All right, Psalm of Solomon,
Chapter 5. I've entitled the lesson this morning, Let Me Tell
You About My Best Friend. Now, there are a few people that
I count as very good friends. They're good, true, faithful
friends. I'm very thankful for them. But
this morning, I want to tell you about my best friend. Some of you are old enough to
remember The TV show from the early 60s, The Courtship of Eddie's
Father, the theme song of that show was Let Me Tell You About
My Best Friend. It was sweet how that little
boy considered his daddy to be his best friend. Well, I want
to use that same sweetness this morning to tell you about my best friend,
the Lord of Glory. That's what the bride's doing
in our passage in verse 16 at the end of verse 16 of Song of
Solomon five. She said, this is my beloved
and this is my friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem. What
an amazing truth. What an amazing blessing
to be able to call the Lord Jesus Christ, our friend. Now, last
time we ended in verse eight where the bride, she's looking
for her beloved. She's, gone through a time of
spiritual sloth and she's woke up, she's looking for her beloved.
She tells everybody, listen to her, if you find my beloved,
you tell me where he is. I'm sick with love for him, I'm
looking for him. And they ask her about her beloved
in verse nine. They say, well, 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? Why are you making such a big
deal about this, about finding your beloved? There are lots
of men to choose from. If you lost this one, there's
more fish in the sea. Just find you another one. What's
so important about this man? Why do you have to have this
man? And people ask many of you the same thing. Why is it so
important where you attend church, where you go to services? There's
so many churches to choose from. You pass dozens of them on your
way here. What's the big deal? Why is it so important to hear
this specific Christ preach? There are so many denominations. What makes yours better than
theirs? Why can't you just go any place? I mean, you know,
everybody sings. Everybody's got hymnals and they
sing. Everybody reads from the Bible. Everybody prays. What's
the big deal? Why don't you go to another place,
a bigger place? There's a bigger crowd. You make
more connections with people, you know, more going on. But
it all depends on who your friend is. The answers to all those
questions for me has to do with my best friend. Let me tell you
about him. Let me describe him to you because
if you ever see him, you'll never settle for anything less. First
of all, Christ, my best friend, is my perfect friend. Verse 10,
my beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among 10,000. My
friend is the God man. He's white, holy, perfect, God. And he's ruddy, he's red, he's
a man. Just like Adam was made from
the red clay, he's a man. But my friend is not a man like
Adam was a man. My friend is the second Adam.
He's the only holy man to ever live. He's a real man, but he's
white, he's perfectly holy. And my best friend is the opposite
of everything I am by nature. You remember back in chapter
one, the bride describes herself as black. She said, don't look
on me, I'm black. I'm black with sin. Well, my
friend, the Lord Jesus Christ is white. He's perfect and holy. But he's my friend anyway. Even
though he's everything I'm not, he's my friend anyway. Because
Christ is the friend of sinners. And I tell you what a good friend
he is. He's a generous friend. Despite all my blackness, despite
all my sin and depravity and rebellion, the Lord Jesus Christ
took the sin of his people. He took that blackness and that
corruptness of his people into his own body on the tree. He
was made sin for his people and he made his people what they're
not. He made his people white, perfectly righteous. He justified
them. Now you remember justified is
not just as if I'd never sinned. justified as being made actually
without sin. Christ justified His people,
made His people without sin by the red blood of His sacrifice.
He bore the curse of sin for me and He made me the righteousness
of God in Him. What a friend, what a friend.
And that's the only reason you can call me the fairest among
women in verse 9. That's what they said, O thou
fairest among women. The only reason you can call
me the fairest among women is my friend. He made me white and
clean in his blood. And that makes my friend the
best friend you can ever have. He's the chiefest among 10,000.
Christ is the chief. He's the chief everything. He's
the chief cornerstone. He's the chief among the resurrected.
He's the firstborn from the dead. He's the king. He's the king
of everybody. He's the firstborn of every creature. He's the king of every creature.
