Well, I want you to come back
with me to the Song of Solomon, to the first chapter, and I want
to think this morning about the verses from verse 9 of chapter
1 down to verse 7 of chapter 2. Have you ever heard the expression
that Unbelievers often use of believers that they call them
God-botherers, people who bother God. I remember one of Peter's
friends at university, when he found out he was a believer,
he said to him, oh, I didn't take you for a God-botherer.
you know, somebody who bothers, you know, because the idea of
the world is, isn't it, it's so much better if God's left
to do the things that God does and we leave him alone and don't
bother him. So don't go bothering God, don't go attending his churches,
don't go praying to him, don't go reading his, leave him alone.
This is the idea. Can you imagine, in a marriage,
if a husband or a wife were called a spouse-botherer? Somebody that
bothered the person that was meant to be their husband or
wife. That would not indicate a good marriage, would it? Definitely
not. Not at all. Do you claim to know
God? And all of the things that I'm
saying, I'm asking myself and saying to myself, do you claim
to know God? Do you claim to be numbered amongst
his elect? For make no doubt, God has his
elect. You cannot read this book and
not read about God and his sovereign grace and election. Do you claim
to be a member of his church? Not a particular church, but
the church of God, Christ's church, his bride, destined to be at
his eternal heavenly marriage supper. Do you claim to be that? Well, what is your relationship
with God now? What is it like? What is your
relationship with God now? I'm asking myself. Do you believe
him? Yes, of course. Tick in the box. Is your doctrine
correct? We think so. We're pretty confident
it is. As far as we can make out from
this word, from this book, we believe that we've got correct
doctrine. Do you seek to serve Christ? Well, yes, we don't seek
to not serve him, we seek to do those things which he would
have us do. Do you pray? Bit of a struggle. Yeah, we try
and make room for prayer. Bible reading? If we can, yeah,
we try and fit it in. Ah, but here's the key one. Love. Do you love him? Do you love
him? Is your life a life of fellowship
with the living God? A life of fellowship with Christ?
who you don't see or touch or feel with physical senses but
you know him by his spirit. Do you have communion with him?
We're going to share communion, the bread and the wine, later.
I don't just mean do you break bread and you drink the wine,
I mean do you have communion with him? Do you relate to him? These are questions that we should
all ask ourselves. When we looked at the book of
Ecclesiastes several weeks ago, we found that Solomon taught
us, we must have God. Life without God is utter futility. To get to the end of your life
when you're leaving this life and dying and have not known
the living God is to have lived a life of utter futility, of
utter pointlessness. Do you know God? Well, if you
do, do you love Him? Do you love Him? Describe your
relationship with God. I'm asking myself, think back
over the last week and try to be honest with yourself. Have
you been in love with God? Have you ever been in love with
God? How does God's word describe
the love between Christ and his bride? I've got just two points
this morning. a description of the love between
Christ and his bride, a description of intimate love, here in verses
9 of chapter 1 down to chapter 2 verse 7, a description of that
love, and then a question concerning love. Just two points. So in
Song of Solomon chapter 1 and verse 9, down to chapter 2 verse
7, we've got a description of intimate love. The Church of
Christ is given a poetic description of what God has made his people,
his bride, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ezekiel chapter 16 and
verse 14, you don't need to turn to it, but try and remember.
Ezekiel 16 verse 14 puts it in a nutshell. This is God speaking
to his people, God speaking to his church, to his bride, to
the ones he has redeemed. He says this to his church, and
thy renown, the church's renown, went forth among the heathen,
those who don't believe, for thy beauty, The thing that marked
out the Church of Christ amongst everybody else that ever lived
was the beauty of that church. Why? Why was that? Well, the
verse gives us the answer. For it was perfect. Why was it perfect? Do you feel
perfect before God? I certainly don't, but God tells
us, he tells his bride, it was perfect through my comeliness,
through God's comeliness. Because what does What does God
make us? What does God make us? This is
important. What does God make us? 2 Corinthians
5, 21. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. Why? That we, his people, might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Made beautiful, perfect,
through his comeliness, which I had put on thee, saith the
Lord God. It's descriptive of the church
as a whole, a collection, a collective, but it's also descriptive and
personal for each one, each individual believer. When we read in Ephesians
about Christ, Ephesians 5, 25, Christ loved the church, Christ
loved me, the believer. and gave himself for it, the
church, gave himself for me, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it, that he might cleanse me with the washing of water by
the word, that he might present it, he might present me to himself,
a glorious church, a comely, a beautiful believer in him,
not having spot, no spot of sin, nor wrinkle, not any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. And as believers,
he having loved us, we love him. 1 John 4, 19. We love him, why? Because he first loved us. That's why. Hereby, says John,
1 John 3, 16, hereby we perceive the love of God. How do you perceive,
as a believer, the love of God? Through this. Because he laid
down his life for us. Is that not it? This is a, what
great love? Greater love, said Jesus, has
no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down
his life. Why did he lay down his life?
