Song of Solomon chapter 8. We're
going to finish this study this morning, Lord willing. I've entitled the lesson cause
me to hear. We begin in verse 13. Song of
Solomon 8. Thou that dwellest in the gardens,
the companions hearken to thy voice, cause me to hear it. Now, as we've seen often throughout
this study in Song of Solomon, there sometimes is a debate over
who could be the one singing here, and that's the case with
this verse 13. A lot of the writers that I've
read say that this is Christ speaking, and the reason they
say that is they say that the verbs are feminine, so this is
Christ speaking to his church. John Gill says that there are
some people that disagree, say these verbs are masculine, so
this is the church speaking to Christ. My pat answer always
in these debates in this song is this, this must be Christ
and his bride both singing, singing a duet. And it's easy to see
what is meant if this is the bride speaking. The gardens that's
referred to are the different local churches throughout all
the world. Now, God has one church. He has one body, one garden.
And that body right now is both in heaven and in earth. There's
one great garden, and back in verse 11 of this chapter, it's
spoken of as a vineyard. There's one vineyard, Christ
is divine, where the branches. In chapter four, Christ calls
his people a garden enclosed. It's one enclosed garden. His body is one garden. It's
a well-watered, fruitful garden. In chapter five, Christ says,
I'm coming to my garden, to dwell in my garden, to dwell in the
hearts of my people, my church as a whole. But that body of
Christ on earth is not one giant garden. It's gardens in several
different places. It's meeting right as we speak
in Lexington and Danville and Pikeville and Rocky Mountain,
Mexico, New Jersey, for goodness sakes. I mean, God's merciful.
He's got a people in New Jersey. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself
dwells in those gardens. He reveals himself in those gardens,
those local churches where the gospel's preached. Christ walks
among his people as they meet in these different gardens, different
local churches. As far as we're concerned, that's
what makes this place, this building so special. I pulled up yesterday
and the grass had just been cut, the place looks so beautiful.
But you know what really makes this special? Christ's presence
here as he meets with us in the preaching of the gospel. And
if that ever becomes not the case, his presence is not here,
this would just be an ordinary building, who cares much about
it? But God's people gather in these gardens where the local
church where Christ is preached so they can hear the gospel.
They hear because God's given them an ear that hears and a
new birth. Our Lord said, my sheep hear my voice. Well, why
are they here? Because they're a sheep, he's
given them an ear. And because they hear, they follow me, the
Lord said. His people, they'll find their
way here to the local church because this is where they'll
hear of their Savior. And you think what a blessing
it is to have a place where we can hear the gospel preached.
You think what a blessing it is to a town that there is a
place where Christ in his mercy that he would condescend to meet
with his people. I can't stress what a blessing
that is to a town. That's not in every town. But
what a blessing when God puts one of His gardens in a town.
A place where Christ is preached. A place where sinners are saved
by hearing Christ preached. A place where God's sheep are
fed because Christ is preached. I can't stress what a blessing
that is to a town. And I can't stress enough how
cursed a town he is when God removes that garden, when he
removes that candlestick. That town is cursed. What a curse. But the local church, the garden,
and this is, by God's grace, a blessing we have, is a place
of blessing. And we've seen that throughout
this whole psalm. Let's turn back. I want us to
look just a few verses throughout this. Be reminded of what A blessing
we have, what a blessing it is in the local church where Christ
speaks to his people, where he meets with his people. The church
is where Christ comes and kisses his people, kisses them right
on the mouth, where he has such close communion with them. You're
so close to him, you can smell him. Chapter one, verse two.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for I love is better
than wine. Because of the savor of thy good
ointments, thy name is as an ointment poured forth, therefore
do the virgins love thee. We have that here in the church,
in this garden. This is where Christ draws his
people to himself, through the preaching of the gospel. Verse
four, Jesus, draw me, we'll run after thee. The king hath brought
me into his chambers. We'll be glad and rejoice in
thee. We will remember thy love more than wine. The upright love
thee because Christ has drawn us to him through the preaching
of the gospel. Chapter two, this is where Christ brings his people
to the banquet of his love for them. Verse four, he brought
me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love. This is the place where Christ
holds his people in a tender embrace in his arms. Verse six
of chapter two, my left hand is under my head His right hand
doth embrace me. Chapter four. First before we
go on, chapter two. This is the place where Christ
speaks to the heart of his people and warms our hearts so that
time of spiritual winter is over. Look at verse 10 of chapter two.