He's alpha and omega. He's the beginning and the end
and everything in between. He's the chief. Christ has the
chief name. The father's given him a name
which is above every name. My friend is higher than the
angels. Now I know the angels. What little I know about angels,
they're glorious, they're powerful. But every one of them, without
exception, worships my friend. He's higher than the angels.
My friend's higher than any man. There are many men we admire,
don't we? They all worship him. If they
don't now, they'll bow their knee to him one day. Abraham
was the father of the faithful. Abraham is the friend of God.
We know he is. Scripture says this. He's a friend
of God. But Abraham worshiped God. God's higher than all men.
And Christ is the standard bearer, this chiefest among 10,000, it
means the standard bearer. Christ is the standard by which
all men will be judged. If we're gonna be accepted of
God, Christ is the standard. We have to be as perfect as He
is. That's why He made His people what He is, as perfect as Him
so we'd be accepted. But Christ is also the standard
in that He's the banner, He's the flag. Christ is the banner
of the gospel. Christ is the message of the
gospel. And he's the one who is the standard bearer. It's
him that lifts up the standard of the gospel and gives his people
eyes to see it. And when Christ is lifted up,
all of his friends come to him. He's made them perfect. He is
the perfect friend. Second, Christ is the powerful
friend. Verse 11, his head is his most
fine gold. His locks are bushy and black
as a raven. Now when the bride talks about
her beloved's head, his head being his most fine gold, she's
talking about the golden crown that he wears on his head. And
she's telling us her friend, her beloved, is king. Now we all would like to have
friends in high places, wouldn't we? If you got a good friend
in high places, they can get you out of a speeding ticket.
They can help you cut through red tape if you need to do something. If you got a friend in high places,
you can get things done. Let me tell you about my best
friend. He's king of kings and lord of lords. There's nothing
that is not under his dominion. There's not anything that is
not under his direct control. And it is his purpose to save
his people. He's going to save his friends
from their sin. Will something fall through the
crack and it won't happen? He'll save his people from their sins.
There's no need to worry. Nothing can stop his purpose
because he's king. Christ our Savior is our powerful
friend. He has the power to put sin away. Who else can do that? Nobody.
My best friend has the power to call his people through the
preaching of the gospel so that they hear him. Even the dead
hear his voice. I can preach to you until I'm
blue in the face, and this is about as far as I can reach.
But if Christ calls you, you'll hear. You'll bow. You'll come
to him. He has the power to call his people. He has the power
to save his people through the preaching of the gospel. He has
the power to give them faith to believe. He has the power
to bring his people all the way home. He'll call them, he'll
save them, he'll bring them to himself, and he'll not let them
go. They'll not depart from him because
of his power. What a powerful friend. And you
don't have to worry about his kingship ceasing. Look over in
Revelations chapter one. You might want to mark your place.
We'll come back to this here in just a minute or two. His
kingship will never cease. His hair, the bride describes
in the Song of Solomon, is black and bushy, black as a raven.
What she's saying is, is he's eternally youthful and strong. Now in Revelation 1, look the
way John, the apostle John, sees the same Savior, sees the same
man. Verse 14, his head and his hairs were white like wool, as
white as snow. Well, now I thought his hair
was black and bushy. John says it's white as snow. Which is
it? It's both. My best friend is eternally young. See, John saw the ancient of
days. That's who he saw. And the ancient of days is eternally
young and eternally strong. He never changes. His will never
changes. If he's my friend, he'll always
be my friend because he never changes. Now on this earth, friendships
come and go. Maybe a friendship ends, somebody
dies, somebody moves away, somebody changes. Who knows whatever reason
a friendship may change. This friendship with my best
friend will never change. This friendship will never end
because he changed. This friendship will never end
because he made a mistake. This friendship will never end
because I made a mistake. He won't allow it. He's my best
friend. What a friend, what a powerful
friend. Third, Christ is the true friend.
