One of the best hymn writers
in the history of God's church was John Newton, Anglican or
Church of England preacher, who wrote Amazing Grace. And
most of the hymns that stick with us, that endure, were written
from experience. intended principally by the person
who wrote the hymn for his own personal worship or her own personal
worship before God. This is one of Newton's hymns.
It hasn't appeared in a hymn book in a long time, and I don't
suppose it is really one that should appear in a public hymnal
to be sung in public a great deal, but it certainly speaks
of a struggle. A struggle that Newton experienced
and I expect you do. 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? 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? Could 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,
find my sin a grief and thrall. Should I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love it all? Could I joy his saints to meet,
choose the ways I once abhorred, find at times the promise sweet
if I did not love the Lord? Lord, you decide the doubtful
case. Thou who art thy people's son,
Shine upon thy work of grace, if it be indeed begun. Let me love thee more and more,
if I love at all, I pray. If I have not loved before, help
me to begin today. When Rebecca found two nations
struggling in her womb, she expressed herself much the same way as
Newton. She raised the question that believers often ask. Why am I thus? And when she did, she went to
inquire of the Lord. That's exactly the experience
the apostle Paul describes of himself in Romans chapter seven. You're familiar with it. He said,
I know that in me that is in my flesh. dwelleth no good thing. The evil which I would not that
I do, when I would do good, evil is present with me. Why? Why
am I in this condition? Why is sin so prominent in my
nature? Why is sin so prominent in everything
about me? My thoughts, my motives, my ambitions,
my desires, everything, everything, everything constantly corrupted
with sin. Why? Why is evil always present
even when we would do good? Why is there a constant warfare
in our souls? These are questions I'm frequently
asked by concerned men and women who honestly acknowledge their
sin before God. And these are questions that
I ask myself relentlessly. Relentlessly. The word of God supplies the
answer. And it is this simple and this
profound. That which is born of flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. All believers, all who are born
again, all who experience God's grace in this world, no exceptions,
are people with two natures, two distinct, exactly opposite
Warring natures the one called flesh the other spirit The one
called the old man the other the new man The one is the old
man Adam in us That with which we are born by nature The other
is the new man Christ in you the hope of glory the one is
that which we get from our father Adam by natural generation and
The other is that which we get from God our Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ by God the Holy Spirit and what we call regeneration
or the new birth. The flesh and the spirit. And these two natures, most of
the time they're referred to in the writings of men as two
opposing principles. It's more than that. It's more
than that. It's two opposing natures. Two
opposing people, two opposing men. We are constantly at war. No truce. The flesh will never
surrender to the spirit and the spirit will never surrender to
the flesh. We do not live after the flesh
and we don't walk after the flesh. We live after the spirit and
we walk in the spirit. And those who walk in the Spirit
do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And yet the warfare is
relentless. And we will not find an end to
this warfare until we drop this body of flesh in the grave or
Christ comes in resurrection glory. Now painful as this condition
is, it's best for us. It's best for us. While we live in this world,
it is best that we live in constant struggle with the flesh. While
we live in this world, it's best that we live with this warfare.
How can you say that, Pastor? Because that's the way things
are. And Ron, if they weren't best for us, that's not the way
they'd be. It would be just as easy, just as... What word easy
is the wrong word? But I can think of another none
better just as easy for God on his throne To eradicate from
me all sin right now As it will be in resurrection glory It'd
be just as easy for God to cause you and me to live in this world
in the midst of iniquity, transgression and sin and have no sin in our
own experience. He could do that just as easily
as when he makes all things new and sin is no longer in the world.
