All right, Song of Solomon, chapter
five, the title of our lesson this morning is Spiritual Stupor.
Chapter four ended with the bride asking her beloved to come into
his garden. She wanted the Lord to come into
his garden to enjoy the fruits of his spirit that he's put in
her. Chapter five begins, there really probably shouldn't be
a chapter division there, but this chapter begins with the
Lord saying, I am come into my garden, verse one. I am come
into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh
with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk my wine with milk. Eat, O friends, drink,
yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. Our Lord says, I am come into
my garden. And we ought not be surprised
with that. The Lord promised he'd always be with his people.
He's in his garden. And here's the first clue that
the bride's in a spiritual stupor. He had to tell her I've come
into my garden. If she was fully awake and alert, she'd know that,
that the Lord was there in his garden. And he says, I am in
my garden. I have enjoyed the results of
my work for you, my work in you. I've enjoyed my honey and my
honeycomb. I've enjoyed the sweetness that's produced in you by the
gospel because Christ is in you. I have enjoyed the pure wine
of the gospel that's in you. I have enjoyed the purity of
the new man that's been born in you. And I've enjoyed my wine
and my milk. Now I look that up, wine and
milk, they would mix those two into a drink. It was a health
drink, wine and milk. And the Lord says, I've enjoyed
my gospel in you. I've enjoyed the nourishing milk
and the cheering wine of the gospel. that gives you health and strength.
I've enjoyed giving my gospel to you. The Lord's enjoyed all
these things. Our Savior has satisfaction and
enjoyment in his garden. It's just like a farmer going
out and seeing his field full of good crops. There's satisfaction
in a job well done. Well, that's our Lord. He finds
satisfaction in his people. He finds satisfaction in what
he's made his people. And now he tells his bride, you
come eat. Now we've seen in these past
chapters some pet names our Lord has for his bride. He's called
her my dove. He called her my love and my
spouse, my sister. Now he says my friend, he calls
her my friend. Now how'd that happen? We were
born enemies of God, but a believer is a friend of God. Just like
Abraham was a friend of God, every believer is a friend of
God because we've been reconciled to God by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look over in John chapter 15. Every believer is a friend of
Christ. This is what he says, John 15
verse 14. You are my friends. If you do
whatsoever, I command you. Now what is it he commands his
people to do? Believe, bow to him, come to him. You're 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've called you friends. I've showed you
what I'm doing. All things that I've heard of
my father, I've made known unto you. You're my friends. You know,
they say if you come to the end of your life and you've had one
true friend, it's been a life well lived. Every believer has
one true friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon said, there is
a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. That's our Lord
Jesus Christ. When our Lord went to raise Lazarus
from the dead, he didn't say, my servant's sleeping. He said,
our friend, Lazarus, sleeping. And I'm gonna go to wake him
from his sleep. What a friend we have in Jesus.
All our sins and griefs to bear. Why don't we take everything
to our Lord in prayer? We have this friend. Why don't
we take everything to him in prayer? And this is not a casual
friendship. Christ loves his friends. He
calls his friends, O Beloved. He said, I love my friends. We're
loved of God in his electing love, his redeeming love, his
calling love, his keeping love, a vast ocean of God's love for
his people. And he calls her, O Beloved.
Well, this is the name she's been calling him all through
the Song of Solomon, isn't it? O Beloved. That's his name. What's
he doing calling her that? Because a believer is a spouse
of Christ, married to him, we're joined to him so we bear his
name. And because we're joined to Christ,
we're beloved of God. And our Lord tells his friends
that he loves. Now I've come and enjoyed my
garden, now you enjoy it. You drink abundantly, eat abundantly
of all the goodness and the mercy and the grace that God has for
sinners in Christ. You don't have to hunger and
thirst after righteousness. Come fill yourself, eat and drink
abundantly. Just come and gorge yourself
on Christ. Just eat so much that you're
just sick. That's what he's saying here.
