I didn't even want to get up.
Thank you, Lindsey. Jimmy, thank you. Did you write
that song? That's great. There's been a lot of water under
the bridge for me and many of you. With this congregation,
when I was in Franklin, now in Fairmont, Don Shelby, been my friend for
a long time. And for that, I'm very thankful. I certainly wouldn't want to
change anything. I'm convinced. We stayed with
Mark and Regina last night, my wife and I, Glenda. thinking about the seriousness
of standing before you and the responsibility to, in agreement with, obedience to
our Lord's command, told Isaiah, he said, you comfort my people.
He told Peter, he said, you love me, you feed my sheep. And the responsibility to stand
before God's people is a very grave responsibility that I truly
think every once in a while, maybe, maybe, I might feel the
seriousness of it. to stand before you and to tell
you that I always do would be less than truthful. I want to,
I want to. I do want to. But oh, how weak
I see myself to be. But I do pray that God be pleased
to bless the message today. And I feel as though that if
I've ever known or felt that I had the
right message. I believe it's today. I believe it is. I pray it is.
I pray God bless it in spite of me. I'm gonna ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Song of Solomon,
chapter three. Song of Solomon, chapter three. I'd like to look at the first
five verses of Chapter 3, and our passage is
going to begin with the bride relating an experience that is
familiar to every believer. It is that awareness of our need
to inquire and to commune to cry after the Lord. Every believer
knows something about that. And the bride, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, Solomon wrote the heart of a believer. And said in verse one, by night
on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him,
but I found him not. I read some that said that this
was a dream. Maybe it was. But I can tell you, every one
of you that know him, there's been times in the nighttime when
you've become aware of that desire to call on the Lord. Was it a dream? I don't know. I think I was awake, but it was a quiet time of just
I, and Shulamite expressed in that night on my bed. David, hold your place, turn
to Psalm 77 too, Psalm 77 too. It was a man after God's own
heart. Here's what he said, Psalm 77,
2. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My soul, or
in the margin, it says hand, ran in the night and ceased not,
and my soul refused to be comforted. The word sore is interpreted
hand. I looked it up. It is, but it
means direction. Direction. Being unsure. He said in the night. Now this
was something that was different than that part of the day that's
opposite the daytime, like now. David said it was in the night
of my affliction. when I just didn't know. I don't
know. I don't know. And he said in
my hand, the direction, I just didn't know what direction. The Lord was moving. And he said, and I refused to be comforted. I just, Whenever
Jacob heard about his son Joseph, he didn't know what happened
to him. He tried to comfort him. I didn't know, you know. But seeking
the Lord is something that the natural man knows nothing of. Romans 3.11 said there's none
that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God. Man in
his fallen state, he's corrupt head to toe and he doesn't have
a heart to seek the Lord. There's no interest to approach
him as an empty handed beggar. But a believer knows something
about that. He needs to hear, he wants to
hear. David said in Psalm 27, eight, when thou saidest, seek
my face, my heart, said unto thee, Lord, will I seek? I want to. I want to seek, I
want to. So the bride, back in Song of
Solomon three, she sought. By night, is that the nighttime? Well, yeah. Is it the day of
my affliction? Yeah. By night on my bed. It's quiet and I seem to be able
to hear, seem to be able to perceive something. I sought him. whom my soul loveth. Again, I would always advise
you, look these words, when you read something, get your concordance
and look it up and see what it says. She said, I sought him.
It means sought out to worship, to strive after, and to beg of
him. So she did, she did what he commanded
to do. Isaiah 55, six. Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let me tell you where Shulamite
was. She didn't have any other place
to go. And she didn't wanna go anywhere
else. I want to seek him, I want to
know. I don't know what to do. What
else is a believer gonna do? She sought him expecting that
he would be found. Listen to the words of our Lord,
Matthew 7, 7. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. And do you know what she did?
You know, whatever believer does, they're going to hang on to every
word of that. What else are we going to do?