Because the justice and character and nature of God demanded death
for the sinners, which is his church. They're sinners before
him. They're judged and condemned
before him as they are. They must exact its penalty.
And so Christ came in the place of his people, and bore the curse
of the law, and suffered the death that the law demanded,
that his people might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Greater love has no man than this, that a man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, lay down his life to satisfy the law in the place
of his people, the church. You and me, if we believe, pause
and think on these things. Think on these things. They're
not just academic facts. They stir your emotions. Has
that love of God, in laying down his life, that you might be redeemed
from your sins, from the curse of the law, that you might be
counted and made fit for God's heaven, has that love ravished
your soul? Has it thrilled you? You know,
oh yes, I can do the math, as the Americans say. I can balance
up the books of the law and retribution, and I can see that my sins are
paid for. And you can remain completely
emotionless. But has that love thrilled your
soul? That as a sinner you are brought
from the pit of just condemnation to sit in heavenly places, in
Christ. you are brought from condemnation
to who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect for
Christ has died laid down his life for his friends have you
been drawn in return for knowing something of his love for you
to love him look at the tenderness of the language between these
lovers here look in verse nine This is the king. This is Solomon
speaking to the Shulamite. This is Christ speaking to his
people. This is the bridegroom, Christ,
speaking to his church, his bride, his believing people. I have
compared thee, he says, O my love. The living God says to
you and me, if we're his believing people, O my love. I have compared
you to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots, to our 21st
century language and minds being compared to a load of horses
might not seem particularly flattering, but it was then. And it is, you
know, have you ever known that thrill when you see a group of
horses turned out? Have you ever been to horse guards
parade for the trooping of the color and seen the horses in
all of their, and not had a shiver run down your spine at the beauty
of the scene of the majesty of the scene of the, of the pomp
and the circumstance and the living God. Our blessed Lord
Jesus Christ says to us, his people, I have compared you to
a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots, handsome, good to look
at, chosen, picked out specially, valuable, because they're the
most valuable horses in the world, strong. This is the view of Christ
for his people, for you and me if we believe him. This is love. Oh my love, he says. Verse 10,
he says, thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, and thy
neck with chains of gold. The jewels? What are the jewels
that he hangs about his people? Is it not the fruit of his spirit? Galatians 5 verses 22. and 23, the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. These are
the jewels that the living God hangs and adorns his people with. Chains of gold, what are the
chains of gold? Just read Ephesians chapter 1
and the descriptions again and again in the epistles. Blessed
with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Him. Go on and see how we are to the
praise of the glory of His grace. Him who first trusted Christ.
This is what our God says about his people. Cheeks comely with
rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold, the blessings
of his Spirit that he puts upon us to beautify us. We, he says,
verse 11, we? Why we? The Trinity, the Father,
the Son, the Holy Spirit, the living God, known in three persons,
we will make thee borders of gold, borders of gold with studs
of silver. In other words, we will make
you. What was it in the Ark of the Covenant that symbolized
the humanity of Christ? It was the acacia wood, the base,
simple acacia wood. But that simple acacia wood,
that wasn't what you saw. What you saw was gold. the gold
of divinity, the gold of holiness, the gold of the righteousness
of God. We, says God, will make you borders
of gold with studs of silver. We are made the righteousness
of God in him. Verse 12, verse 12, while the
king sits at his table, the king sitting at his table. What is
that speaking of? What can we apply it to? The
king, sitting at his table. Is it not what we're doing now?
This is the very thing that we're doing now. We're sitting here,
together. And the King is in the midst,
and by his Spirit, he takes the things of Christ and applies
them to us. The King is sitting at his table. This is public worship. And why
Is it the king sitting at his table? Because there's worship
that calls itself worship, but only true worship is that which
is Christ-centred. That which has Christ at the
beginning, in the middle, at the end, in every respect. Christ-centred
worship. The king sits at his table. He
must be there. He must be there in everything.