Oh, why does he leave us in this mess? Why does God compel us
while we live in this world? to live with these two distinctly
opposing natures, flesh and spirit. Give you three reasons. We must
never forget. We must never forget. That the
only thing that distinguishes us from any other human being. in or out of hell is the distinguishing
grace of God. And Merle, it takes God constantly
reminding us for us not to forget that. Oh, how quickly pride rises in
these hearts. We can hardly think of an evil
deed, be it ever so slight or ever so vile, performed by somebody
else, that our hearts don't rise with pride if we haven't been
guilty of the same thing. And we seem constantly to pat
ourselves on the back as though somehow we are better than others. Understand this, children of
God, the only distinction between you and any other human being
in or out of hell is the distinguishing grace of God, who maketh thee
to differ from another, not who made you different, who maketh
thee to differ from another. Why is it that when Satan desired
to have all the disciples that he might sift them as wheat,
none fell except Peter? Why? Why? To teach those disciples
and Peter the only thing that distinguishes you from one another
with every breath, in every deed, in every thought, in every action,
the only distinction is the distinguishing grace of God, who maketh thee
to differ from another. And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou'st not received it? Number two,
we must never forget that the only ground of our acceptance
with God, I wrote that out And I got done, and that's where
I want to state it. And then this afternoon, I sat
down and looked at that. That's not right. It's not the
grand of our acceptance. The only acceptance we have with
God, the only acceptance we have with God is Jesus Christ, his
blood, his righteousness, his person. God cannot and will not
look upon you or me with favor, except through Christ. God cannot,
he will not, allow us to have any relationship with him, except
through Christ, the mediator. Christ is our only acceptance
with God. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. of him. A dear friend of mine,
an elderly lady in her 80s, called this afternoon about 2 o'clock. She said, the preacher, where
she's in her rest home, she said, the preacher said today, said,
we get in Christ by believing ourselves into him. She said,
that's not right, is it? I said, no, Betty, that's not
right. That's not right. You get in Christ by God putting
you in him from eternity. And we believe him because God
put us in him. And we are in him, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And out of him, there is no possibility
of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, or redemption. Christ is our
only acceptance with God. Number three, God's left us here struggling
with this flesh. as he put Israel in the wilderness
for 40 years. 40 years warring with Canaanites. 40 years warring with the nations
around them. 40 years dealing with their old
murmuring and their complaining and their unbelief. 40 years
wandering in the wilderness as God led them in a direct way
into the land of Canaan. He left them there to teach them
to hate the wilderness. And so God leaves us here as
we are in this state for the time being, lest we should ever
become content with mere mortal life in this world. He would
have us constantly set our eyes upon things unseen, upon things
in heaven, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Turn
with me this evening, if you will, to the Song of Solomon.
And let's see what the Spirit of God teaches us about this
conflict that rages in our souls. Song of Solomon chapter 6. When you read the Song of Solomon,
don't ever forget that you're reading a very intimate, a very
intimate love song. An intimate love song between
a man and the woman of his love. That's about as close as you
get. An intimate love song between a man and the woman he loves. But don't think of it like that
quite. Bobby, the man is Christ and
the woman is you, his people. The man singing the song is Christ,
the Redeemer, and the woman responding is the bride. And as we read
through the song of Solomon, we read a constant. A constant. Theme throughout these eight
chapters. And that constant thing is the
perfection of Christ, our heavenly bridegroom, our our husband who
espoused us to himself from eternity, his unfailing love, his constant
mercy, love, and grace, his constant steadiness, his constant faithfulness. And as we hear the bride speak
to him, his bride, Isn't that a wonderful way that the Lord
identifies us? Not the relationship so often
of husband and wife. That relationship is special
in itself, but more often than not, the relationship is compared
to a bride and a bridegroom. It's just bursting with love.
Love that is not controlled by reason, experience love that
knows no boundaries love that love that doesn't gauge anything
by the material doesn't gauge anything by wealth doesn't gauge
anything by stability the only thing that matters to the bride
and groom is the mutual love and the joy oh now this song
of Solomon speaks of love between Christ the bridegroom and his
church, his bride, but on the bride's part. Nothing is steady. Nothing is dependable. Nothing
is strong. Nothing seems commendable, nothing,
except when we hear the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, speak of his
bride and his attitude toward his bride, the way he sees his
bride, the way he has made his bride really to be. All right? It's a constant description then
of this warfare, this conflict that goes on in our hearts. Song
of Solomon chapter six, verse 11. I went down into the garden of
nuts to see the fruits of the valley and to see whether the
vine flourished and the pomegranates budded. The Lord Jesus is speaking. His garden is his bride, his
church. His garden is his vine, his church. Or ever I was aware
My soul made me like the chariots of Amenadim. Marginal translation
might read that my soul was in the chariots of my people. Return,
return, O Shulamite. Return, return, that we may look
upon thee. And then the bride answers, the
Shulamite answers. Well, what will you see? in the
Shulamites. When you come to investigate
your garden, when you come and call me to you, when you come
to see how things are with your garden, what will you see in
your bride? You will see, as it were, the
company of two armies. the company of two armies. That's my subject tonight. In
these verses, the Lord Jesus speaks to his church, not in
her time of distress and shame, sleeping in carnal ease, but
he speaks to his church in her very best condition. She had
just begun again to enjoy His blessed fellowship. She'd just
begun again to enjoy His sweet communion. The Lord Jesus has
just returned to His spouse the breach that she made. The breach
that she made by her unbelief. The breach that she made by her
carnal peace. The breach that she made when
she said, no, I will not open the door to you. that breach
he healed by his grace. Let's read about it in chapter
5, verse 2. I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is 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. The Lord Jesus knocks. Revelation
320 says, I stand at the door and knock. Right here at the
door of his church, as we meet in his name, he's... And he says, if anybody in there
will open to me, I'll come in and sup with him and he with
me. So he knocks. He knocks at the door, the heart's
door of his chosen bride, and says, open to me. I'm covered
with the result of my work for you. I've been out in the night
laboring for you. And here's our response. I put off my coat. How shall I put it on? I've washed
my feet. How shall I defile them? I'm
perfectly all right. I don't need you right now. I'm nice and clean and tucked
into a soft, comfortable bed. I don't need you right now. A
bed you provided, a rest you gave, a cleanness that you performed,
but I don't need you right now. Go away and come at a more convenient
time. But he wouldn't. My beloved put his hand in by
the hole of the door. When he did, my bowels were moved
for him. I rose up to open to my beloved,
and my hands dropped with the myrrh, my fingers with the sweet-smelling
myrrh upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved. Here I am! But my beloved had
withdrawn himself and was gone. My soul failed when he spake. I sought him, but I couldn't
find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchman,
the preachers sit on the walls of Zion. The watchman that went
about the city found me. They smoked me. That's my job,
Bob. That's my job. My job is to make
you know your error. Make you know your need of Christ.