There's plenty. So come eat up. When He says here, come and drink
abundantly, He means be drunken. Just drink so much of Christ,
you're intoxicated with Him. Your senses are filled with Him.
Every move you make is affected because you're intoxicated with
Christ. This is the feast of Christ's
love for His people. And He says, come eat, come drink
abundantly. Now that's so wonderful. wonderful
commandment, invitation from our Lord, come eat and drink. Then why are we starving to death
so much? Why do we feel so thirsty all the time? Why don't we always
take advantage of this glorious blessing? He says, come eat and
drink. Well, if you come, are you going to leave hungry? Are
you going to leave thirsty? Of course not. Then why don't we
come eat and drink? because far too often we're in
a state of spiritual stupor. We're so sleepy, we're too lazy
to enjoy communion and fellowship with Christ. This is what, verse
two, she says, this is her answer. He says, oh friend, drink, yea,
drink abundantly, oh beloved, my beloved, you come eat and
drink. And look at her answer. She said, while I sleep, but
my heart waketh. It's the voice of my beloved
that knocketh, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, My dove,
my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew, and my locks
with the drops of the night. Now this is Solomon's song. Now
this love song takes a dark turn. The music gets deeper and slower,
more ominous. You know, when you're watching
a movie, you hear that music change. You know, something bad's
gonna happen. You know, why don't everybody in this movie, you
know, something bad's getting ready to happen. Don't you hear the music? That's what's
happening. The music takes an ominous turn.
And she says, I sleep, but my heart's awake. She's asleep,
but she's not really asleep. She's asleep, but she's aware
of what's going on around her. She's dreaming, but she knows
she's dreaming. Last night, I woke up and I was
dreaming. I thought, oh, well, this is
good. I'll use this illustration. I was dreaming last night. I
dreamed about the cold. I dreamed it was freezing cold
and great big snow. We had over a foot of snow. And
Sam Simpson was in our backyard, covering himself up with snow,
trying to be warm. And Janet was so mad, she said,
Sam Simpson, you get in here. He said, no, he said, this snow,
it's warmer than the air. I'm going to warm myself up with
snow. And I thought, well, now that's not happening. That's
just, this is a dream. I know it's a dream, but boy,
it seemed real. Well, that's what she's dreaming.
But she knows she's dreaming. She's asleep, but she is aware
of what's going on around her. She knows there's something she
probably ought to get up and deal with, but she's dreaming. She just can't get up and do
it. She's aware that Christ is there. She's aware he's at the
door. Now, she's been born again. This
is a believer. She's born again. She has spiritual
life. That's the only way she could
hear the Lord. The only way she knows the Lord is near is she's
got life. She's conscious of the Savior, but she's not occupied with him.
She's not occupied with Christ. She's preoccupied with the things
of this world. She's preoccupied with herself. So she's not occupied with Christ. She loves him, she knows he's
there, but she, for the life of her, she cannot stay awake,
just like the disciples with the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He said, can't you watch and pray with me just an hour? They
wanted to, but they could not stay awake. That's the way she
is. She's just careless about the
things of the Lord. She's indifferent. Now she's
a believer, but she's in the flesh, and it's the flesh that
makes us so sleepy and lazy. She's a true believer. The Lord
calls her my sister. We've got the same father. You've
got my nature in the new birth. You're my sister. You're a believer.
He calls her my love. He loves her. She loves him.
He calls her my dove. She is a one who truly mourns
over sin. She's faithful to her spouse.
And he calls her my undefiled. You're undefiled, pure from sin,
because I've washed you in my blood. That's what he's referring
to when he talks about his head being filled with dew and the
locks of his hair being filled with the drops of the night.
He's reminding her of the time he prayed for her in the Garden
of Gethsemane when it was nighttime and the dew was on his body.