We don't want to hear about what we ought to do. We want to hear
what Christ has done. We don't want to be given rules
and regulations. We want to hear what Christ has
done for his people. For we know in and of ourselves
we can never do anything for ourselves. For without him we
can do nothing whatsoever. My spikenard, says the church,
my spikenard, this is the ointment, sends forth the smell thereof. That reminds me of the sweet-smelling
aroma. You know when Noah came out of
the ark and he built an altar? And he sacrificed, of the animals
that he took in more than two of, and he sacrificed of them
to God. And it says, we read there in
Genesis about chapter 8, we read there that God smelled a sweet-smelling
savour. What was the sweet-smelling savour?
It was the sweet-smelling savour of the law satisfaction that
was made by Christ, because the sacrifice spoke of Christ. The sacrifice was just a blueprint,
just a picture, just a pattern of that which Christ would come,
and in his coming, He would satisfy the law's demands. He would satisfy
divine justice. And in that satisfaction is a
sweet-smelling savour. So you read in Ephesians, chapter
5 and verse 2, I think it is, about a sweet-smelling savour,
which is the same thing. It's the blessings, the sweetness,
the comfort of knowing that Christ has done all things that are
needed to bring us peace with God and reconciliation with God. Verse 13, a bundle of myrrh is
my well-beloved unto me. Myrrh was a very precious thing,
a very, very precious thing. And being precious, that reminds
us of what Peter says, the apostle, Peter, says to believers, 1 Peter
2 verse 7, unto you therefore which believe, he, Christ, is
something that I keep for an hour on a Sunday morning. No,
no, no. He is precious. Precious. Can that be said of us? Is Christ
precious to us? Myrrh was precious. A bundle
of myrrh is my well-beloved to me. Why is he precious? Because
of what he's done for us. Because of the forgiveness that
he's purchased for us. Because of the acceptance with
God for all eternity that he has purchased in himself, laying
aside his divine glory and coming to this earth in the place of
sinners. This is talking about sweet intimate
love. Myrrh was sweetly perfumed. It was a purifying thing. It
was a preserving thing. It was a beautifying thing. Like
Esther, before Esther went into the great emperor Ahasuerus,
she was adorned with myrrh to beautify her. And in that way,
Christ beautifies his people. He beautifies his people. Verse
14, my beloved is unto me as a cluster of campfire in the
vineyards of En Gedi. Campfire speaks of atonement. It speaks of a covering. It speaks
of propitiation. You know what propitiation is?
It's the turning away of the anger of God against sin. My
beloved, my Christ, my Lord Jesus Christ, is to me a turning away
of the anger of God in the vineyards of En Gedi. Christ is a cluster
of atoning, propitiating righteousness to all who believe. Verse 15. Behold, thou art fair, my love. This is, again, the king. This
is Christ speaking to his people. He says, behold, behold. I know
what you are by nature, but behold, thou art fair, my love. You're beautiful. In my eyes,
you are beautiful. Thou art fair. He says it again.
He repeats it. Thou hast dove's eyes. This is
God describing his believing people. Fair, my love. The delight of his heart. Is that not what it speaks of?
It speaks of God having strong emotions towards his people.
You are fair, my love. My love, you are fair. You have
dove's eyes. Dove's eyes speak of loyalty
and of faithfulness. They speak of weeping eyes, of
repentance. I know it's very poetic language,
but that's what it is. It's talking about an emotionally
charged relationship between the living God and his people. Verse 16 and verse 17, the believer's
response. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved,
yea, pleasant. Also our bed is green, the beams
of our house are cedar, and our rafters are fir." This is the
believer enjoying God, enjoying the relationship of peace and
comfort with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because how do we know God? In
Christ and in Him alone. We cannot know God outside of
Christ. It is only in Him. He is the
way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by Him. If we would know God, we must
know Christ. For God, who in the beginning
said, let light shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where? Where
do we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God? in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's where. And we enjoy God
there. What is the chief end of man,
says one of the old catechisms? To love God and to enjoy Him
forever. This is the enjoyment of God.
This is the place of intimacy between the believer and the
believer's God. This is the place of, you see,
the beams of our house are cedar. That speaks of permanence. Our
rafters are of fir. The bed is green. It's speaking
of a very, very pleasant place, a permanent place, a place that
cannot be touched, a place of fellowship, wherever that be. Maybe it's one person on their
own, in these days listening on the internet. Maybe it's two
or three together. Maybe it's larger numbers. Maybe
in a quiet place, or in a home, or in an established, faithful
church, but it's where God, the King, sits at his table with
his people, and where they enjoy fellowship together, an intimate
communion. It's what Bethel was to Jacob.