They smoked me. They wounded me. That's the preacher's job. If
his message doesn't smite you and doesn't wound you, he doesn't
have message from God. He's not faithful to your soul.
The keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. That's
how they smite you. That's how they wound you. They
uncover you. They uncover you. There's a good
bit of debate among folks as to whether or not when women
come to the church, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
they should wear a veil. And I've been around a while
now, folks. Somebody's going to get mad,
but that's all right. I'm concerned about you. So they
keep a little dolly in their purse call it a veil when the
church service starts, and then they pull it off. And I don't
doubt their sincerity, but the veil spoken of in 1 Corinthians
chapter 11 was not a little dolly you lay on your head. You've
seen the arguments they have about, I've forgotten the name,
these burqa, burqa, these Muslim women wear, are required to wear
by Islamic law. That's the veil. All you see
is their eyes. The mouth, perhaps. Nothing else. Completely covered. So that onlookers
can't really discern anything about the woman. Now, the picture
in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is that woman should, with modesty,
worship God as a lady, as a woman, not usurping authority over man.
That's the picture of the veil. Paul uses it as an illustration
from the day in which he lived and the day in which he wrote.
But the veil here, they took away my veil, the watchman. Here I am in public and they
reached and grabbed my veil and pulled it off and now I stand
naked and exposed. Everybody sees every scar. Everybody
sees every spot of uncleanness. Everybody sees every ugly thing
Here I am That's what the preacher supposed to do That's what the
Word of God supposed to do expose you. They took away my veil from
me. I Charge you Oh daughters of
Jerusalem Well, who are these daughters of Jerusalem that's
other folks in the bride I Other folks in the congregation, others
of God's people. I charge you, O daughters of
Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him, I'm sick of
love. My heart is breaking for him. Chapter six, verse two. My beloved
is going down into his garden. To the beds of spices to feed
in the garden, he's come. He's come to me. Oh, he's come
to me again. He's come to gather lilies. Am
my beloved and my beloved is mine He feedeth among the lilies
and then the Lord Jesus says to his church in verse 4 He says
to you and me this This is his word to you, but Is his word
to you? Thou art beautiful. Oh my love
And then he calls us in verse 9 his dove his undefiled The
Son of God speaking now. He's speaking to his church in
her best estate. The breach that she made, he's
healed. He's returned to her. Now there's
sweet renewing of love and fellowship and communion. In verse 11, the
Lord Jesus speaks to his beloved church and says, though I had
withdrawn myself from you and gave you no comfort for a while,
even then my eye was upon you. Even then, I was watching you,
tending my garden with tenderness, love, and care. Though you didn't
see me, I saw you. Though I hid myself from you,
I was with you all the while. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. I will not forsake the apple
of my eye and the work of my hands. I went down into the garden
of nuts to see the fruits of the valley. To see whether the
vine flourished and the pomegranates budded. And in verse 12, our
Savior tells us how he was overcome by our broken, aching hearts. If you see my beloved, tell him
my heart aches for him. If you see my beloved, will you
tell him that I'm sick of love? Sick because of my love for him
and my poor, horrible, sinful, shameful neglect of his love
for me. Sick because my love for him
is so weak and sick because I so abused his love for me. And now
he comes and he's Overwhelmed. Overwhelmed. Isn't that something?