His body sweat as it were great drops of blood like his body
was covered with dew. And he reminds her of when his
head was crowned with that thorny crown and that crown was piercing
his scalp and the blood ran down his brow and his face, all in
his hair. He's reminding her of the time
he gave himself as a sacrifice for her sin. And that ought to
reach her heart now. And our Lord says, now you come
and enjoy communion with me, the one who gave myself as a
sacrifice for your sin, come. But look how she responds, verse
three. She said, I can't do it. I've put off my coat. How shall
I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? Now our Lord says, come, enjoy
a time of fellowship with me. And she says, I can't. I'm just
too tired. She said, I put my pajamas on. I put my house coat, hung my
house coat up, you know, and got all in bed and under the
covers. I'll get cold if I take the covers
off and come back out. I've already washed my feet.
I get my feet dirty if I get back up. Then I have to go through
this whole routine of washing my feet again and getting into
bed and getting warm. I'll never get to sleep if I
get up now. See what she's doing? She's preoccupied
with herself. She's thinking more of herself
and her own comfort than being with the Lord. Now that pierces the heart of
every believer here. Every believer knows the misery,
the utter misery of this spiritual stupor. Because far too often,
that's our experience, far too often we're in this stupor rather
than being vibrant and awake and alive. John Newton knew about
it. How tedious and tasteless the
hours, he wrote, when Jesus no longer I see. What? John Newton
of all people, why didn't he see the Lord? Spiritual stupor. Dear Lord, he said, if indeed
I'm thine, if thou art my son and my song, say, why do I languish
in pine? And why are my winters so long?
Why isn't there more springtime? Why are my winters so long? Oh,
drive these dark clouds from my sky. Thy soul-cheering presence
restore. What's he talking about? The
misery of spiritual stupor. His friend William Cowper wrote,
he said, I hear. but I seem to hear in vain. I'm
insensible as steel. The gospel's not affecting me.
It's bouncing off of me like I'm steel. If all it's felt is
only pain, to find I cannot feel. The saints are comforted, I know,
and I know they love thy house of prayer. I, therefore, go where
others go. I'm not finding any comfort there.
Why is that? Why do we come to the house of
the Lord and hear the gospel No comfort there. Spiritual stupor. The Lord says, come eat, drink,
come enjoy communion with me. She says, oh, I can't. I'm too
sleepy. I can't get up out of bed. Look
back at Song of Solomon 1. There's a time she wouldn't have
talked like this. Verse 4. She said, draw me, and
we'll run after thee. The king hath brought me into
his chamber. We'll be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember
thy love more than wine. The upright love thee. Look over
at chapter two, verse 10. My beloved spake. He said to
me, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the
winter has passed. The rain is over and gone. The
flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing of birds
has come. The voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Oh, there
was a time she wouldn't talk like this. There was a time she
rejoiced when her beloved said, Come with me and enjoy a time
of fellowship. What on earth happened between then and now?
What happened? I tell you what happened. The
Lord gave us so many blessings. We got the spirit of Laodicea.
Look at Revelations chapter 3. The spirit of Laodicea is lukewarmness. Why did that happen? Because
the Lord gave us so many blessings. He blessed us so abundantly.
we began to take His mercy and His grace for granted. Revelation
3 verse 14, And unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert
cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I'll spew thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked. Why didn't they realize they
were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?
Spiritual stupor. They were awake, or asleep, but
they They weren't asleep. They just, they couldn't deal
with things that they needed to deal with. And that's what
the bride's saying here. She says, I'm so warm and comfortable.
I don't want to get up and stay in the fight. I don't want to
get up and contend for the faith. I want to lay in my warm bed
and be comfortable. She says, besides, my feet are washed.
I'm already washed in the blood. Everything's already fixed up.
I don't want to get out and go to the surface. It's too cold
this morning. Why should I be the one to go do something? I've
already done enough, haven't I? Let somebody else go do it.