My beloved spake and said unto me, rise up, my love, my fair
one, and come away, for lo, the winter's past. The rain is over
and gone. This is the place where Christ
warms our hearts with his presence. Chapter four, this is the place
where Christ comes to his people and he speaks to her. Speaks
to her in loving terms and tells her how beautiful she is to him.
Verse seven of chapter four. Thou art all fair, my love. There
is no spot in thee, made perfect in Christ. This is where Christ
tells his people that she ravishes his heart when she looks at him
with the eye of faith. Verse nine, thou hast ravished
my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast ravished my heart with
one of thine eyes, with one chain of thine neck. In chapter five,
this is where Christ reveals his beauty to his people. Verse
16, the price of his mouth is most sweet. Yea, he's altogether
lovely. This is my beloved and this is
my friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, In
chapter six, this is where Christ reveals that precious union,
that inseparable union between himself and his bride. Verse
three, I am my beloved's and my beloved's is mine. He feedeth
among the lilies. He feeds among the lilies in
his garden. Chapter eight, this is where the bride sees again
how she leans all the way to first salvation on Christ her
beloved. Chapter eight, verse five. Who
is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her
beloved? She's leaning all the way upon
him. This is where Christ tells his
bride he loves her and there nothing can drown his love for
her. Verse seven, many waters cannot
quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man would
give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly
be condemned. This is love of Christ for his
people is eternal, it cannot be drowned. And this is the place
where the bride comes to give birth to her little sister, where
she comes to feed and nourish that little sister. Maybe it's
that little sister that hasn't been born yet, or maybe it's
a little sister just newly born. And this is where she comes to
feed that little sister with the gospel. She says in verse
eight, we have a little sister and she had no breast. What should
we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
we're going to preach the gospel to her. Now that's what's heard. That's what Christ says and does
for his people in his gardens, in the house of worship. And
I know this. God's elect are going to hear
his voice. They're going to hear the gospel. They're going to
hear the voice of Christ say those things to them. I know
that. My prayer is Lord, let me hear your voice. I know you're
going to speak to your people. Speak to my heart. I know you're
going to speak grace and love to your people. Lord, speak to
my heart. Don't pass me by. While on others
thou art calling, don't pass me by. You know, I know this
is still the day of grace. I know God is still saving his
people. You know how I know that? The
gospel is still being preached. And God has pleased him by the
foolishness of preaching to save them to believe. So Lord, you're
still saving your people. You're still calling your people.
Call me. You're still speaking to your
people through the gospel. Let me hear. You're still saving
your people through the preaching of the gospel. Save me by your
grace. You're still feeding your people through the preaching
of the gospel. Lord, feed me, strengthen me. You're still revealing
yourself in the place where the gospel's preached. Lord, let
me be there. That's a good prayer. And that's
what the bride's saying here. But now most of the writers think
that in this verse 13, that this is Christ speaking. Well, what's
Christ saying to his bride? Well, these are his last words
to her, his bride groom or to his bride before he leaves her
for a time. Now he must leave. We don't want
him to leave, but he must leave. He must take his presence, his
bodily presence for a time away from this earth. The Lord Jesus
told his disciples, it's expedient for you that I go away. Well, why is it? Why is it so
expedient for us that he go away? Well, he must go to the cross. He must suffer and die on the
cross or else our sins will never be put away. If he doesn't go
away, we'll die in our sins. Christ must go. He must suffer
and die. If he does not die for his elect,
we're gonna die. We'll never have eternal life.
And he must be raised again, and he must ascend back to glory. If he doesn't ascend back to
glory, there's no way he can be with all of his people at
the same time. If he's here on earth in bodily form, he can
just be, you know, his body's just in one place at one time.
But if he goes away, his spirit can be with all his people at
the same time. He must go away to sit at his father's right
hand and obtain all the blessings that he purchased for his people.
He must go there to secure the forgiveness of sins for his people.
He must go there to secure the reconciliation that he made between
God and his people. He must go there in righteousness
and in peace that he's established for his people. And look at Hebrews
chapter 10. He must go to his father. so
that we can come before the Father in prayer. Hebrews 10 verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. See, we can
never have boldness to enter into the holiest unless Christ
goes and sheds his blood to put away our sin. Verse 20, by a
new and living way. which he hath consecrated for
us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Christ must go away so we can come before the Father in prayer.
Christ must go away. He must ascend back to heaven
as our forerunner. Now that he's entered there as
the forerunner, many more can follow. All of his people will
follow him there. He must go away to appear in
the presence of the Father for us as our advocate. If any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Well, we won't have
that advocate unless he goes away. So this is what Christ
is saying to his bride. Now, I'm going to glory for a
time. My bodily presence, I'll be with
you in spirit, I'm not leaving you. but my bodily presence is
going to go away for a time. And until I return, you stay
here in the gardens. You stay here in the church.