Verse 12 in our text. His eyes are as the eyes of doves
by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. The
eyes of my friend, they're the eyes of doves. They're washed
in milk. And that means that they're clear
eyes. The eyes of my friend sees everything as it is. His eyes
are fitly set. They're just in the right place
where they can see all around. My friend's eyes are all seeing.
They see everything. My best friend sees me as I am. He sees me as I am in Adam. I'm
dead. I'm black with sin. I'm depraved. And he loves me anyway. This
man loves sinners. This is my best friend. And his
eyes are the eyes of doves by the waters of the rivers. What
he's talking about there is what he has made me in himself. He's
washed me. He's made me clean. Now, if you
mark your place in Revelations 1, look back there. John goes
on describing this one who he saw. In verse 14, his head and
his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes
were as a flame of fire. I thought his eyes were soft,
kind, and clear eyes, the eyes of a dove washed with milk. I
thought these were mild, sweet eyes. John says their eyes are
the flame of fire. Which is it? They're both. The eyes that John saw were the
fiery eyes of God's judgment against sin. God's all-seeing
eye sees all of my sin. He sees every last one of my
sins. He sees all of my original sin
in Adam. He sees all the sin of my own
commission. He sees all my sin, and I'm glad. Because He sees all my sin, He
put them all on Christ. He didn't miss one. There's not
one left for me to pay for. He saw all my sin, put all of
my sin on Christ, my substitute, and punished my substitute with
death that I deserve. And now I'm sinless. The Father
saw all my sin and put it all on Christ. I'm without sin because
Christ died for me. He died for my sin, bearing the
curse of my sin. I don't see myself as sinless.
You don't see me as sinless. But my friend does. And Earl,
that's all that matters. All that matters is how he sees
me. Because he sees me as I really am. He sees me without sin because
that's the way He made me. Christ is the true friend. And
fourth, Christ, my best friend, is the kind friend. Verse 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet flowers, His lips like lilies dropping sweet-smelling
myrrh. Now John Gill says, Psalm here talks about his cheeks being
as bedded of spices. Gil says it means he's got, my
friend has a full grown beard. My friend is a man. I mean, he's
a man's man. He's a full grown man. He's the
kind of man every woman wants as her husband. He is the man. God didn't send a boy to do a
man's job. He sent the man. That's my friend. I'm the bride of Christ. And
I'm glad I'm not married to an immature boy. I'm married to
a full grown man. He got a full beard. He the man,
the man Christ Jesus. And because my friend is the
man, he has accomplished the salvation of his people. And
he's a kind friend. You think of the kindness of
Christ. How kind is it to save a wretched,
vile, rebellious people like I am? That's such kindness. And he has so fully accomplished
the salvation of his people. His bride lies down in a sweet
bed of sweet spices. Sweet flowers literally translated
there means towers of perfumed flowers, just towers so that
it's soft, a soft place to lay on. And I tell you, my friend
is every woman's dream. It's comfortable to lay your
head and rest on his cheek. He's a real man. I tell you what
a real man is, a real man. This is the kind of man a woman
wants for her husband. He's got the strength, the strength
of character, the strength of mind, the strength of body to
provide. He's got the strength, the love,
and the care for his bride to protect her, lead her. He's the
leader of the home. But he's also got the strength
to love her with a tender, soft love. That's my best friend. That's my husband. Like I said,
he's every woman's dream. His lips are like lilies. What
she means here is the words of his mouth. What's the words of
the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's the gospel. It's all the
word of God. These are sweet words of comfort
to his people. These are words that smell good,
that just, oh, they drip the sweet grace of the gospel. The
words of my friend for his bride, they're sweet words of comfort.
They're words of grace, the grace that pours from his lips. They're
words of forgiveness of sin to sinners. They're words of peace
to the rebel. They're words of assurance to
that timid believer. He talks to a woman the way a
woman likes to be talked to. His lips are like lilies, sweet
words. Now don't get mad at me. I'll
make this next statement. Listen to me before you get mad at me. Let me finish before you get
mad at me. It's just a fact. Women like to talk a lot. Janet
tells me that women use 10,000 words a day. Men only use 2,000
words a day. She said, I got a lot to say.
