Let's open our Bibles again to
Song of Solomon chapter 5. You also may want to mark Revelations
chapter 1 that we read to open the message, to open the service. We're going to be going back
and forth between those two passages this morning. The title of the
message is Two Views of the Savior. In our lesson, we looked at two
views of the believer. Now we'll look at two different
views of the Savior. The Song of Solomon, you can
tell from its title, is a song. It's a duet that's sung by Christ
the bridegroom and his bride. This book is written to show
us the close and intimate communion between Christ and his bride. Through this book, we see the
bride enjoying times of fellowship and communion with her beloved. How being with him and seeing
him thrills her heart. And then also the bride goes
through times of spiritual stupor. She goes through times of spiritual
winter. Her love waxes cold and she doesn't
enjoy communion with Christ as she would like to always have.
Her love will be warm for a while and cold for a while, but his
love for her never changes. It doesn't get hotter or colder.
It's always perfect. It's always strong and warm.
He always views her in his love for her. And because he loves
her, he'll not allow her to stay in those times of spiritual stupor
when she grows indifferent. He'll allow those times of winter
to come to teach her her need of him, to remind her how much
she needs him, but he'll not let her stay in that time of
indifference. He'll come to her again. And
the way he gets her out of that spiritual stupor, that indifference,
is simply by revealing himself to her. Just a glimpse of him,
just a smell of him, makes her long for him, gets her out of
her stupor, wakes her back up. And the moment she sees Christ,
that winter's over. Her love begins to bud and blossom
again. Just like now, outside, you know,
everything's starting to die and turn brown and go dormant.
But when the sun starts shining in the spring again, things will
turn green and start to bud. That's the way it is when Christ
reveals himself to his people. Everything starts to grow and
turn green and lush again. And the bride learns through
this, and she tells us this in her song, how dependent She is
upon her bridegroom. She enjoys those times of spiritual
springtime. She just, oh, she revels in them. And she'll go through those times
of winter. She'll endure them. She has spring
when she sees her beloved and she has winter when she doesn't.
And this is what she learns in that. That her salvation is entirely
dependent upon Christ. Her security is entirely dependent
upon Christ. He's the one who saved her. He's
the one who washed her in his blood. He's the one who made
her righteous. He's the one who regenerated
her by his spirit. Her salvation is secure in Christ,
but her enjoyment of that salvation depends on whether or not she
sees him. So it's my prayer this morning
that the spirit of God will enable us to see Christ our savior,
to see him with the eye of faith. It could be. The Lord may be
pleased this morning to reveal Himself to someone who's never
seen Him before, to give life. If He's going to do it, He's
going to do it through the preaching of Christ to enable us to see
Him. It could be someone's going through a time of spiritual winter,
spiritual indifference. It could be this morning the
Lord will bring you out of that. If He does, He's going to do
it by enabling you to see Christ in this gospel. Could be the
Lord will be pleased to give someone an enjoyment of spiritual
springtime. Turn everything lush and green
in your heart. If he does, it's going to be
because he's enabled you to see Christ in the message. So what
I want us to do is look at two views of Christ our Savior and
be drawn to him. Now first, look in Psalm of Solomon
5 verse 9. This is the friends of the bride
speaking, and she says, they say to her, 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? Now, earlier in this chapter,
the bride has been in a time of spiritual indifference. She
was warm and comfortable in bed. She didn't want to get up, you
know, get out of bed and go open the door to let her beloved in.
She'd grown indifferent. But Christ the Bridegroom gave
her a glimpse of Him. He stuck His hand in through
the door. He had some cologne on. She smelled it. Oh, it made
her long for Him. Just a glimpse of Him. Just to
begin to think of Him made her long for Him. She's not indifferent
anymore. Now she's earnestly seeking her
Beloved. And she tells her friends, if
you've seen Him, if you find Him, you tell me where He is.
If you see Him, you tell Him I'm sick with love for Him. And
they asked, Why are you so insistent on finding this beloved, this
bridegroom, this man? Can't you just marry anybody?