What else can we do? But the scripture says when she
sought him back in verse one, she didn't find him. He didn't
appear to exist. He didn't appear to exist. Now
the Lord said, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you. And the settleness of her heart
just seemed to escape her. She continually, she came and
she sought her beloved. He is the life of His people,
and they long for His presence, they long for His voice. My sheep,
hear my voice. Come unto me, all ye that labor
heavy laden, I will give you rest. Lord, would you say something to me? Lord, would you give me that
comfort? Would you give me that rest? I don't have anything else. They know Him. They know Him.
They know that He is their salvation. Who is the one who has justified
you? Who is it? That's the Lord. Who
is the one that redeems you? Who is the prophet from God for
you? Who is your King? It's the Lord. That's who He
is. And they seek after Him. But
the Spirit of God has been pleased to teach us something this morning,
something of ourselves. She sought Him by night, sought
Him in the day of her affliction, and she sought Him, she couldn't find Him. She sought
Him in that deep, in that affliction, deep calamity or distress of
her heart without the apparent presence, guidance, direction
of the Lord. That's what Mr. Vine said. Vine's
analytical concordance. You know that you know him. I sought him whom my soul loveth. But the heaviness, not being
able to find him, was so great. Shulamite, I noticed something
just before, in the last two verses of chapter two, she had
just related something of her relationship to him. Now, again,
you didn't know it. You know, you know what this
is talking about. Look what it said. Verse 16 and
17 of chapter 2, My Beloved is Mine. Now, do you know that? You know that. And I'm His, and
you know that. He feedeth among the lilies.
And then she said in verse 17, Until the day break and the shadows
flee away, until that new day breaks, that everlasting day,
And the shadows flee away. Right now, the shadows of doubt
and not knowing and the shadowy areas. We see through a glass
darkly. But we see. But until, here's what, here's
her attitude toward him. Until the daybreak and the shadows
flee away, turn. What does she mean? Lord, turn
to me. Lord, make yourself known to
me. Turn. Behold your face. Turn, my beloved, and be thou
like a roe in a young heart, lively, alive upon the mountains
of Bethar. Turn to me, be swift to make
yourself known to me. That's what she's saying. And
a believer believes that. She believes that he's not gonna
leave her. She knows he's not gonna leave her. Not gonna say,
she knows that. but for reasons known only to
the Lord. Why does the Lord leave us in
these times of uncertainty? Why? Because he's all wise and
he's good and he's faithful. He promises. He mercifully hides
himself from his people. that he might awaken, awaken us. You know, we think that we'll
never be in a state of sleepiness, but he who knows us better than
we know ourselves, stimulates our heart. Look at Song of Solomon
five, verses two to eight. Shulamite said, 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 you, my locks with
the drops of the night. Now, listen to her response. Someone would say, I'd never
say this, my friend, you that know him no better than this,
listen to what we say. Now this is our heart. By nature,
we got an old man about us that's still with us. And here's the
struggle. She said, I put off my coat.
How shall I put it on? I've washed my feet, how shall
I defile them? And then, My beloved put his
hand by the hole of the door and my bowels, my heart moved
for him. He knows how to awaken us. He
knows how to stir us up. We find ourselves so often in
that state of insensitivity. We're all like this, all of us,
all of us. He calls to her and she gives
him some excuse But He knows how to awaken us. And that's
what He did in verse 4. And she said, I rose up to open
to my Beloved, and my hands dropped with my fingers with sweet-smelling
myrrh upon the handles of the door. She touched the very spot
that He had touched. She was that close. She knew
it. She knew it. I can smell Him. I smell. I know, I know it's
the Lord, I know it's the Lord. And she said, I opened to my
beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone and my heart
failed when he spake and I sought him but I could not find him.
I called him but he gave me no answer. Why would he do that? Because
he loves us. He's not gonna leave us to ourselves.