I got to use up all my words, you know. And you women know
this. When you talk to your husband,
sometimes he zones out. Huh? He didn't hear you. You can talk to my best friend
all you want. And he'll hear every word. He
listens to his people. And he'll talk back to you. He'll
use more than 2,000 words. He'll talk back to you in words
that drip sweet grace and assurance and comfort. Because my best
friend is a kind friend. Fifth, Christ my best friend
is the able friend. Verse 14. His hands are as gold
rings set with beryl. And you know, I really want to
be a good friend to you. But seldom can I make things
better for you. I don't have the wisdom to always
give you the right advice in every situation. I don't have
the ability to fix or change almost any problems that you
have. But my best friend does. The
bride doesn't so much see the fingers of her beloved with the
rings on them, As she sees his fingers as rings, the rings are
a perfect fit for his finger. They're such perfect fits that
really she sees the rings in his fingers as one. That's my
friend. He's working all things after
the counsel of his own will. And his will is always done.
His will is always perfect. Just like a circular ring, it's
always perfect. It's always complete, his will.
His will is a perfect fit to accomplish His purpose to save
His people from their sins. His will is perfect. That mighty
hand that works all things after the counsel of His own will holds
His bride safe in His almighty hand. Now all I can do with my
friends, with you, my friends, I can sympathize with you. I
can laugh with you. I can cry with you. I can't fix that. I can't make
it better for you. My friend, my best friend, not only does
he sympathize with all of his people and all their afflictions,
he can fix your heart too. He can make it better. He's the
able friend. Then sixth, Christ, my best friend,
is a loving friend. Verse 14, his belly is as bright
ivory overlaid with sapphires. Now, when she talks here about
his belly, she's talking about his heart. She's talking about
his bowels of mercy. His love is bright ivory. It's perfect love. His love for
his people is as strong as ivory. This is his strong, electing
love. It's his eternal, electing, redeeming
love. It's his life-giving love. It's
his calling love. It's his keeping love. This ivory
is the immutable, everlasting love of God for His people. And
human words can't do it justice. I mean, it's, well, if you ever
want to feel small, just try to talk about the love of God
for His people. Human words can't do it justice. But we get a clue
here about the love of Christ for His people. She sees His
love as ivory, overlaid with sapphires, I don't know a lot
about ivory or sapphires, but that sounds pretty valuable to
me. Ivory overlaid with sapphires. There's no telling the value
of Christ's love for his people. There's no telling the value
of it. If he loves you, he saved your soul. If he loves you, he's
cleansed you from all of your sin. If he loves you, he's going
to cause you to be born again. He's gonna give you, make you
partakers of the divine nature. He's gonna join himself to you
if he loves you. If he loves you, he'll always
provide for you. If he loves you, he's gonna bring
you to be with him where he is eternally, that you can see his
face, that you can behold his glory. There's no telling the
value of that love. A friend who really loves you,
is valuable. Now, I mean a friend that loves
you not for what he can get out of you, not because you're a
good political connection for him, but loves you just for who
you are, is a true, valuable friend. If you've got a friend
like that, you hang on to him. That's a valuable friend. Well,
I just described my best friend to you. Look at John 15. You want proof he's a loving
friend? John chapter 15, verse 13. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are
my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call
you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.
But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard
of my Father I've made known unto you." What love, what a
loving friend that he would lay down his life that his friends
would live. Then seventh, Christ my best
friend is the faithful friend. Verse 15, his legs are as pillars
of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. Here the bride describes
her beloved, her friend as unchanging. He's a faithful friend. He is
always faithful to his people. Christ was faithful to his people
in eternity. When he told his father, I'll
be surety for those people. I know what they are. I know
who they are. I know what it's going to take
to redeem them. I'll be surety for them. And he's a faithful
friend. Shawnie never changed his mind.