Can't you be happy with just anybody? And she said, no, I
can't. I've got to have him. Let me
tell you why. Let me tell you about him. She
says in verse 10, my beloved is white and ruddy. He's the
chiefest among 10,000. Christ the Savior is both white
and ruddy. She's describing the two natures
of Jesus Christ, the God-man. He's both God and man. He's white. He's holy and righteous because
he's God. But he's also ruddy. He took
on him the nature of a man. Adam, his name means red clay. Adam, the first Adam was made
from red clay. So the second Adam became a real
man. He took on Him a human body and
a human nature. And the man, Christ Jesus, Jesus
of Nazareth, is the only righteous man to ever live. This man obeyed
God's law perfectly. And since God's Son became a
man, He can be the representative of sinful men. He can make His
people righteous in Him. He became a man so He could give
sinful men and women his obedience and his righteousness and make
them righteous in him. But salvation requires more than
that, doesn't it? Salvation requires the death
of a substitute, the suffering and death of a substitute. And
this also is what the bride is talking about him being both
white and ruddy. The man Christ Jesus was holy
and righteous. He obeyed God's law. Yet he's
ruddy. Yet he shed his blood, he suffered
and died. He suffered and died because
the sin of his people was charged to him. He didn't die for any
sin of his own. His blood was not shed for any
sin of his own. His blood was shed because he
became guilty of the sin of his people. And the only way, him
being white is so important. The only way the sacrifice of
Christ can put away our sin is if he is perfectly righteous.
He's gotta be righteous. He's gotta be holy. He can't
die for any sin of his own. Yet, he must be bloody. He must shed his blood to pay
for the sin of his people. And because he's white and ruddy,
because he is the representative of his people and the substitute
for his people, scripture tells us though our sins be as scarlet,
they'll be washed white as snow in the blood of the perfect man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that makes him the chiefest
among 10,000. Now, the bride just uses the
term 10,000 because that's a great big number. But it's not an exact
number. Our Savior is not just the chiefest
among 10,000. That would mean there's several
chiefs in there. What she means is He's the best. He's the only one. He's the only
Savior. He's the chief. He's the chief
cornerstone. He's the chief among those who've
been resurrected from the dead. He's the firstborn, the king
from the dead, the first to never die again. He's the chief, the
head, the firstborn of every creature. He's alpha and omega. He's the beginning and the end
and everything in between. And his name is the chief name. He's got a name which is above
every name. The only name you'll ever find
salvation is in the name of our beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the chiefest among 10,000. Well, look over in Revelations
chapter one. Let's see what the apostle John says he saw there
on that Sunday morning. He was in the spirit and our
Lord came up behind him. He turned and saw him. Let's
see what John saw. Revelation one verse 13. John
said, I turned and saw him, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
I saw one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down
to the foot, and girded about the paps with a golden girdle.
Now John saw Christ clothed with a garment down to the foot, and
that garment is the high priest's garment. He saw Christ our priest. He saw the priest, the high priest,
who offered just one sacrifice per All the sons of Aaron, they
offered many sacrifices, morning, noon, and night. They had to
sacrifice for everything. Everything happened, we have
to sacrifice for it. Christ offered one sacrifice for sin because
his sacrifice put away the sin of his people. This is the high
priest. See, Christ became a man so he
could be the sacrifice for sin. He became a man so he could be
our substitute. But he also became a man so he
could be our high priest. We're gonna have to have a man
be the high priest who can represent us to God, who can offer the
sacrifice for sin, who can come before the Father accepted. Aaron
always had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins first, didn't
he? Not this man. He had no sin of his own. He
came and offered one sacrifice that put away the sin of his
people. See, Solomon and John, they both described the same
Savior, don't they? They described the Savior washing
his people white as snow in the blood of his sacrifice. And both
Solomon and John saw the King. They saw King Jesus. Solomon says he's the chiefest
among 10,000. John says he's girded about the path with the
golden girdle. Now this girdle is like the girdle
that the high priest wore. It's a symbol of power. The Lord
Jesus Christ has all power. This is not just any girdle,
it's a golden girdle. The gold represents his deity. The Lord Jesus Christ has the
very power of God. That's what enables him to put
away the sin of his people. Christ, John says, he saw him
as the priest, as the high priest. I saw him as king. He saw the
king priest, didn't he? No mere man ever held those two
offices at the same time. Someone may have been prophet,
and priest. Someone may have been prophet
and king, but no one was ever priest and king. Only the Lord
Jesus Christ held those two offices. That was reserved for him and
his glory to be the king priest. I look back at Song of Solomon
chapter five. This is what Solomon sees. He
sees him as king. In verse 11, his head is his
most fine gold. What the bride here is seeing
is the crown that's sitting on the head of her beloved. Now
he's her beloved, isn't he? Oh, she loves him. She has a
close, intimate communion with him. She can just pour out her
heart to him. Tell him anything. But now he's
her king. He's the king and she bows to
him as king. Yes, he's her beloved, but she
bows to him as king. Now look back and hold your place,
we'll come back in just a minute, but Revelations chapter five,
isn't this how John saw Christ? He's king. The one who was crucified
is king. Revelations five, verse six.