Does he know how to how to stir our hearts, call upon him. Does he know how to do that? There's a song all of us, it's
a poem, but it was written by John Newton. He wrote this poem,
I wrote it down, I wanna read it. We've read it, you've heard
it so many times, that's okay. We'll just hear it one more time.
Name of his tis a point I long to know. John Newton, I believe,
wrote and penned the very heart of a believer as they go through
this world and they struggle. And that's what Shulamite's doing
right here. She's seeking the Lord, the Lord
she loves. I sought him whom my soul loveth. John Newton said, "'Tis a point
I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? If I love,
why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who have never heard His name. Could my heart so hard remain
prayer, a task and burden prove every trifle give me pain if
I knew a Savior's love? When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You that love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it thus with you? Yet I mourn my stubborn will. and find my sin a grief and thrall. That means something that grips
me. I can't get rid of it. Should
I grieve for what I feel if I did not love at all? Could I joy
his saints to me choose the ways I once abhorred? Find at times
the promise sweet if I did not love the Lord. Lord, Decide the
doubtful case, thou who art thy people's son, and shine upon
thy work of grace, if it be indeed begun. And let me love thee more
and more, if I love at all, I pray. And if I have not loved before,
help me to begin today. Now let me ask you something. Have you ever felt something
like that? Have you ever felt the weightiness of that? Have
you ever found yourself asking, do I truly believe this? I know I should, I know I ought
to, do I? Lord, help me. I didn't know this until a couple
of weeks ago, but somebody read that poem that John Newton wrote. Many of you may have already
known what I'm about to tell you, Somebody read that and wrote
a response to it. And I'd never read it, Mark. I never knew there was a response
to that poem. I've read John Newton's poem.
But I read this, and I know it was a response, but I don't know
who the author was. But that's okay. And here's what
they wrote in response. What is this point you long to
know? Methinks I hear you say tis this. I want to know I'm
born of God, an heir of everlasting bliss. If this is the point you
long to know, this point is settled in my view. For if you want to
love your God, it proves that He did first love you. I want
to know Christ died for me. I want to feel the seal within. I want to know Christ's precious
blood was shed to wash away my sin. I want a mind more firmly
fixed on Christ, my everlasting head. I want to feel my soul
alive and not so barren and so dead. I want more faith, stronger
faith. I want to feel his power within.
I want to feel more love to God. I want to feel less love to sin.
I want to live above the world. and count it all but trash and
toys. I want more tokens of God's grace,
some foretaste of eternal joys. I want, I know not what I want. I want that real special good,
yet all my wants are summed up here. I want to love, I want
my God. Is this the point you long to
know? The dead can neither feel nor see. It is the slave that's
bound in chains that knows the worth of liberty. So where a
want like this is found, I think I may be bold to say that God
has fixed within my heart what hell can never take away. However
small thy grace appears, there's plenty in thy living head. These wants to feel, my Christian
friend, were never found amongst the dead. These nights, seasons, are trying. And they're painful. And actually,
they prove the believers to be alive in Christ. When they feel
the hurt, the pain, and the seeking for His presence, His compassion. And without Him, you'd never
feel it. He said, without me, you can do nothing. But the struggle. The bride sought him because
she loved him. I sought him whom my soul loveth. The carnal heart may pretend
they talk, they talk a good fight. But I'm telling you, only a believer
knows the pain of seeking, hungering, and thirsting after him. But to speak of him who loves
the sheep, to speak of him who is the life and bread, the hope,
the king, the savior, the righteousness, only a believer knows that. I
sought him on my bed. I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. Look at verse two. She said, I will rise, now this
word right here, now. I will rise now and go about
the city and the streets and the broad ways. I will seek him
whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not." A believer is not satisfied just
to sit back and do nothing. People say, well, I'm going to
just wait on the Lord and that's the wisest thing we can do. But
I'll tell you what, while we're waiting on the Lord, do all that
you know to do. I'll show you what she did right
here. She sought Him diligently. Because of that sense of being
estranged from Him, that sense of not knowing was just almost
intolerable for her. I mean, the separation, the pain
of, you know, you just, a believer is not at rest when you just
seem to not know the mind of the Lord. I mean, some may be
able to say, well, it's not a big deal. When the Lord is pleased,
