Being able to paint a portrait,
that skill is way beyond me. And in these verses this morning,
the bride's going to give us a self-portrait. Now, if I had
the talent to do a self-portrait, I can tell you what I'd do. It's
a mystery to me how anybody can do that. I go over to Marvin
Stoniker's and I see those portraits he paints and I just, I'm flabbergasted. I just, I don't understand how
anybody can do that. If I had that kind of talent, and I painted
a self-portrait, you know what I'd do? I'd paint myself, but
I'd trim off a few pounds, and I'd add some muscle. I'd be taller,
darker, and handsomer if I was going to paint just a little,
you know? We do that, we take pictures. You know, we learn
how to pose ourselves, you know, so we kind of minimize our flaws. That's not what the Bride of
Christ does in our text this morning. She gives us a very
accurate portrait of herself, and the portrait of herself is
the portrait of every believer, the whole Bride of Christ. Our
lesson begins in Psalm 1, verse 5. This is the Bride speaking. She says, I am black, but comely,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the
curtains of Solomon. The first word the bride uses
to describe herself is black. And that's a picture of the blackness
of sin. What she's saying is, I'm ugly
with sin. And that's true of us, isn't
it? Our soul is black with sin against God. Our soul is black
with iniquity. I told you Wednesday night that
word iniquity is perversity and guilt. Our soul is black with
perversity and guilt. Our soul is black with sin because
our nature is nothing but sin. This is the nature we inherited
from our father Adam. So this being the case, I'm black
with sin. There is no sense talking to
me about my free will and trying to get me to make a decision
for Jesus. I'm black with sin. I can't do
anything to please God. By nature, I'm black with sin. I don't even want to do anything
to please God. I have no desire to come to Him.
I'm black with sin, so there's no beauty about me that would
make God love me or make God choose me." Well, how black with
sin are we? Well, she tells us, just so we
know the depth of this matter, she says, I'm black as the tents
of Kedar. But who's Kedar? Kedar is one
of the sons of Ishmael. You know what she's saying? I'm
as bad as Ishmael. Now, you remember Ishmael. was
born. God promised Abraham and Sarah
a son. And they were not content to
wait on the Lord to send them that son, so they decided they're
going to help God out. Sarah sent Abraham into her handmaid
Hagar, and Hagar had a son named Ishmael. We saw this in our study
in Galatians. Ishmael is a picture of the mixture
of grace and works. Ishmael is what happens when
man tries to help God out. Well, what did God tell Abraham
to do? with Ishmael. Abraham cast him
out. Kick him out of the house and
don't let him come back. Ishmael has got to go. That's you and me. We're as sinful
as Ishmael. And God will never accept us.
And ourselves will never accept us. We must be cast out in our
nature. Now this, when she talks about
the tents of Kedar, she's referring to Ishmael, but that also refers
to the tents of the shepherds who lived in this town, Kedar.
Those tents became very black with the elements, where they
were with the kind of rain and sun and things. Those tents became
very black. Well, that's us by nature. We're
black with sin. You can see us from way off,
and we're something that God could never accept. Now look
over at Job chapter 40. This is true faith. True faith
always acknowledges sin. True God-given faith always acknowledges
what we are by nature. We're black with sin. This is what Job says in Job
40, verse 3. Then Job answered the Lord and
said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I'll
lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I'll
not answer. Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further because I'm
vile. He's saying the same thing the
bride's saying in the Song of Solomon. I'm black with sin.
Look at Psalm 51. Here David, Solomon's father,
says the same thing. True faith always acknowledges
our sin, what we are by nature. Sin's not just what we do, it's
what we are. In Psalm 51, Verse 3 is what
David says, For I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin
is ever before me. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. I've got original sin. I've got
sins I've committed. I'm a sinner. Sinner by birth.
Sinner by choice. Sinner by practice. I'm black
with sin. But I look at the next word the
bride uses. She says, I'm black, but comely. That word comely is beautiful.
Now, wait a minute. She just told me she's ugly.