And I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne and of the four
beasts in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain.
having seven horns, he's got perfect power. He's got seven
eyes, he sees everything, which are the seven spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth. Where is the lamb? He's in the
midst of the throne. He's sitting upon the throne
of God. Every saving view of the Lord
Jesus Christ, every saving view, sees him as king. He's king,
he's sovereign. It may be easy for someone to
say, this is my doctrine. God's sovereign in salvation.
Saving view of Christ says Christ is sovereign over my salvation.
Whether I go to heaven or I go to hell is purely in his hands. He's sovereign over my salvation. He's king. The end song of Solomon
five verse 11. The bride says his locks are
bushy. Black as a raven. The bride sees
her beloved with a head full of thick black hair. He tall, dark and handsome. Young, strong man. Now look in
Revelations 1, how does John seem? Revelation 1 verse 14, John says,
his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. John saw a man with a head full
of white hair. John saw the ancient of days,
didn't he? Well, which is Christ? Does it
depend on when you see him? Sometimes you see him as young,
sometimes old. Which is he? Christ our Savior
is both. He's both the ancient of days
and he's eternally young. He's ancient. He's without beginning,
without ending. That's why He told those Pharisees
before Abraham was, I am. He's the ancient of days. And
at the same time, He's eternally young. You know, as we age, our
bodies age. We looked at this, I think it
was last week, how we lose our strength. We lose our mind. We
lose our desire to do about anything. Not our Savior. He's eternally
young. He always has the strength of
you. And he always has the wisdom
of the ancient of days. He's eternally young. He always
has the ability to do whatever he needs to do, whatever he desires
to do. And he's the ancient of days.
He's old enough to know what to do. Even both. The point of
this is our Savior never changes. He's the same yesterday, today
and forever. Song of Solomon is about the
love of Christ, the bridegroom for his bride and her love for
him. The love of the Savior never changes. Doesn't get stronger,
doesn't get weaker. Never changes. If Christ the
Savior's ever loved you, he's always loved you. And he always
will love you. I don't care what you do or don't
do or what your circumstances are. He'll always love you because
His love is eternal. If He loved you before the world
was created, He loves you right now with that same degree of
love. If He loved you before the world
was created, He loved you, Calvary. When He took your seed in His
body on the tree, if He loved you before the world was created,
your name is on His heart. as he suffered and died at Calvary
because he loved you. He laid down his life for his
friends that he loves. If he loved you before the world
was created, he loved you when you were conceived in sin, conceived
in iniquity and born in sin. He loved you while you lived
in sin and rebellion with the exact same love. If he loved
you before the world was created, he called you by his gospel.
I've loved you with an everlasting love Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you. He called you by his gospel.
And if he loved you before the world was created, he'll love
you in eternity, forever, without change. He's the ancient of days
and eternally young. Next, in Psalm of Solomon 5,
the bride tells us she enjoys looking into the eyes of her
beloved. She likes to just sit and stare
into his eyes. But what does she see when she
looks in his eyes? Look here at verse 12. She says his eyes
are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of water washed with milk
and fitly set. She sees the eyes of doves that
are washed with milk. What she sees are clear eyes,
eyes that see everything as it is. I seldom see and understand
anything like it is. Our Savior sees it as it is.
And she says they're fitly set. They're not too close together.
They're not too far apart. They're not too far sunken in.