Isn't that something? The Son of God, overwhelmed because
you want Him. The Son of God, incapable of
resisting your desire for Him. Oh, you can't talk like that.
Well, let's see if I can make it play. The love of his people for him
is irresistible to the Lord Jesus. Irresistible. Read what he says
here. He says, uh, or ever. I was aware my soul
made me like the chariots of a minidam. It is as though, he
said, I could hide my face no longer. My my love for you compelled
me with irresistible force to return to you. Almost before
I knew it, he said, look at the marginal reference. My soul set
me on the chariots of my willing people. You remember the story of Joseph
in Genesis 45. His brothers are now back in
Egypt and they're talking among themselves about their horrible
crime against their brother. And Joseph could not contain
himself. He said, I am Joseph! He could
not resist revealing himself to them. So the Lord Jesus speaks
here to his bride. We ought to be willing a willing
people seeking always our Savior in love and faith and hope. Love and faith and hope are chariots
that bring him to his people. And if we seek the Lord, he will
return to us in due time. Seek and you shall find. When
your soul is empty, and barren, and heavy, and dark, and cold,
and icy, and hard, and dead. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened. Ask, and it shall be given you.
Matthew Henry said, No chariots sent for Christ shall return
empty. No chariot set for Christ shall
return empty. Our Lord will return to us because
of his own mercy, grace, love, and faithfulness. Then in verse
13, the Lord Jesus having returned to his beloved courts her. Courts her. I told you this is an intimate
love song. He courts her. Seeking her heart. Seeking the return of her heart
to him. Courts her. I don't know much about
romantic stuff, but I still try to court my wife. Not like I should, but I still
try to court her. I still try to charm her. I still try to
woo her to myself. But in the early days, oh, now
that was a different story. When she was about to become
my bride, do you know what I spent a year doing? I was at school
in Springfield, Missouri for nine months. And 75 cents, Cody
was hard to come by, we didn't have cell phones. 75 cents for
a three minute call. Somehow every day I called her
or she called me for nine months and wrote to her every day, every
day. How come? I was courting her.
I didn't want to make room for anybody else. I didn't want anybody
else's attention to slip in the back door. I didn't want anybody
to get her affection at all. I wanted it all for myself. That's
what the Savior is doing here. Watch this. Return, return, O
Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee. Solomon chose his bride and espoused
her to himself, giving her his name. The word Shulamite would
really be better translated, Salima. It is the feminine form
of the word Solomon. So as you read Shulamite here,
read Salima. He gives her his name and she
gladly takes it. That's what a bride does. I know
that sometimes in our society, women refuse to take their husband's
name if they tell me ahead of time I won't marry him. A woman
who won't take her husband's name is not worth marrying. Not
fit to have for a wife. Oh, you can't say that. Well,
I'm sorry, I apologize. A woman who won't take her husband's
name is not fit for marriage. Not fit for marriage. The Shulamite
gladly takes her husband's name. Call me Solomon, I'll be glad.
Do you know the Lord Jesus does that for us? He espoused his
bride to himself from eternity. And he gives us his name. His
name is Jehovah Zedkinu, the Lord Our Righteousness. And he
says in Jeremiah 33, 16, this is the name by which she shall
be called, Jehovah Zedkinu, the Lord Our Righteousness. And God's
people gladly take his name. This name, Salima, means perfection. Perfection. He says, return to
me, oh, perfection. Return to me, oh, perfection. What a word. She says, you'll
look at me and you won't see anything but a company of two
armies. He says, return to me, oh, perfection. The name Solomon
also means peace. Return to me, oh, peace. He, you see, is our peace. He's
made us one with one another and made us one with him so that
now we're reconciled to God at peace with God, justified by
his grace. We have peace. Peace. So that
he calls us, he said, now you return to me so that I can take
a good gaze at you. I can look you over good. I can look you over good. You return to me. I recall that
wonderful Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock, 43 years ago, a little
more now. They started to play the wedding
march, and I was standing up here and turned around and opened
that door, and there stood that beautiful blonde-haired girl
in her wedding dress. Do you know there were at least
500 or 600 people in the building? And I couldn't see any of them. I couldn't see any of them, wasn't
interested in any of them, didn't care who was there. I just stood
there aghast at the beauty coming to be mine. The Lord Jesus says
to you, his bride, come to me, perfect peace and
beauty. Come to me, all perfection, all
peace, come to me. Return, return to me. Return to me in your first simple
faith. Return to me in your first tender
love. Return to the place where first
we met. Come now again to the foot of
the cross and return to me. Now catch the next word. Our
Lord says to his beloved bride, to you and me, return, return
that We may look upon thee. But that's the thing I'm afraid
of. That's what I'm afraid of. I'm
afraid you'll see me. As I know I am. If you return and we And my father,
my spirit, I, we, me and the daughters of Jerusalem will look
upon you in love, in forgiveness, in kindness, in pleasantness,
and with satisfaction. And then in verse 13, we hear
the bride, the church, the people of God speaking. Convinced of
her own sin Full of shame she confesses her frustration with
herself She thinks there's no beauty in her When I was a young man This will come as a shock to
some of you I Had the vanity of thinking I was a fairly good-looking
fellow. And between the ages of 17 and 17 and a half, something
happened. I don't know what it was, but
that chiseled chin turned into this square face, and that thick
head of hair started getting thin, and things changed. But I still had the vanity of
thinking, man, I put on the best suit I had. Get the best I had
and put that suit on, I looked pretty good. Looked pretty good.