He never went back on his word. He was faithful. to come to this
earth incarnate as a man. Now you and I can't begin to
comprehend how humiliating that was for the son of God to be
made flesh. We can't imagine the distance,
how far down he came to become a man, but he did it because
he's faithful to his people. He was faithful to be made under
his own law and faithful to keep that law as a representative
of his people. He never one time took a day
off, not once, because he's faithful to his people. And he was faithful
to go to the cross. He was faithful. He knew what
was going to happen there. He would be made sin and he would
suffer and die a death that we cannot imagine to pay the sin
debt of his people. How horrible that must have been
for the son of God. So horrible, he prayed to his
father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But he's
the faithful friend. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but thy will be done. He could have called 10,000 angels,
couldn't he? Set him free, but he didn't,
because he's the faithful friend. He was faithful to put away the
sin of his people. And he's faithful to call out
all those people through the preaching of the gospel. He's
faithful to give them spiritual life in the new birth, no matter
how rotten we are. And boy, when you're born again,
then you see it. Then you start to get some understanding
how rotten, how rebellious, how undeserving I am, despite how
undeserving we are, he's faithful to give his people life in the
new birth. Brethren, he's faithful. He said, I'm coming back. He's
going to do it. He's faithful to do what he promised. He's coming again to gather together
all those that he died for to be with him eternally. Now, the
only friend we could ever have that would do this is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the only one who could be
this faithful friend. He's the only one, first of all,
he's the only one of even purpose to do such a thing. You and I
would not do such a thing for sinners. We wouldn't do the thing
like this for our enemies. He's the only one that would.
But suppose in some stroke that we would act contrary to our
nature, we would decide I'm going to do something like this for
my enemies. We wouldn't have strength to
do it. We don't have the ability to do it. My best friend does. He's the only one who's got the
strength to bear up under the weight and burden of the sin
of his people and not be crushed by it. His legs are pillars of
marble. They're strong. They'll never
buckle. They're strong legs, set in gold,
set in the purpose of deity, set in the purpose of God to
redeem his people. And he did it because he's a
faithful friend. And then eighth, Christ my best
friend is the beautiful friend. The end of verse 15. His countenance
is as Lebanon, excellent as cedars. Now I hope we're not so shallow
that we pick our friends based on if they're good looking or
not. Hopefully we've advanced past middle school, which I hope
not. But I suppose it doesn't hurt
none that my friend, my best friend, is the fairest of them
all. He's the bright morning star.
He stands in majestic beauty like those stately cedars of
Lebanon. He stands in majestic beauty. He stands out in the crowd because
he's taller than everybody else. He's head and shoulders above
everyone else. He stands strong like those cedar
trees. He never rots or decays or changes,
just like cedar. There isn't anything about my
best friend that isn't lovely. I don't care what angle you look
at from every angle. He's altogether lovely. Every
detail of my friend is beautiful. Verse 16, she said, his mouth
is most sweet. Yea, he's altogether lovely. This is my beloved and this is
my friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem. That's
my friend, my best friend. Are you interested in knowing
my friend? Would you like him to be your
friend? Would you like him to be? Would you like a best friend
like what we've just read? I can tell you where to find
him. You find him in his word. You find him in the word of his
mouth. It's most sweet. It describes
him. It tells us who he is, how we might know him. And that's
what we have to have. We must know Christ. It's not
good enough just to know about him. We must know him. And if you'll know him, you're
going to find him in his word. Seek him. Seek him in his word. Seek him where he's preached.
Seek him in prayer. And I give you this promise.
If you're a sinner, I mean, now I mean a real sinner. If you're
a sinner, if you're without any hope in yourself, if you're a
sinner and you're truly seeking the Savior, Christ, my best friend,
will reveal himself to you. You'll find him. You know why?
He promised you would. He's the friend of sinners. What
a friend. All right, I hope the Lord blessed
that to you.