They're not too far bulging out. They're fitly set. They're in
exactly the right place so he sees all around. So he sees everything
all the time. He's all-seeing. And they're
the eyes of doves. She looks into eyes that don't
have any fury in them. They're peaceful, loving eyes.
That's why she enjoys looking at them. When Christ looks at
his people, there's no fury. There's no anger because he already
took the sin away that made him angry. They're eyes of doves.
And here's the other thing about doves. I read this, so I'm assuming
it's true. John Gill says that, you know,
it's got to be true, right? He must have researched it somewhere.
Doves only have eyes for their mate. They don't look at a bunch
of other doves. They get eyes for one dove, the
eye of their mate. They stay faithful to one mate.
That's the way the Lord Jesus Christ, our husband, looks at
his people. You ladies wouldn't like it if
your husband had eyes for a lot of women. The eyes you like to
look into, the eyes you enjoy, are the eyes only for you. That's
the eye of our beloved. He's not begging as many women
as he can to come be married to him. He's got eyes for his
bride and he's calling her. He's going to woo her. He's going
to win her to himself. And you know what? He's going
to have her and he'll always be faithful to her. That's why
she enjoys looking into his eyes. Well, look at Revelation 1. What
did John see? When he saw the eyes of the Savior,
Revelations 1 there at the end of verse 14. John says, In his
eyes was a flame of fire. Now the bride, she saw kind,
clear, loving eyes, eyes with no fury in them, didn't she?
John saw an eye full of fury, an eye full of fire. It's the
all-seeing eye of God that sees all my sin and is going to punish
every last one of my sins. And I'm thankful. I'm so thankful. God saw my original sin in Adam. He saw all the sin of my commission,
all the sin of my omission, all the sin of my thought, word and
deed. He saw all my sin. He never missed one. And he put
every last one of those sins on Christ my substitute. And
those eyes of fury looked on my substitute as he bore my sin,
as he bore the curse of my sin and the fire of God's wrath,
the fire from his eyes was poured out fully on my substitute. And now the great transaction
is done. The father never looks at his
people with those fiery eyes because his wrath has already
been poured out and taken out on his son. So now he looks at
his people with those eyes of dust, eyes of peace, eyes of
calmness, eyes of love. Because he sees his people without
sin. Well, that's not the way I see
myself. I see myself as sinful. That's all I see about myself.
But God sees me with no sin. That's all that matters. His
view, the view of the judge is the only view that counts. He
sees me how I really am because that's how he's made me and his
son, without sin. Now, Song of Solomon five, verse
13. She begins to describe his face.
She says his cheeks are as bed of spices, as sweet flowers.
Now she talks about his cheeks being as beds of spices. What
she means is he's got a beard. He got a full grown beard. And
this is what she's telling us. Our Savior is a man. I mean,
he's a man's man. He's a man. He's the kind of
man every woman wants for a husband. He's the man. The bride of Christ
is not married to an immature boy. She married to a full grown
man. The man, Christ Jesus. This man
loved his bride so much, he took all of her debt. He took all
of her sin and he paid it. He paid it with his own life.
He paid it with his own blood and saved her from all of her
sin. All of them. Now that's a job. That is a job, a job none of
us can do. So when the father sent someone
to redeem his people from their sins, he didn't send a boy to
do a man's job. He sent the man to redeem his
people from their sin. And seeing him, seeing this,
he's a man, his strength, his masculinity, his powers, gives
the believer such confidence and assurance, just makes us
fall in love more and more and more with him. Oh, his strength
and masculinity. And then beside his cheeks, she
saw her beloved's mouth, verse 13. She said, his lips like lilies
dropping sweet smelling myrrh. Now, the only thing that can
be is the gospel, the words of his lips, the words of the lips
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the word of God. It's his gospel.
The gospel are sweet words of comfort. to God's people. They're
sweet words of the forgiveness of sin. They're the sweet words
of grace that drip from His mouth. Grace pours from His lips. And
nothing smells better, nothing feels better than the words that
come out from His lips. Thy sin be forgiven thee. Peace be unto thee. Assurance
to His people. It's all taken care of. You just
rest. Well, look at Revelation chapter
1. John saw his mouth too. Revelation 1 verse 16. And he
had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. Now that sounds like a very different
view than what the bride saw in the Son of Solomon. Song of
Solomon, she saw flowers and lilies and myrrh and dripping
with sweetness and John sees a sword. Well, you know what? They really saw the same thing.