She can't be ugly and beautiful at the same time. Oh, yeah, she
can. Yes, she can. If she's a picture
of a believer, she's going to have to be ugly and beautiful
at the same time. Because that's what a believer
is. We're both ugly and beautiful at the same time, because inside
every believer is two opposite natures. One ugly one, one black
with sin, and one beautiful one, white and holy. We've got Adam's
nature, which is ugly, and every believer has the nature of Christ.
You're a partaker of the divine nature, and that nature is beautiful. Black is the way the believer
sees himself. Black with sin. Comely is the
way God sees us in Christ. And Wayne, he sees us as comely
because that's what we are. He's not just seeing all the
beauties in the eye of the beholder. No, he's made us beautiful in
his Son. God sees us the way we are. Now,
in ourselves, every believer is ugly. But at the same time,
every believer is beautiful in Christ. We're beautiful with
His beauty that He put upon us. Just like that baby Ezekiel found,
Ezekiel 16. That baby was ugly. It was hated
to the loathing of its person. It was cast out in the field.
Christ passed by. Behold, thy time was a time of
love. And He says later on that chapter,
thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. For it
was perfect. through my comeliness." She says,
I'm comely. How did she get to be comely?
Through my comeliness, which I put on thee, saith the Lord
God. The king's daughter is all glorious within. Oh yes, she's black without,
but within, she's all glorious, white and holy. Well, how beautiful
is this new nature? This new nature is perfectly
beautiful because it's the nature of Christ. who's altogether lovely. The bride describes herself as
black as the tents of Kedar, and she describes herself as
beautiful as the curtains of Solomon. Now, what are the curtains
of Solomon? They're the curtains that hung
in Solomon's temple, and those curtains are a picture of Christ.
That's the nature of Christ in a believer. Those curtains that
hung in the temple, we looked at them in our study of the tabernacle,
they're the same curtains. Those curtains were made with
fine twine linen, white, perfectly white linen. That's the nature,
the holy nature of Christ, the man. The believer is both black
as sin and as white and holy as Christ, both at the same time. Then those white curtains had
red thread in them, which is a picture of the blood of Christ.
That believer is beautiful because she's been washed in the blood
of Christ, cleansed from all of her sins. Then those curtains
had blue thread in them. Blue is the color of heaven.
Christ the Lord came from heaven to redeem his people. And a believer
is beautiful because Christ came, he did redeem his people and
he makes us accepted before the Father in heaven. Then those
curtains had purple thread in them. Purple is the color of
royalty. This is the royalty of Christ.
A believer is beautiful because Christ is our King. And everything
in his kingdom is made beautiful with his beauty. Now, you know,
the only person who can see herself as ugly is the beautiful bride
of Christ. If someone's not been born again,
if they've not been given this holy, perfect nature, they don't
see themselves as ugly. They think they're just fine.
The only person who can see themselves as ugly is the beautiful bride
of Christ. Because only the new man can
see the darkness and the ugliness, the depravity of that old man. Which is exactly why the Apostle
Paul cried in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am. How could Paul
say that? Because he had a new nature,
saw what his old nature is, that's why. And we're most beautiful
when we see ourselves as ugly with sin. When we see the depravity
and ugliness of our sin, then we're most beautiful because
then is when we're trusting on Christ the most. I want you to
listen to what Don Fortner wrote in his commentary on this. I
just typed it out because it can't be improved upon. He says
this. He said, We do love Christ, but
before you are converted, did you ever think you could love
God so little as you do? We do pray, but before God saved
you, did you ever think prayer could be as difficult as it actually
is? We do bow to and we trust God's wise, unerring providence
But before God gave you faith in Christ, did you ever think
a believer could grumble so much against God's providence as you
do? God has set our hearts on things above. But before God
revealed Himself to you and in you, did you ever think that
a person who knows the Lord could be so throughly attached to the
toys of this world as you are? That's an honest portrait, isn't
it? That's what we are by nature.