I've sacrificed enough for the cause of Christ. Now I gotta
think of myself. Because if I don't think about
myself, nobody else will. Let somebody else give. Let somebody
else go preach. Let somebody else go teach. Let
somebody else sacrifice their time and their talents. Let somebody
else prepare the music and play the instruments. Let somebody
else, I'm tired, I wanna think of myself. You know, our Lord
gave the Apostle Paul a thorn in the flesh to prevent just
that from happening to him, lest he get puffed up for all the
revelations the Lord gave him, because this is a fact. We're
most prone to spiritual drowsiness. We're most prone to lukewarmness
when we're most blessed of the Lord, because we begin to take
those things for granted. Now the Lord's knocking, she
hears him knocking. But she's in such a state of spiritual
stupor, she can't get up even for the Lord. Now that's not
her neighbor that's knocking. This is the Lord. She can't get
up even for the Lord Himself. Now stay there in Revelations
chapter 3. I want to deal with this business of the Lord knocking
on the heart's door. Armenians use this verse, these
two verses. We'll read one here in Revelations
in just a minute. And they use it to say, now the
Lord's knocking. And you'll be saved if you get up and answer
him. You let him in. But now you gotta let him in.
The Lord's not gonna violate your free will, you know, but
you'll be damned if you don't get up and answer him. The Lord's
knocking. He'll damn you if you don't let him in. Now there's
poor little Jesus out there knocking. It's nighttime. He's cold. He's
got dew on him. He's cold. Now don't you feel
sorry for him. Won't you let him in? He's knocking.
Won't you let him in? That's not what that means at
all. Let's read the scripture in context
here. Revelation 3 verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door,
knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I'll come in to him and will sup with him and
he with me. Now who's the Lord talking to
there? He's talking to those he loves. Look at verse 19. As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore,
and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock at your heart for those that I love, for those I would
rebuke and chasten. Each time the scripture refers
to the Lord knocking, whose heart's door is he knocking at? A believer. He's knocking at the door of
his bride. He's talking to those. He's knocking at the door of
those he's loved. It's not unregenerate people. He's not begging unregenerate
people, he's knocking at the heart's door of his bride. Now
when the Lord comes to save someone, he does not wait for an invitation.
If he waited for an invitation, nobody would be saved. The Lord
knocks the door down, and he's sitting on the throne of our
hearts before we ever know what's going on. And then we're glad
that he's there, and we beg him to stay. But the Lord is not
begging to come into that old, cold, dead heart of Adam's nature. He don't want that heart. He
don't want that at all. Who does? I don't. Certainly
he doesn't. The Lord gives a new heart and
he rules and he reigns in that heart. And when the Lord comes
to his people, the people that he saved, the people that he's
regenerated, He doesn't come in like a tyrant all the time.
Certainly, it's his heart. It's the one he gave. It's his
privilege to knock the door down and come in any time he wants.
It's his heart. It's his place of abode. It's where his throne
is. But he doesn't come like a tyrant to his people all the
time. Now, how would you ladies like it if every time your husband
come in the bedroom, he knocked the door off the hinges? There's
no need for that. He's your husband. He loves you,
and you love him. You love each other. You're looking
forward to this time of communion and being together. Christ the
Lord never knocks on the heart's door in weakness. Never. He always knocks in power. The Lord comes to the regenerate
heart and he knocks on the heart of the regenerate heart, the
door of the regenerate heart, and that door will be open. because
he's made his people willing in the day of his power. His
knocking is what's making his people willing in the day of
his power. He knocks to make our hearts rise up in desire
for him. Look at verse four back in Song
of Solomon chapter five. My beloved put his hand by the
hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him. Now here
she's in a spiritual stupor, but the Lord is not going to
let her stay that way. Well, how does he not let her
stay that way? By reaching his hand in the hole of the door.
I'll tell you good evidence that a person has spiritual life is
they know they're dreaming. They know they're in this state
of spiritual stupor. They know Christ is near. Now
they may not be able to feel like they can get up and answer
him, but they know he's near because they have spiritual life.
And our Lord is going to say to it, when we're in a spiritual
stupor, his people will be awakened. He'll remind us how much we enjoy
his presence so that we will not be satisfied staying like
we are. That's why he makes his presence
known. So we won't be satisfied staying in a spiritual stupor.