They both saw the word of God. They saw Jesus Christ, the incarnate
word of God. And if you look in Ephesians
chapter six, I'll show you that. Ephesians 6 and verse 17. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, the
sword, the believer's sword, the armor of our faith, the sword
is the word of God. This is what John's saying. I
saw Jesus Christ, the incarnate word of God. Now look in Hebrews
chapter four. This is not just any sword, though,
is it? John said he saw a two-edged sword. Hebrews 4, verse 12. It's the
word of God. The word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now why
is the Word of God called a two-edged sword? I've never been in a sword
fight and I just prefer not to be, you know, it looks like a
pretty deadly venture to me. But this, you know, when they
do those sword fights, you know, they're with a single-edged sword. This is a two-edged sword, so
dangerous. I suppose it is dangerous in
the wrong hands, isn't it? The Word of God is a two-edged
sword because it cuts both ways. It cuts left and it cuts right.
It cuts down, it cuts up, it's two-edged. The Word of God both
kills and makes alive. The Word of God kills this flesh. Any accurate reading of the Word
of God kills the flesh. And at the same time, the same
word, the same sword, gives life to the spirit. always involves the killing of
the flesh. Salvation involves the flesh
being crucified. That's one edge of the sword.
And the second edge of the sword, while the flesh is crucified,
gives life in the new birth. And there can't be any salvation
without both, without the killing of the flesh and life in the
Spirit. There can't be any salvation
without the Word of God. Can't be. Can't be any salvation
without the incarnate Word. Can't be any salvation without
the written Word. If you believe the Word of God,
you're saved. That's it. It's the Word of God.
And the Word of God, you say, oh, I don't know, what are you
supposed to believe? It's so confusing. Not if you've got ears to hear,
it's not. The Word of God sounds a clear note. Unmistakable. Back over in Revelation 1, verse
10, when John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,
I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. Now, a trumpet
gives a clear note, an unmistakable note. And look at the end of
verse 15. This is what John says about
his voice, the words that he speaks. His voice as the sound
of many waters. Now the sound of many waters,
you can think of that as a river going over the rocks, you know,
kind of a more shallow river like you see around Cherokee.
Janet and I have stayed in a hotel there a couple of times and behind
it there's that river. It's kind of shallow and it's
going over the rocks. You just hear it 24 hours a day, the sound
of many waters. And whether you're close to it
or you're far away from it, You know what that sound is. It's
the sound of the water going over the rocks. And when you
go to the beach, you hear the sound of many waters, don't you?
The sound of those waves crashing on the beach just 24 hours a
day. Here come those waves crashing
on the beach. It's an unmistakable sound. And whether you're close to it
or you're far away from it, when you hear it, you know what it
is. You know that's the ocean. And to most of us, that's a sound
most people enjoy. They enjoy the sound of that
water. You know, they sell those things you can put in your living
room, the water going down over it, you know. We like the sound
of water. The Word of God gives an unmistakable sound. an unmistakable message of the
glory of Christ in salvation, that it's all in him. There's
only one place to look. There's only one place to go.
There's only one answer given in this whole book. It's Christ. Now you look to him. You go to
him. That's a certain sound that sinners love to hear. We enjoy
that sound. And it's a constant sound. You
know, that river, it never stops. The ocean never stops crashing
on the beach. The sound of the word of God,
the sound of the gospel is a constant sound. It's not one sound today
and a different sound Wednesday and a different sound next Sunday.
It's the same sound. It's always the sound of mercy. It's always the sound of forgiveness
of sin in Christ. It's always the sound of His
righteousness, not our righteousness, which are filthy rags that come
from our obedience to the law, but His righteousness. The constant
sound of the Word of God is security in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
got the job done. He got it done perfectly. Now you're secure in Him. Which
brings us to our next point. Look back at Song of Solomon
5. The bride looks at the hands of her beloved. In verse 14,
his hands are as gold rings set with beryl. Now the bride sees
rings on the fingers of her beloved, but really the rings and the
fingers are one. The rings are such a perfect
fit for his finger, you can't separate them. And this is what
the picture means. She sees the Savior working all
things after the counsel of His own will. And His will is always
done. That ring is the king's ring
which gives him power. His will is always done. His
will is always perfect. Like a ring is circular, his
will that he always performs is perfect. His will is a perfect
fit to accomplish the saving of his people. And the bride
is held safe in that almighty hand. You know, if we say something
is in hand, I've got that in hand. You know what we mean.