Why is that? Then we pray, but prayers are
difficult. Why is it we do love Christ,
but our love's so weak and fickle? Why is that? Because we're black
and comely. Because we're sinful and righteous. Because we're at the same time
sons of Adam and sons of God. It's those two natures opposing
one another and warring against each other in a believer. Now,
the bride makes this statement, I'm black but comely to the daughters
of Jerusalem. There are as many different opinions
about who these daughters of Jerusalem are as commentaries
you care to read. But it doesn't matter. You know,
some people think these are their heretics or they're unbelievers
or maybe there are other believers. I don't know. But, you know,
it doesn't matter whether they're a heretic or whether there are
other believers, because we say the same thing to everybody,
because this is the true portrait of us. I'm black, but comely. Third, the bride portrays herself
as a woman under affliction. Look at verse six. She says,
look not upon me because I'm black, because the sun has looked
upon me. Now, what she's saying here is
I'm scorched. I'm sunburnt under the hot sun
of trial. And this is what she's saying.
Don't judge me and count me as a cast off from God because you
see me under trial. You see me sunburnt under the
heavy, hot son of trial. Don't count me as cast off. The
Lord chastens those that he loves. The Lord sends trials to every
one of his children. So don't assume the Lord doesn't
love me when you see me under trial. As a matter of fact, assume
that he does. Also, she's saying this, don't
judge me as someone who does not love Christ or someone that
Christ does not love just because you see me sunburned, just because
you see me black with sin. Christ came to save sinners.
Wayne said that in his prayer, remind us again, Christ came
to save sinners. So just because you see me as
black with sin, don't count me a cast off. These are the people
that Christ came to save. Fourth, the bride says she's
poor and needy. Verse six, look not upon me because
I'm black, because the Son hath looked upon me. My mother's children
were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the
vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. My mother's
children hate me because I'm not of this world. I've got a
new nature that's not of this world. And men of the world,
men who just have that fleshly nature, they're our brothers,
aren't they? They're close kin to us. They
have the same flesh we do. And they hate us because we're
not of this world. They cannot understand you because
you're not of this world if you're a believer. Many times it's even
those of our own household. That's what the Lord said. Even
those of our own household are going to hate us because they
don't understand that new man that's been born in us. And the
flesh will always hate and oppress believers. And you know why? Not just because you have a nature
that's opposed to theirs, but because of our message. We tell
them we're all black with sin. I'm black with sin. and you're
black with sin. Adam, my children are black with
sin and yours are too. Now he agrees with that. The
world wouldn't agree with that now. We're going to have an issue
here if I start talking about my children. But this is the
way we're all born. The world hates that message.
So we're poor and needy. We're spiritually poor and needy
and we're poor and needy in this world that hates us. But look
over Matthew 5. That's alright. It's alright
to be poor and needy. Matter of fact, that's the best
thing you could be. Matthew 5, verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You're blessed if you're
the poor in spirit. Yours is the kingdom of heaven.
Look at verse 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake.
If that happens to you, you rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great
is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." You're in pretty good company, aren't
you? The world persecutes you. They persecute the prophets the
same way. Now, look over at Jeremiah 39. How do I know that the bride
here is portraying herself as poor and needy. Well, it's because
the keeper of the vineyard is the hard job that was given to
the lowest servant. You know, that servant has to
work outside, it's hot, it's dusty, it's not a good job. So that's the job that was given
to the lowest servant. Jeremiah 39, here's an illustration
of this, verse 1. In the ninth year of Zedekiah,
king of Judah, in the tenth month came Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, and all his army against Jerusalem, And they besieged
it. And you know what happened. They took that whole country.
Now look at verse 4. And it came to pass that when
Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them and all the men of war,
then they fled and went forth out of the city by night, by
the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls.
And he went out the way of the plain. But the Chaldeans army,
that's the Babylonians, the Chaldeans army pursued after them and overtook
Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him,
they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in
the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon them. Then
the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before
his eyes. Also the king of Babylon slew
all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah's
eyes and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon. And
the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and they burned the houses
of the people with fire, and broke down the walls. of Jerusalem. Then Nebuchadnezzar the captain
of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the
people that remained in the city and those that fell away that
fell to him with the rest of the people that remained. Now
that's what happened to all the big important people in Judah. Their sons were killed. The king
Zedekiah watched his sons be killed. That's the last thing
you ever saw. I watched his sons be killed and old Nebuchadnezzar
Put his eyes out. Last thing he ever saw. Put him
in chains. Carried him off to captivity. He killed all the
princes, all the nobles, and everybody else that lived in
the city. All the rich people with the nice houses. Their houses
were burned down to the ground and they got carried away into
captivity in Babylon. That's what happened to all the
big important people. What happened to the poor and
needy? Look at verse 10. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the captain
of the guard, left the poor, the people, which had nothing
He left them in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields
at the same time. The poor people, they're not
worth fooling with. They got nothing. They are nothing. It's not worth it for me to carry
them away into captivity in Babylon. I'm going to leave them here.