he'll reveal himself. Let's just don't worry about
it. You can't do that, you just don't
do it. If I fail to know times that
I'm seeking the Lord and asking after and truly, truly wanting
to know and when the Lord seems to just hide his face and the
time just goes on and on You just, you just, you become
more intent on desiring to know. David said in Psalm 119 verse
10, with my whole heart, what does that mean? With the sincerity
of my heart, everything I know, with my whole heart have I sought
thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy
commandments. Lord had created within Shulamite
a desire to seek Him. And He ordained the means by
which he's going to seek. Now let me tell you how every
believer, let me tell you what you're doing. What she did. I will rise now
and I'll go about the city in the streets. I looked up that precious word
city. Went about the city. Here's what it is, a place guarded
by a watch. A place guarded by a watch. If I come to Danville, Kentucky,
you wanna know where I wanna go, especially on a day when
we're gonna be together and worshiping. I wanna go to the city where
a watch has been set up by the Lord. I want to be in the midst
of God's people. I want to be where God has been
pleased to allow the truth to be openly proclaimed. That's where I want to be. Can
you imagine coming somewhere and being in a place where God's
raised up the gospel on a day where God's people are going
to meet together and I'm not going to be there? that God's people would assemble
together today and I'd be satisfied to be somewhere in Danville this
morning and not be here? Where's she gonna seek it? Well,
the first thing she did, she said, I'm gonna go about the
city. I'm gonna go into that place that is guarded by a watch. I wanna go someplace where God's
raised up the truth and blessed it. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of you. Where
do you think Shulamite's gonna go? I wanna go where the Lord
promised he's gonna be. Who knows? She sought him and
she can't find him. She doesn't know. I wanna come
someplace where I know he said, I'll be in attendance right there.
I am in the midst of you. And that's what she did. She went to that place that was
guarded, a place where the Lord was pleased
to bless. But look what it says in the
latter part of verse two. I sought him, but I found him
not. The Lord may be in a place where
he's raised up. No, the Lord will be. in a place
where he's raised up the gospel. And that's the safest place in
the world I'll be. But if he's not pleased yet to
reveal himself to me, I still won't hear. So what did she do
now? Verse three, the watchman that
go about the city found me. To whom I said, saw ye him whom
my soul loveth? Now here's the evidence of the
Lord working within the heart of His bride. He's promised, He's promised,
even if He's pleased to have her eyes holding where she can't
perceive Him, what is she going to do? I want to go and I want
to talk to somebody. I want to talk to somebody that
God's raised up to preach the gospel to. How many times have
I called on? You know that's so. You know
that's so, Shelby. And I didn't know. I have a question. I just got a question. I didn't
know. I don't know. And I'd call my
friend. I want to talk to somebody that
knows God. I want to talk to somebody that the Lord's been
pleased to bless and teach something. I watched one go by, they found
me. Now when she says that they found
me, the sense is that it wasn't in particular that they saw her,
but what they were doing is they were preaching the gospel to
her. And they spoke concerning her case. Now, I'm sitting here,
I'm talking to you and preaching exactly what is being said right
here, but the finding of the need of a believer. When he said,
the watchmen that go about the city, they found me. They found
me in the sense that when the gospel was preached, it spoke
to her need. That's how they found they, they,
the preachers, sin of the Lord were preaching what the Lord
had ordained and the word itself that sharper than any two edged
sword founder, founder in the, in the place of her need. And she asked him, saw ye him who
my soul loveth. Do you know where I can find
him? But again, as needful as it is for them
to preach the gospel, even the preachers don't have
the ability to take God's word and make it factual, opening
up to the heart. Only the Lord can do that. Only
the Lord can make you him. She saw you him. Oh, but look in verse four. It was but a little that I passed
from them, but found him whom my soul loveth. I held him and
would not let him go until I brought him into my mother's house, into
the chamber of her that conceived me. Here, the scripture is revealed
to be effectual to her. The Lord who said, Jeremiah 29,
13, and you shall seek me and find me. When you search for
me with all your heart, and only the Lord knows how to accomplish
that. How long do we seek? until he
reveals. What if it's not today? Keep
seeking. What do we do? Don't stop. Don't
stop. Again, I'll say, like I said
at the beginning, where else are we going to go? To whom shall we go? That's what
the Lord asked the disciples, you know, after many of them
left Him and followed Him no more. The Lord just turned to
His disciples. He said, will you go away too?