He says, you dwellest there. This is where you're going to
stay. Don't ever leave the place where the gospels preached, ever,
unless you're going to go to another one. Don't ever leave
the place where the gospels preached. He says, you dwell there, dwellest. present tense, you always stay
there. And you dwell there because God's not going to cast you out.
John Gill says there's no danger of being driven from this garden,
like God drove Adam from Eden. God drove Adam from Eden because
he sinned. He must be separated from God.
God will never drive his people out of his garden, out of his
gardens, because Christ has removed the sin of his people. So we'll
never be cast out of his garden. Now you dwell in this garden
because you've got work to do there. We covered this last week.
God has given each one of his people something to do. Something
to do that nobody else can do. Now go do it. God says you're
to stay in this garden. Now go do the work that God's
given you to do. Tend to the garden so that it's
fruitful. And he gives us something to
do here. He gives us a hint here about this work we have to do
in his garden. He says, the companions hearken to thy voice. Make sure
your companions hear your voice. Don't just smile and wave to
each other, you know, like somebody going through in a parade, you
smile and wave and that's it, you know. No, speak to one another. The way you get to know one another
is speaking to one another. Don't just give somebody, you
know, the pat answer and go on. Really speak to one another about
what's going on, what's in your heart, you know. We're companions. And that word companions is knit
together. We're knit together by the purpose
of God. We're knit together by our love
for Christ and Christ's love for us. And this is why it's
so important. We have these times of fellowship.
That's important. It's an important time. For us
to be together, talk to one another. Janet says so often, you can't
love somebody you don't know. You can't pray for somebody you
don't know. Talk to one another so we know each other, so we're
a body. Talk to each other, at least
try to balance out the message of the world. You got the world
in your ear all the time. Well, let your companions hear
your voice. Speaking of profitable things, speaking of Christ. We're
the family of God. This is God's family. Families
that function best communicate well. They take time to talk
to one another. A good marriage doesn't just
happen. It's built. You've got to work
at it, and you work at it through communication. Good relationships,
good friendships, they don't just happen. You work at it over
time with communication and getting to know one another. The same
thing's true in the garden, in any local congregation. We're
going to build those strong relationships by letting your companions hear
your voice. Look at Malachi chapter 3, the
last book of the Old Testament. You know, when believers get
together, this has been my experience and I've heard some other people
say the same thing. You know, we talk about everything under
the sun, don't we? So happy to see each other, you
start talking. But the conversation always turns to Christ, always. I mean, it's not something that's
forced. It's not something you say, okay, well now, you know,
we better talk, you know, about spiritual, you know. Just the
conversation naturally turns to the Savior because He's our
common ground. And the Lord says, let me hear
you doing it. In Malachi chapter three, verse
16. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often to one another, And the Lord hearkened and heard
it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them
that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they
shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make
up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him. Those who know the Lord speak
often one to another of the Lord, of Christ. So when you get together,
Talk about everything. Talk about your families and
your jobs and your hobbies and your heartaches and your triumphs.
Talk about everything. And all ways of Christ. Always
speak of Him. And even when you're not speaking
of spiritual things, you're just talking about your job and the
things that you're doing. This is my advice to you. Don't
be crass. Just don't be crass. Now, I'm
not saying be a religious nut. You know, people are uncomfortable
being around, but just don't be crass. Remember this. There
are things that are better left unsaid. Now, they really are.
And there are certain things that a child of God ought not
joke about. Now, we ought to have a good
sense of humor. I like being around people who
have a good sense of humor. But there are things we don't
joke about. A child of God doesn't. A child
of God, I tell you what, the child of Frank Tate Senior never
joked about him, never one time, ever. You just don't do that. A child of God does not joke
about our Father. We're not gonna joke about our
Savior. Don't joke about holy things.
Show people you take seriously your relationship with your Savior
more than to just joke about him. A child of God ought not
be found joking about sexual things and joking about marriage
and these things. Men, don't ever joke about your
wife. Just don't do it. Don't call
her the ball and chain, all these crazy things women do. Don't
joke about it. Ladies, don't joke about your
husband. Just don't do it. Show people
that you take the marriage relationship more seriously than that. Because
that marriage relationship is a type, it's a picture of Christ
and His bride. Isn't that what Paul told us?
Now God's given you a voice. Well use it to build people up.