He'll remind us of the kisses of his lips. So we will not be
satisfied staying away from him. The only remedy for this spiritual
stupor is Christ. It's his presence, it's his power,
it's his gospel. He touched her heart, he touched
the door and her bowels, her innermost being was moved with
desire for him. He touched her and she longed
for him. See, Christ is the remedy for
his spiritual stupor. Well, how does he touch the hearts
of his people? Well, he does it with his word. But he also
could use the events of providence, events of our life to remind
us of our Lord, make our heart yearn for him. And I know this. I told you the Lord's not knocking,
begging to come in. He's not begging. He's knocking
to rouse her up and to stir up her love for Him. Because when
the bride finally does come to the door, the Lord's not standing
there. He's not standing there knocking and wringing His hands
and worrying if she can open the door. No, He's not the one
that's begging. When she comes to the door, He's
gone. Now she's the one who's begging. Now she's the one who's
pleading for her Savior. See, because she's in this state
of spiritual stupor, and she's taking the Lord's blessings for
granted, she just expected him to be there. But now he won't
always be there, see? She's presumptuous of his blessings. So verse five, she says, I rose
up to open to my beloved, and my hands dropped with myrrh,
and my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the
lock. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn
himself, and he was gone. And my soul failed when he spake.
I sought him, but I could not find him. I called him, but he
gave me no answer. Now the Lord knocked on the heart's
door of his bride, made desire come up in her. She got butterflies
in her stomach and she's awake. She went to open the door, but
he's gone. The Lord is not the beggar in
this situation. And she didn't miss him by much, did she? He
put his hand on the handle of the door, and when she opened
it, she could still smell him. That smell, his smell rubbed
off on her, she could smell it. Because everything he touched
smelled just like him. And she smelled him. And oh,
it made her long for him. That smell, it satisfied her
some, but mostly it roused up more desire for him. I can't
tell you how many people I've heard tell this story. that they
lost a loved one. And they go back home after the
funeral, they open up the closet, or they open up a drawer, and
they can smell their loved one. Their clothes still smell like
him. Maybe their perfume still, something they still... It makes it where they can almost
see him. They can almost touch him, but not quite. And it makes
them long for that one that they loved. That's the way the bride
is here. She could smell him, and it makes
her long for him. And she called out to him, but
he didn't answer. Well, why didn't he answer? Well,
he didn't answer, so she'd learned some things. He withdrew himself
and didn't answer immediately, so she'd learned to appreciate
him more, so that her love for him would burn hotter. See, by
the Lord not answering immediately, he's fanning the flames of her
love for him in her heart. Because she's going to learn
how much she must have Christ so that she'll be more careful
not to let this happen again, this stupor. She's going to learn
that she'll do anything to make this spiritual stupor not come
on her again because it's miserable. Suddenly all those things of
self and all those things of the world she's preoccupied with
Not only are they getting shoved to the back burner, they're getting
knocked off the stove so that Christ is front and center in
her heart and her mind again. See, this is what the Lord teaches
His people, to diligently seek Him, to diligently desire Him,
to search for Him. And that's what she's doing.
She's going out searching for Him. She's not concerned about
getting out of those warm blankets. Now she's out in the cold night
in the streets looking for Him. She's not concerned with her
own comfort. She's not worried, well, I'm going to have to go
back and wash my feet again. No, she's out beating the pavement
looking for her Lord. And she sought the Lord where
she thought she'd find him. She, you know, found some people
that she thought should be able to help her. Look at verse seven.
The watchmen that went about the city found me. They smoked
me. They wounded me. The keepers
of the wall took away my veil from me. Now, are these watchmen
false prophets? Some of the writers think so.
I suppose it could be. I tell you, we're a whole lot
more likely to be found in the presence of false prophets, and
worse yet, asking them questions when we're in a spiritual stupor.