Let me ask you this. Will you go away? Will you go away too? Peter said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we're sure. You're the Christ. Where else
we can, you know, We seek the Lord, what did Shulamite do?
She sought the Lord on her bed, she couldn't find Him. She went
to the assemblies, she couldn't find Him. She went to the preachers,
she couldn't find Him. But when the Lord was pleased
to reveal Himself to her, when He was pleased to open her eyes
of understanding, somebody said, how do you know when the Lord
has revealed Himself? You'll know. I said this so many
times in Fairmont, a believer talks like a believer. Now somebody
might say, well, I don't know what you mean. A believer knows
what I mean. When a believer talks, they speak honorably of
the Lord. They don't say anything honorably
of themselves. They don't want to. I want to
speak of Him who's kept me. There's a spirit about them.
How does a believer know when the Lord has revealed Himself?
They know. She said, it was just a little
while, and I passed from them, but I found him. My heart settled. How is a heart settled? Your heart is settled to know
this is the will of the Lord, and he gives rest, and he gives
some peace and some comfort. Peace in the midst of adversity,
yes. Yes. To be taught, this is my
will. And for him to say to my heart,
I am your only comfort. I'm your only peace. The scripture in Luke. Turn with me. I've started just
to read it. I want you to look at it. Luke 24. Luke 24. two on the road to Emmaus. The
Lord three days before had been crucified and he walked up. You know what happened. Their
eyes were holding. They couldn't see him. It was
the Lord that was walking by. He asked them about the events
of that last few days and they told him, they said, well, obviously
you're not from around here. We were sure that the Lord Jesus,
we were sure that he was the Christ. And then three days ago,
they said, since it happened, he was crucified. And he began
to speak to them, beginning with Moses, all the scriptures concerning
himself. And the scripture says in verse
30, Your eyes are still holding.
What is it? They don't know Him. They don't
know it's Him. It came to pass as He set it
meet with them, He took bread and blessed it, and break it
and gave to them, and the scripture says, and their eyes were opened,
and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight. Now listen,
and they said one to another, did not our heart burn within
us? while he talked with us by the
way, and while he opened to us the scriptures. Do you know who
talked with them? He, look at verse 32. They said one to another, did
not our heart burn within us while he talked? And while he opened to us the
scriptures. Do you know when they knew that
they saw? When they saw. And their hearts
were comforted. Their hearts burned. Scripture
says that Shulamite found him whom her soul loveth. Back in Song of Solomon 4, and
I'll wrap this up. She says in the middle part of
verse four, I held him and I would not let him go until I had brought
him into my mother's house into the chamber of her that conceived
me. Now, what did she mean? What
was she talking about? Until I brought her into my,
hold your place again, turn to Galatians four. Galatians four. This is where she found him. She was comforted by him, and
she said, I brought him into my mother's house, my mother's
chamber. Galatians 4, 22-26. For it is
written that Abraham had two sons, one of a bondmaid, the
other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh. But he of the free woman was
by promise, which things are an allegory, for these are the
two covenants. One from Mount Sinai, which gendered
to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage
with her children. But listen to this, but Jerusalem,
which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. What was Shulamite talking about
back in Song of Solomon, chapter three, in verse four, when she
said, I found him, I would not let him go till I brought him
into my mother's house." The mother. The mother of us all. Let me just tell you what it
is and you'll understand it. The mother of us all, being spoken
of here, is that covenant of God's grace in Christ. Salvation, which is by faith,