Do you remember when Jacob was fleeing from Esau, having stolen
his birthright, and God met with him? And when Jacob realised
that Bethel, it was called Luz originally, and then it became
Bethel, what Bethel was to Jacob, it was the place where God spoke
with him. the place where God spoke with
Jacob. He said, this is the house of
God. This is the gate of heaven. In chapter two, verses one to
seven, move on in there. Let's just have a look at these
verses. I am the rose of Sharon and the
lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so
is my love among the daughters. as the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, so is my Beloved among the suns." Who's speaking
initially? This is the Beloved, this is
the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the King speaking to his people. I am the rose of Sharon. The
rose is beautiful as a flower, and the rose of Sharon was renowned
for its beauty. We would normally regard this,
you know, if I was to say I'm an incredibly handsome man, you'd
think I was getting well above my station and not the right
sort of thing for an individual to say. You know, you want other
people to say pleasant things about you, but you shouldn't
say them. It's not, it's not done. But why is it okay here? Because this is God speaking.
This is the creator. This is the one who is over all
things. I am the rose of Sharon and the
lily of the valleys. He is speaking that he is the
one who is beautiful. He is the one who is to be desired
in all of his attributes because he is God and he is desirable
in all of his attributes. He is the lily of the valleys. And as that verse says, as he
is, As he is, God is, so are we in this world. So are his
people in this world. So, as the lily among thorns,
so is my love among the daughters. This is what God says of his
people. It's exactly what he said in Ezekiel. As the lily
among thorns, as one like me, but amongst a load of thorns
of the rest of this world, so is my love among the daughters.
And then the Shulamite, the wife, the bride, the believer speaks
as the apple tree among the trees of the wood. So is my beloved
among the sons. He is to me, you know, you go
through a wood and there's nothing particularly special about any
of the trees. And then you find an apple tree. And what's special about an apple
tree? It bears apples. Lovely, sweet apples. That wood and those leaves that
make it just look like any other tree? Ah, it bears this fruit,
which is this sweet, sweet fruit. So is my beloved among the sun. So is my beloved. What is your
beloved more than another? We'll read of later in this book.
He's like an apple tree to me. He's special. I sat down under
his shadow with great delight. I sat down under his shadow.
His shadow, we read in Isaiah 32, of the shadow of a mighty
rock within a weary land. within a land that is blasted
by the just judgment of a wholly offended God, but he is as a
mighty rock within that land, sheltering, giving shade, giving
respite to his people. I sat down under his shadow with
great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought
me. He brought me. I didn't bring
myself. I didn't choose him. He chose me. He says that. He
brought me. to the banqueting house, and
his banner over me was love. I have loved you, he says, with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with cords of love
I have drawn you. Stay me, sustain me, feed me
with flagons, flagons of the apple juice, I guess is what
it's talking about, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of
love. We need to put that the way round
that the meaning is, because it doesn't mean I am tired of
love, it means I'm lovesick. Have you ever been lovesick?
Have you ever had that feeling of intense emotional stress when
you've been parted? That's what it is to be lovesick.
to be lovesick. I won't embarrass Christine by
telling this now but, oh yes, go on, I will. But when I went
away to university I remember that we were both lovesick. It
was that kind of yearning to be back together for one another's
company. His left hand is under my head,
his right hand doth embrace me. This is intimate language. This is the believer with the
believer's God in Christ. I charge you, says the believer,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the rows and by the hinds
of the field, that ye stir not up nor awake, my love, till he,
please don't let this stop, is what she's saying. Please don't
let this be interrupted. We see as the book goes on that
it does, and we'll see why and how and the answer to it, but
this is a A setting of intimate love. Oh, please don't let this
end. Let me stay like this. Is that the desire of your heart? Is it? This kind of intimacy
with your divine, eternal husband? Now, here's a question. Here's
a question. You see, it's lovely language,
it's lovely poetry, but I want to apply it. Here's a question
from the New Testament. When the Lord Jesus Christ went
to the cross, He said, I'm going to the cross. This was the night
before he went. And he said to the disciples,
I'm going. And Peter said, well, I'm not going to leave you. I'll
be there with you. And Jesus said to him, I tell
you, Peter, this night before the cross, before the cock crows,
you will deny me three times. Oh, not me, I'll go to the cross
with you. And of course, Peter denied his
Lord three times, and he wept bitterly, and Christ went to
the cross, and he rose again, and he met with the disciples,
and there was one, there's several meetings recorded in the New Testament
and one in John chapter 21, which is the one where they're fishing. They've gone back to Galilee
and Peter says, oh, I'm going off to be a fisherman. I wonder what was going on with
all of this. I thought we were going somewhere, but clearly
we're not. So I'm going back to be a fisherman. And Peter
goes and they fish all night long and they catch absolutely
nothing. And in the morning, There's a
man on the shore, and he calls to them, have you caught anything?