If I say I've got this in hand, it means I've got it under control. Our God's got it in hand. Everything
is under control. It's in His hand. Now let me
ask you, what's going on in your life
right now? Everybody's got a story. Everybody's got something. What's
going on right now? Our God's got it in hand. He's
got it in control. Can we rest easy? It's all right. He's got it in control. Well,
look at Revelation 1. What did John see when he saw
the hand of Christ? Well, he saw the exact same thing,
different picture, but he saw the exact same thing. Revelation
1 verse 16. And in his right hand, John saw
seven stars. Now we read this down in verse
20 to open the message. Those seven stars are the seven
pastors or the seven churches. And when John says up there in
verse 13 that he saw Christ in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. And this is the
picture. Christ is in the midst of his
church and he's holding his pastors in his right hand. And I'm thankful
it's that way. There's a pastor friend of mine
went to a bank. They were going to do a building
project, and they had to get a loan. So the pastor went to
the bank to apply for the loan, sign the papers and stuff. And
normally the loan officer, he expects the church, you know,
to apply him for a loan. He expects to see a bunch of
people. He expects to see a board of directors and all these people,
you know. And here the pastor just shows up. And he couldn't
understand, where's your board? Where's your board of directors?
He said, we don't have one. He said, well, who's in charge? He said, I am. He said, well,
who keeps you in control? Who do you answer to? He said,
I answer to God. The gospel that we preach is
God's gospel. We're not at liberty to change
it. It's his gospel. This gospel
is for the salvation of God's people. This gospel is not for
me to take and prove my point or build a following for me.
No. This gospel is for God's glory,
for the glory of His Son, and for the salvation of His people,
for the growth of His people, for the comfort of His people,
for the security of His church, to tell His church all's well. Come to Him. Look to Him. Rest
in Him. Well, back in Psalm 5 verse 14, The bride sees the heart, the
love and compassion of Christ for His bride. She says His hands
are as gold rings set with beryl. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphire. And His belly means His heart.
It means His bowels of mercy, His bowels of compassion. And
she says it's bright ivory. It's bright ivory for beauty. How beautiful to think that the
son of God has a heart, a bowel of compassion for you. Oh, that's
beautiful. And it's strong as ivory. It's
a strong, eternal, everlasting love. This is his electing love,
his redeeming love, his life-giving love, his calling love, his keeping
love, the immutable, everlasting love of God for his people. And it's best we just talk about
it in a picture. It's bright ivory. Human words
can't describe it. It cannot be described. And she
goes a little further. She says it's bright ivory overlaid
with sapphires. That sounds very valuable, doesn't
it? I think ivory is expensive. I know sapphires are. There's
no telling the value of Christ's love for His people. If Christ
loves you, your soul is saved. He proved his love by laying
down his life for you, those he loves. Well, look in Revelations
1 verse 17. The Apostle John saw a beautiful
example of the love and compassion of our Savior that Sunday morning. John says in verse 17, when I
saw him, I felt his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, fear not, I'm the first and the last."
Now we must worship Christ. We must fall at his feet and
do reverence. Isn't that only right? He's so
high above us. We must fall at his feet and
worship him. Yet, as we're at his feet, he
has compassion on his people. John fell at his feet and is
dead. And our Savior touched him. He touched John to comfort,
to calm his fear, just like he touched that leper who said,
Lord, if you will, you make me whole. And the Savior said, I
will. And he reached out and touched
him. How the child of God loves the touch, the hand of our Savior. That hand is working all things
together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose, gently touches the soul
and the heart of His people to save them, to heal them, to comfort
them. The songwriter said, He touched
me, and oh, the joy that floods my soul. What an example of His
love and compassion for His people. If somebody was at our feet begging,
we're typically, we're just not going to have much Oh, this person
so far beneath me, you know, make us feel lifted up. The Savior
and love and compassion that doesn't come by nature to us
reaches and touches us. Fear not. I'm the first and the
last. I'm all you need. It's all right.