I'm going to make them keep vineyards for old Nebuchadnezzar. The poor
and the needy lived, and they lived in Judah. Blessed are the
poor in spirit. Yours is the kingdom of heaven.
And the bride says, I'm poor and needy. And you know what?
I haven't done anything right. I haven't done anything to deserve
to be put in God's kingdom. The only reason I'm here is by
God's grace. That's what she means back in
her text in verse six. She says, but mine own vineyard
have I not kept? I haven't done anything right.
I haven't done the first thing right. I didn't make myself holy
and pure and I didn't keep myself holy and pure. Christ did that
for me. He chose me. I'm poor and needy.
He washed me in His blood. He clothed me in His righteousness.
He made me righteous in Him. It wasn't because of anything
I did. It's because of what He did for me and in me. Now fifth,
the word the bride uses to portray herself here is love. Look at verse 7. Tell me, O thou
whom my soul loveth. The bride loves Christ. Now she loves Him. And this is
not a passing fancy. This is not just a puppy love. Infatuation is here today and
it fades away tomorrow. The believer loves Christ in
the soul. I love Him because He first loved
me. And that love is genuine and
it's real soul love. We love Christ because of who
He is. We love Christ because of everything
He's done for us and everything He's done in us. How can you
not love the Lord Jesus Christ? But you know, you can't always
tell I love the Lord by looking at me. When you see the blackness
of my sin, you can't necessarily see I love the Lord, because
all you see is that blackness. You can't see my soul within.
When you see me under the burning heat of trial, David says, Lord,
when this happens to me, let me keep my tongue. Don't let
me be a hindrance to the rest of Israel. But sometimes I do. I say the wrong things. I do
the wrong things. I might act wrong and offend
somebody, and when that happens, you can't necessarily see I love
the Lord. All you see is a prank. You don't
see that soul that loves Christ. When you see me as poor and needy,
not keeping my own vineyard, a bad conduct, you can't necessarily
see I love the Lord. Because all you see is me. You
can't see inside. You can't see the soul that loves
Christ. Sometimes, sometimes only the
Lord knows we love Him. Sometimes only the Lord knows
He is my Beloved. We say with Peter, Lord, you
know I love you. Lord, you know all things. You
know I love you. And whatever else is going on,
the bride loves Christ. He is her Beloved. The bride portrays herself here
as seeking the Lord. She says, verse 7, Tell me, O
thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest
thy flock to rest at noon? For why should I be as one that
turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? The bride is
seeking Christ. She has to always seek Christ
because we have no confidence in the flesh. I know what's going
to happen if I'm left by myself. A believer must find the place
where the Lord meets publicly with His people. They must. There's times I know we can't
come to service and we might watch live stream or listen to
tapes or something, you know, and that's fine. But it's not
like being there in person. A believer must find the place
where the Lord meets publicly with His people. A believer just
must find the place where Christ is preached because that's the
only way I can be fed. Lord, tell me where you feed your people.
I've got to be there. I've got to be in the place where
Christ is preached. I'm going to starve to death.
A believer must be in the place where Christ is preached publicly,
because that's where we rest, where he makes us lie down and
rest in his green pastures. And she asked her beloved here,
tell me where you're going to be at noon. Tell me at noontime
where you're going to be. What does she mean by that? Well,
noon is the hottest part of the day. That's the heat of trial,
the hottest part of the day. That's the heat of the desert
of this world. Tell me where you're going to
be when it's the hottest. So I can come rest in Christ.