No, nothing. Put your net on the other side.
So they did, and they nearly sank the boat with the fish that
they caught, because it was the risen Lord Jesus Christ. And
John says, it's the Lord, and Peter jumps in the water and
runs to the shore, and there, there's already a fire. and Jesus
has made them breakfast and they sit down, have some meat, come
eat some bread and some fish and let's talk together. So,
when they had dined, verse 15 of chapter 21, when they had
dined, Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me more than these? Do you love me more than these
other disciples? Peter said to him, Yes, Lord,
you know that I love, you know that I love thee. He said to
him, feed my lambs. That question is repeated three
times altogether. It's a solemn question, a solemn
question. It's a question to Peter, who
was the denier, the man of such strong conviction, always the
first to speak, but such weak fleshly resolve. Peter, the denier. Is that not you and me every
day? Full of good resolve, and then
events happen, things happen, and that resolve falls apart,
and the sins of the flesh come to the fore. Do you love me more
than these other disciples do? Look what he's asking. Do you
love me? Peter, do you love me? Believer!
Jesus asks, do you love me? I'm not asking, do you fear and
reverence me? I'm not asking, do you admire
me? That's not what he's asking.
No, no, don't, not asking that. Not even asking, do you believe
me? Because you believe, yes, you
believe, but do you love me? With your emotions, with your
heart? Are you really as strong as your
conviction? You know, when you resolve to
follow Christ, are you really as strong as your conviction?
Do you resolve to be more in love with Christ than the things
of this world? More in love with Christ than
you generally are? Do you resolve to be more hungry
for his word, for his presence, for his comfort? And do you find
that you constantly fall short? Well, I do. And I know that you
do too. Peter gives a quiet response.
Peter doesn't brag about his stronger resolve than theirs.
He doesn't say, oh yes, of course I love you more than these, as
he had done before the betrayal. Oh, whatever these do, I'll be
there for you. Even if everybody else leaves
you, I won't leave you. And then he denied three times.
No, not now. Peter doesn't brag about his
stronger resolve than the other disciples' resolve. but he does
confess his heart's love for Christ. You know I love you. You know all things, Lord. You
know that I love you. You know. And I know that I love
you, really. But I'm not going to brag about
it. I know, too. I know. What do you know, Peter?
I know whom I have believed. What do you know, believer? I
know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. I
know these things. I know these things. Well, says
Jesus, demonstrate that love. Feed my lambs. Feed my lambs
and my sheep, he says to Peter. For Peter His love was demonstrated
in ministry to Christ's people. That's what he was called to
do. He wrote two epistles. He preached on the day of Pentecost. He preached in many places, the
apostle to the Jews primarily. but not all are preachers or
teachers, but do you know, all can support and encourage and
pray for and minister to those who preach, and to their brethren
in general. In other words, this is faith
worked out to others as if it was worked out to Christ himself. Do you love me? You know I love
you. Well, feed my lambs. Feed my
sheep. All things that you do, says
Paul in one of the epistles, all things, whatever you do,
do as unto the Lord. If it's for that person over
there, or this one over here, so low in your estimation perhaps,
if it's just for them, do it as if it's Christ himself who
is set before you. Do it for him. Do you love Christ? Do I love Christ? Not to the
extent I should, or the extent he deserves, but he knows that
I love him, that I discern his broken body, which when we share
bread and wine is what we must do. That's the only qualification
that I discern his broken body and shed blood. Why must I discern
it? Because it's that and that alone
that has purchased my redemption from the law's curse. He knows
that I desire his presence and long for his courts. And with
God's enabling and motivating, I'll resolve to serve him gladly
till he takes me to be with him for eternity.