Well, next in Song of Solomon, chapter five, verse 15, she saw
the legs of her beloved. She says his legs are as pillars
of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. His legs are pillars
of marble. They're strong and they're set
in gold. Remember, gold represents deity. That strength is set in the purpose
of God to redeem his people. Christ, our Savior, is strong
enough to accomplish God's purpose. He's strong enough to bear the
sins of his people. He's strong enough to bear our
punishment. He's strong enough to carry us all the way home.
She's not heavy. She's my bride. All his legs
are strong enough to hold us up. He's strong enough and he's
faithful enough to accomplish God's purpose. Well, look in
Revelations 1 again, verse 15, what did John see? John doesn't
describe his legs exactly, but he describes his feet. He says
in verse 15, in his feet, like undefined brass, as if they burned
in a furnace. And John saw the feet of the
Savior like fine brass. You put brass in a furnace and
it brightens it up. Why did his feet look like they'd
been burned in a furnace? Because they have. Because they
have. Christ, our substitute, went
through the furnace of God's wrath against the sin of his
people. He went through the furnace of
God's wrath as our substitute. And he stayed in that furnace
and suffered in that furnace until all the sin that was laid
on him was gone and Bobby walked out the other side. And the only
sign that's left that he walked through that furnace is his feet.
It looked like fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. The only evidence that's left
in glory of the sin of God's people is the scars in the hands,
in the feet, in the side of the Savior. That's the only evidence,
because sin's gone. And our Savior, with the feet
of fine brass, promises in His Word, when you go into the fire,
I'll go with you. And that's such comfort. Hadn't
He already proven He's got the strength to endure the furnace?
Well, we're with Him, we're safe, aren't we? Hasn't He proven He
already knows the way through the furnace? then if we're with
Him, you rest assured He'll leech out. Now verse 15 in Psalm 5,
here's the summary of the view of the Savior. She says, His
mouth, or verse, at the end of verse 15, His countenance is
as Lebanon, excellent as cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
He's altogether lovely. If I missed, left anything out,
you just count, it's lovely. This is my beloved and this is
my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. His countenance is as Lebanon.
The mountain of Lebanon was known for the cedar trees that grew
there. They're the best. What she's saying is our Savior
stands head and shoulders above everybody else. He stands in
stately beauty like those tall cedar trees. Just look and admire,
look and admire his beauty. He's like that cedar tree. It
never rots. He never decays because He's
righteous. And that's my righteousness.
It never rots. It never decays. It can't be
lost. He's altogether lovely. Well, one more time, Revelation
1, verse 16. This is what John said at the
end of verse 16. His countenance was as the sun
shineth in his stream. The glory of Christ is so bright,
it outshines everything else. You know, we think we've got
some glory. Once you see the glory of Christ,
you see the brightness of His countenance, your glory is going
to fade away. It can't even be seen in His
brightness. Just like you can't see a birthday candle against
the light of the sun because the sun is so much brighter.
What we think is glorious about us fades into oblivion compared
to the glory of Christ. In all of our sin, this is what
I want us to see from this view of the Savior. In all of our
sin, in all of our weakness, in all of our mistakes, in all
of our troubles and trials, our confidence is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our glory is Christ. We glory
in Him. God forbid that we glory in anything
else. God forbid that we look to or
trust in anything else. This Savior that the bride and
that John described is worthy to be believed in, worthy to
be trusted. God help us to do it. Let's bow
in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
your word. We thank you that in your grace and your mercy
and your compassion for your people, You've seen fit to reveal
Your Son in Your Word. And Father, I pray that You'd
bless Your Word as it's been preached, that You'd bless it
to the hearts of Your people, that You'd cause us to find everything
we need and everything You require in Christ our Savior. He is all. Cause us to find confidence in
His beauty and His strength and His love. Cause us to find our
confidence that he can never fail and to rest in him. Cause us to find our joy and
our satisfaction in his great beauty and great glory as the
savior and keeper of his people. Bless your word to his glory,
we pray.