Don't use it to tear things down. Use it to build people up. Use
the voice that God has given you to glorify your Savior and
to not bring reproach on the gospel. And sometimes you just
don't bring reproach on the gospel, it'll keep your mouth shut. And
I'll give you an illustration of what I'm talking about. What
does scripture say to older women? It says you're to teach the younger
women. What are you going to teach them? You're going to teach
them how to love their husbands. You teach them how to love their
children. Teach them how to take care of the home. And I think
it's probably safe to say that older women are to teach younger
men the same thing. How to be men. How to be workers.
How to be providers. How to be husbands and leaders
of the home. Well, what do we teach those younger ones when
we joke about these matters? Ladies, you joke about your husbands.
I say it all the time. Men are low-hanging fruit. It's
easy to do. We make an easy target. But when
you joke about those things, what are you teaching the younger
women? Men, we joke about our wives and women. Well, what are
we teaching these boys? Well, we're teaching them about
marriage. Use the good sense God gave you
to talk to one another about profitable things and know what
to say. And certainly, and this is so important in the church.
What's the voice that's heard? The voice of the pastor and the
elders are heard preaching the gospel. The church is going to
hear that now. God's people are going to listen.
They'll respond to that. They'll come to hear the gospel
of Christ. They'll hear, and I know they
will, because God is ordained by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. The way God is ordained to feed
His people is through the preaching of Christ. And Christ our Savior
is glad to hear it when His people are worshiping and praising Him.
Now verse 14, I know this is the bride speaking. She says,
make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or to a young
heart upon the mountains of spices. Christ, our well-beloved bridegroom,
has said he's going away for a time. All right. I see the
necessity of that. I see that. But Lord, hurry back. Don't leave
me in this place any longer than necessary. Hurry back. Hurry
back for me. Don't delay. Not only does a
believer believe Christ is coming back, we long for the day of
his return. We long for it. Could this be
the day? We long for it. She says, be swift. Be swift
like a deer upon a mountain to come back. Now we're not praying
against God's will. Don't come back before your purpose
is fulfilled. But look at Revelations 22. This
is the believer's prayer. Lord, finish the work that you've
begun. But as sure as my prayer, that work will be finished soon,
and Christ will return. This is what the Apostle John
says in Revelations 22, verse 12. This is the Lord speaking. And behold, I come quickly, and
my reward is with me to give every man according to his work
shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. He says, I come quickly.
Well, look over at verse 20. Here's what, here's John's response
to that. He which testifieth these things saith, surely I
come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. Oh, even so come. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with y'all. So what the bride is saying
here, same thing John's saying. Lord, be swift to come to me
and be swift to come back for me. You're a believer and not
looking for some event. We're not looking for all the
events that are gonna be associated with the end of the world. We're
not looking for signs that are indicating when it'll be. We're
looking for Him. Dwayne, I'm looking for Him.
Oh, how I long to see Him. And all the other circumstances
and events surrounding it don't much interest me. I just want
to see him. And the mountains she's referring
to here. These are the mountains that separate us. There is a
great mountain between us and Gloria. A mountain we can't cross.
But he can and he will. He's going to come skipping across
those mountains to come take his people, be with him where
he is. And she calls him the mountain of spices. Now that's
heaven, the mountain of spices where Christ dwells. This mountain
is a mountain, a huge mound of good smelling spices. And those
spices are everything that Christ is to his people. They're everything
that he bought for his bride. They're the spices of his blood
that washes us from sin and makes us smell good. They're the spices
of his righteousness that makes us accepted in him. The spices
of his intercession for his people, those in the tabernacle and then
the temple, they took those, those spices and that, and they,
and they ground it fine and put on the coals and that incense,
the smoke, you know, went up and that's the prayers of Christ.
These spices are the sweet intercession of Christ for his people to think. that Christ himself seated at
the father's right hand is praying for me. Oh, that's sweet spices,
sweet spices, a mountain of spices. Well, her prayers, Lord, come
take me there swiftly. Come take me there. Take me out
of this world of sin to be not only just in a place of righteousness,
but I'm not so much interested in a righteous place, I'm interested
in being like Christ, being made like Him, body and soul. Come
take me from this world that wearies the soul to where I can
rest in Thee, to rest with Thee face to face. All right, well
I hope this study, Song of Solomon, has been profitable. If you've
enjoyed it half as much as I have, you've got a blessing. I just,
I don't know that I can think of a study that we've had that
I have enjoyed more. Such a blessing and I kind of
hate to leave it, but we'll come back to it, won't we? We'll come
back to it. All right, Lord bless you.