by grace, through faith, and not of works. So where did the
bride, when she found him, where was the place that she found
rest, rest? She found rest in realizing,
being taught again of his good pleasure to show mercy and compassion
to her according to God's will and God's purpose, not according
to works. I held him, I would not let him
go. This is the only place that I can find any comfort. The Lord
has been pleased to save me by His grace, not that He saw anything
good in me. Paul said, I see in me, that
is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing, no good thing. That He would keep me, hold me
and comfort me. This is the only place I've got
any rest. God has been pleased to show mercy to this sinner. and to teach me of himself, to
reveal himself to me, and he knows how to draw me back. And
then she said, I charge you, verse 5, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the rows and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not
up nor awake my love till he pleased. Now, here's what the
bride is saying. This comfort, this peace that
I find, the Lord revealing himself to me, I strive after not to
have that interrupted. She's talking to the daughters
of Jerusalem. And in the midst of every congregation,
the Lord has promised there'll always be tares among the wheat.
There's always something that'll be. I want you to look. back
in Song of Solomon 2. Who are these daughters of Jerusalem?
The daughters of Jerusalem. If you look through the book
of Song of Solomon, every time the bride is talking to somebody
else, it's the daughters of Jerusalem. She's talking to somebody. And I'm convinced based upon
what I see here that these daughters are the tares that the Lord has
allowed to be in the midst. He said there must be heresies
among you. There must be. There must be.
Why? That those which are approved might be made manifest. Look
at Song of Solomon 2 verse 1 and 2. I am the rose of Sharon and
the lily among the valleys. Now listen. The Lord is speaking. The Lord is speaking here. Look
what he says in verse 2. As the lily among thorns So is
my love among the daughters. Now, the Lord who knows, who
has allowed his sheep to be in the midst of adversity, he's
allowed that. Look in Psalm 5, verse 8 to 10. Now, I'll tell you what, 7 to
10. Psalm 5, verse 7 to 10. Shulamite is saying, ìThe watchmen
that went about the city found me. They smoked me with the word. They wounded me. The keepers
of the walls took away my veil from me.î And hereís what the
bride says, ìI charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, listen to the wording
of the bride. I charge you, O daughters of
Jerusalem, if you find my beloved," now who do you think the bride's
talking about? The Lord Jesus. I charge you,
O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you
tell him, I am sick of love. Now I want you to listen to the
response of the daughters. She says in verse nine, the daughters
say this, back to the bride, what is thy beloved more than
another, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more
than another, beloved, that thou dost so charge us? And listen
to the bride, my beloved is white and ruddy, the chieftess among
10,000. The bride is so careful. I know that there's times that'll
be someone saying something that'll be discouraging, disruptive. But whenever the bride has found
him, she is on guard to keep that, Lord, please, please don't
leave me. Lord, please don't let me be
left to myself. Lord, please reveal yourself
to me. I pray that today, in the midst of our night, and when
I say our night, that's exactly what I mean. I happen to live in Fairmont.
I used to live in Franklin. You're from Danville, and this
is us, because we're one. We're one body in the Lord. And wherever God's people are,
they're together. They're together in heart and
spirit, and they love one another. And they desire God's revelation,
God's Teaching, God's guidance and God's direction. You know
what I want? You know what I want? I pray
God direct us in Danville. Direct us, yeah. Because I'm
at home right here. I pray the Lord be honored today.
I pray God's people be taught and settled and comforted for
his glory in our good. Amen.