And it does kind of sound like false prophets who smite and
wound instead of binding up and healing with the gospel, doesn't
it? It sounds like a false prophet who would take her veil away
from her, take the righteousness of Christ away from her, make
her try to earn her own. It could be a false prophet.
But I think these watchmen are God's true prophets. God's watchmen
do bind up and heal. They heal the brokenhearted by
preaching Christ to them. But that very same gospel must
wound and kill the flesh before it ever makes us alive. The same
gospel that binds up and heals also corrects and wounds, doesn't
it? I had a friend tell me one time, while I went to the midweek
service last night, man, I got a spanking. I mean, the Lord
just used the word to correct me. And they said, I'm so happy.
I'm so happy they did that because I'm straightened back up. These
things that were wrong in my mind, the Lord straightened me
up, gave me a spanking with the word. A few weeks later, I saw
the pastor. I was telling him about it and
he was horrified. He said, I wasn't trying to beat
anybody up. I wasn't trying to be, I was trying to comfort people.
Well, you know, that's good, isn't it? You know, boy, if I
sit out to spank somebody, we got problems, you know, just
let the word, just preach the word, the same word that comforts
and heals and binds up and encourages, it'll also correct us, won't
it? I think that's what's happening here. These watchmen, they wounded
her and corrected her over this spiritual stupor by taking our
eyes off of Christ. And this veil, I don't think
it's Christ's righteous. Nobody can take that away from
you. It's taken away our covering. Maybe she had her house coat
on. She said, oh, I got my house coat hanging up. I can't get
back up. Well, she went out, she put the house coat on. They
took that away from her. So she's exposed. So she goes
to seek the righteousness of Christ. And that's what she does.
After meeting these watchmen, her heart longs for Christ so
much, she becomes lovesick again. Look at verse eight. I charge
you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that
you tell him that I am sick of love. Now, she's been in this
sick of love state before, hasn't she? Look back in chapter 2,
verse 5. That being sick of love means
she's sick with love. And every person who's dated
and fallen in love, you know what that is? Being sick with
love. All you can think about is your love. It's just the sight
of her. causes butterflies in your stomach, makes your heart
race, makes you feel dizzy, you know. She'd been sick with love
before. Chapter 2, verse 5. She says,
stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick
of love. Now here she was, sick with love
for her beloved. And then he comes to her and
she says, I'm too sleepy to get up. I don't want to get up and
get cold. I don't want to have to wash
my feet again. What happened? What happened to this fevered
love she felt for him? Well, she got the Spirit of Laodicea,
didn't she? The Lord blessed her and fed
her and comforted her. She began to take his blessings
for granted. She felt like she's just full of blessings. She was
in need of nothing and she fell into this spiritual stupor. And
like I said, every believer has been through this. And we'll
go through it again. You know, in our experience,
it seems like I spend more time in spiritual stupor than I do
in a lively relationship, love relationship with the Savior.
But here's our comfort. Now, it's going to happen. It's
flesh, it's going to happen. But here's our comfort. The Lord
will not let her stay in that condition. He'll teach her. He'll remind her. She needs him. She's got a regenerate heart.
He's going to wake that heart up. He's going to wake up her
desire for him. He's going to fan the flames
of her love for him, so she'll seek him. Now, she's not going
to be satisfied until she finds Christ. She will not be satisfied
until she's with him because she's sick with love for him.
All she can think about is him. She's not thinking about her
housecoat. She's not thinking about that warm bed. She's not
thinking about washing her feet. All she can think about is Christ.
Her heart's beating faster just thinking about him. That smell
of him, oh, just incited more desire for him. She smelled him. She smelled
all the sweetness of his gospel. She smelled the sweetness of
forgiveness of sin in him. She felt the sweetness of his
righteousness being freely given to us. And it just made her dizzy. Just the thought of who he is,
who he is to us, and what he's done for us just made her head
dizzy thinking about it. Now she's sick with love. That's
miserable too, isn't it? Being sick with love. That's
a whole lot better state than she was the star of the chapter,
isn't it? All right. Well, I hope the Lord bless that
to you.