talk about, oh, how I love Jesus. Or what I've done for
Jesus. Oh, no. We have nothing to offer
except our sin. It's all in His hand. It's all
because of who He is and what He did for us that we can say,
I love Him. But the only reason I love him
is because he first loved me, and he did all these things for
me. You know, when a man meets his prospective wife, he does everything possible to
please her, to satisfy her, to woo her unto himself. And that's what Christ does for
His people. Everything that I need. He's
my wisdom to know God. He's my righteousness before
God. He's my sanctification before God to be made holy. And He's
my wisdom, Lord, that I may know Him and be found in Him, not
having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the
righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. And
He brings me. And he put this banner over my
head, all around me, and said, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Look what he says in verse 5. He stained me with flags. These are large vessels of wine.
He sustained me with everything I need for refreshing. He comforted
me with apples. He gave me everything I need. He's my food. He's my desire. Look what it says here, for I
am sick of love. And what he's talking about here,
I'm lovesick. I'm lovesick. I'm not sick of
this love. I'm lovesick. I desire more of
it. Not a loathing of it, but a wanting of it. and eager to
desire for more of it. The old song we sing at home,
more about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show,
more of His saving full of sea, more of His love who died for
me. This is where it's at. We want
to know more about Him. We want to see more of His face.
We want to see more of His goodness and His greatness. And the only
place that we can see this is in the banquet house. where the
Word of God is proclaimed. Now look here, the intimacy between
Christ and His church. Verse 6. His left hand is under
my head, and His right hand does embrace me. Can we get any closer? Can we get any more intimate
with the Lord Jesus Christ than right here. We're in his arms. He puts his hand out and supports
us with his left hand, and with his right hand he brings us to
himself. As the bridegroom reaches out
and embraces his bride, supports her, and with the other hand
draws her near, So Christ does for the church. He holds her. He supports her with both hands. Who's going to separate me from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus? And Paul gives
a whole list of things. There's nothing. I am persuaded
that there's nothing that can separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus. Who can tear me from His arms? Who can offer me anything better
than He has? Not one. Not one. Paul said, let your conversation
be without covenants and be content with such things as you have.
For he has said, I'll never leave thee. I'll never forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, the
Lord, the Lord is my helper. and I will not fear what man
shall do unto me. Verse seven. I charge you, O
daughters of Jerusalem, by the row and by the hind of the field,
that you stir not but nor wait my love till he pleases. I don't know much about this.
I had some trouble as I was studying this and I went back read something
that Mr. Poole said, Mr. Tratt and Geo and some of the
other ones, and they varied a little bit on who was speaking here. Is this the church speaking of
the Lord, or is this the Lord speaking of the church? Personally,
and this is just personally, I think this is Christ talking
of the church. She has fallen asleep. with his
left hand under her arm, or under her head. And she has fallen
asleep with the right hand embracing her. And he tells all those around
her, you don't wake her. You don't wake her up until I
am pleased. Until I am pleased. Let her rest.
Let her rest. Look at verse 8 and 9. for the voice of my beloved.
Behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon
the hills. My beloved is like a roe in a
young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
walls, and he looketh forth at the windows, showing himself
through the lattice. Now the church is awake out of
her sleep. The church is now Her eyes are
blurry from sleep. And she hears the voice of her
beloved. Behold, he's coming. This arouses
her. This wakes her up. And she sits upon her. She stands
up. He's leaping upon the mountains. He's skipping upon the hills.
My beloved. like the row or a young heart.
Behold, he standeth behind the wall. He standeth there. And
I see him through a glass dimly or darkly. My eyes have been
asleep, but now they're awakened. And we see him, but we only see
him through the lattice. There's things that obstruct
our vision. There's things that we don't
see him as we need to see him. And there's things that we don't
see, or there's things that we see that obstruct us from seeing
him clearly. You remember how it was said
in Old Testament scriptures in types and shadows? We saw him
then in the Old Testament scriptures, in the old prophets. We saw him,
but we saw him through a substitute. We saw him through a representative.
We saw him through a sacrifice. Oh, we see him through the lattice,
things that obstruct our vision. And Paul said, for we know in
part And that's what it is. We only see a glimpse of Him
here and here and here. For we know in part and we prophesy
in part, for we see through a glass dimly or darkly. Oh, but then,
then, I know in part. But then I shall know Him even
as I am known. Face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face, what will it be?
Oh, the day is coming and joy is bringing that I shall see
him face to face. Look at what he says in verse
10. We'll hurry. My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up. Oh, rise from your sleep. Rise,
my beloved, my fair one, and come away. Here is his tender
call unto his people. He awakes us out of this sleep
and slumber. And he says, my beloved, my love,
my fair one, come away. Come with me. Come with me. Come
unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest.
Hear the voice of Christ speak to the church and tells us, rise
up, my love. Awake out of your sleep and come. Come with me. Put aside what
you're doing. Come with me. Come and let us
rejoice again in the banquet house. Come and let us fellowship
together. Come unto me. Come unto me. What
do we do? What do we do? When the love
of our life says come, we come. We come. Oh, we hear His call outwardly
by the Word of God, but only by the Spirit of God can we hear
it inwardly. Paul said, when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His gospel unto me, we come, we come. Look at verse 11 and 11. We'll
try to hurry and finish this up. He says, Come with me, for
lo, the winter's past. The rain is gone. The flowers
appear on the earth. The time of singing of the birds
has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in the land.
The fig trees put forth their green figs, and the vines with
the tender grapes give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair
one, and come away. This describes who we were, and
what we were and what we were. Before we came to His love, before we experienced
His love, we heard His voice. We heard it as in a winter of
our soul, cold and dark and desperate, dark and sin, cold and barren,
even dead. And we were under judgment. We
were under the judgment of sin, driven by the winds of Satan's
temptation. But at his call, oh, at his call,
the winter is past, the summer is now, the spring is now. Our
hearts, at his call, come and we hear. Oh, we hear. We hear the singing of the birds,
joyful sounds. We see the sunshine. We hear
all these turtledoves and stuff speaking and singing, making
a sweet sound. The fig trees. Life has come. Winter has passed and now it's
springtime. Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away. For that we may hear his voice.
and that we may come unto Him every hour of every day. Not
just one time. I'm not talking about something
we did 10 years ago or 20 years ago or whatever it is. But at His voice, at His call,
let us take the Word of God and come unto Him. And look what
He says right here in verse 16, real close. My Beloved is mine. That's the relationship that
we have in Christ. My beloved is mine and I am his. Feed upon the lily everything
you need you find in me. Feed, feed your soul upon the
good word of God. Thank you for your attention.