So I can come rest in the shade of that great rock. Tell me where
Christ is preached. Tell me. I've got to feed on
him. I've got to come so I can rest
in him. I must have Him. You tell me not where somebody
is having a religious service. You tell me where Christ is preached
because I've got to have Him. And this is not just physically
being in the worship service. This is being in the worship
service to worship. This is coming to the worship
service, seeking the Lord. What she's talking about here
is coming to the worship service because I need to hear the gospel
of Christ. This is coming to the worship
service. Not just because this is what I do on Sunday. Because
I need to worship Him. I need to. He ought to be worshipped,
shouldn't He? I need to worship Him. This is
coming to the worship service. I'll tell you what I need. I
need to hear of Christ's love for me. I look at myself. I don't see anything lovable.
I don't understand how anybody can love me. I need to hear of
Christ's unconditional love for me. I need to hear of Christ's
sacrifice for me, for me. All I see is blackness. All I
see is my sin. Would you tell me one more time
how the sacrifice of Christ has cleansed me from all my sin?
I'm so sinful. I need to hear it again. I need
to be reminded. I come to the worship service
because I must hear how that I am righteous in Christ. I haven't
done one righteous thing in my life. And I'm telling you, it
irritates me. Oh, it frustrates me. Would you
tell me one more time about Jehovah Sidkenia, the Lord, my righteousness? Would you tell me one more time?
I need this. That there's forgiveness of sins
in Christ. Not because of anything I do,
but just because He would. He forgave my sin, put my sin
under the blood of His sacrifice. The songwriter said, tell me
the old, old story of unseen things above. Tell me of Jesus
and His glory, of Jesus and His love. Tell me the story slowly. Let's not get in a hurry. Tell
me the story slowly so I can take it in. Give it time to sink
in. That wonderful redemption, God's remedy for sin. Tell me. The old, old story. Christ Jesus
makes thee whole. Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Lord, give me a faithful pastor. Give me faithful teachers and
elders. But you be my teacher. Lord,
give me an undershepherd. But you be my shepherd who feeds
his sheep and gives his sheep rest. Let me hear the voice of
a man. Now, if I'm going to hear from
the Lord, I'm going to hear from a man preaching the gospel. Let me
hear the voice of a man in your flock. But don't just let me
hear the voice of a man. Speak to me through him, through
his word. The songwriter said, tell me the story often. I forget
so soon. Here's another reason to seek
Christ, to seek where he's preached, because if I'm not in the public
worship service, I'll tell you what I'll do. Look what she says
at the end of verse seven. For why should I be as one that turneth
aside by the flocks of my companions?" There's these other shepherds.
Why should I turn aside from your flock and go with them?
That's exactly what I'll do if I'm not being fed. If I'm not
in the worship service, if I'm not hearing of Christ, if I'm
not feeding on Him, if I'm not resting in Him, if I'm not thinking
on Him, I will be prone to leave Him. That's exactly what I'll
do. So she says, I'm seeking you. Tell me where you're going
to be at noon. Tell me where you feed your sheep. Tell me
where you give your sheep rest. Lord, I'm seeking you. Now, would
you find me? Would you find me? And don't
let me go. Don't let me leave your flock. Don't let me leave the place
where your flock gathers publicly. This is often my prayer for those
who meet here, those who don't know the Lord. I plead with the
Lord, the Lord's Word. Lord, you said in the day I seek
you with all my heart, I'll find you. Now cause us to see and
then find us. Find us. If I truly love the
Lord, the bride here describes herself as one who loves the
Lord. If I truly love the Lord, I'll be faithful to him. You
know, I can tell you can tell I love Janet. It's not just lip
service. I'm faithful to her. If I love
the Lord, I'll be faithful to Him. I won't go after other lovers. If I go away, that's my nature. That's my fault if I go away. If I stay, it's because Christ
kept me. Lord, tell me where you meet
with the sheep. Tell me where you feed your sheep and give
your sheep rest. Make me be there and then make
me stay. If I'm kept, it's because He
kept me. How do you know that? Well, I'm
black, but I'm comely. That's how we know. All right.
Oh, the Lord bless that too.