And I'd look in the mirror and comb my hair and get everything
just exactly right, you know. Looked pretty good. Not anymore. Not anymore. The older I get, the worse the
mirror looks. So it is. with this mirror as I look and behold myself.
Frank, when I was a young believer, I had the stupid, proud vanity
of looking at that and saying, well, I measure up pretty good. Because I didn't really look
here. I was looking at other people. Pretty good. Not anymore. Not anymore. He says, return that we may look
upon thee. She said, I don't want to. I don't want you looking
at me, because I know what you will see is, as it were, a company
of two armies. She's saying, there's nothing
in me but conflict and confusion. In my heart, you
call me peace, but there's nothing but war. In my soul you call
me perfection, but there's nothing but corruption. If you could
look upon me, you'd see a raging battle, good fighting evil, light
contending with darkness. I'm not worth looking at. I'm
a house divided against itself. That's the way it is with God's
people. This is a true, accurate description. of God's people in this world.
All of God's elect experience these inward conflicts between
flesh and spirit. And they're continual. They're
continual. Let me make three statements
and I'll wrap this up. Understand this first. These
inward conflicts are facts of life for every believer. They're facts of life for every
believer. You, my younger brothers and
sisters in Christ, will not likely relate to much of what I have
said this evening. And it's really best that you
don't. in your early experience of grace.
It might just destroy you. But you who have walked in the
way of faith in Christ for some years
understand exactly what I'm talking about. Relentless warfare with
sin. The sin out there is horrible.
The newspaper reports are terrible. The things you see when you step
out your door, indescribably evil. But I'm not talking about a warfare
with abortionists and pornographers and sodomites, murderers and
rapists and pedophiles. I'm talking about a warfare that
causes me far more pain, a warfare in my soul with my own lust and
my own sin, my own unbelief, my own raging ungodliness. Number two, the warfare only
began in the new birth. It only begins in the new birth.
See, in the new birth, God does not change what we are by nature. He does not remake the old man. He does not remake the old nature. He does not remake the old heart. Oh, no. Oh, no. He gives you
a new nature, a new will, a new heart. And the two are constantly
at war with one another. So that the believer, here's
the old man, Adam, here's the new man, Christ in you. So that
this old man is a child of the devil and can do nothing but
sin. He can do nothing but sin. And
this new man, this new man is born of God and cannot sin. Does
nothing but righteousness. And the two are constantly at
war. Not ever a second when there's any truce between them. Constantly
war. So that you cannot do the things you
would. Cannot do the things you would. Just can't. Just can't. Number three. These inward conflicts, this
inward warfare, These things do have some good effects. They make us never to forget
salvation is of the Lord. They force us into our closets, on our knees,
to rip open our hearts before God. They force us, they gently, sweetly,
irresistibly force us to seek the Savior's face, to seek his
mercy and his grace. They compel us to recognize that
our brethren are just like us, sinners saved by grace, that
our only acceptance with God is the blood and righteousness
of his son and that in his son We're perfect. My name's Solomon. My name's Jonathan's perfection.
My name's peace. Peace with God through the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. My name is Jehovah Sidkenia. My name is Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh, you can't say that. No, I
couldn't if God didn't. So really and truly one with
him that it is as though we were one. No, not as though we were. Curtis, we really are one with
Christ as really one with him as this head is one with this
body and cannot be separated one with him forever. Number
four. Bless God. Bless God. Sue. Sue. This struggle will be over. And triumph in Christ ours forevermore. Amen. Told you at the outset
of the message that most good hymns are Born from
experience, personal experience. Turn to number 43 in your Songs
of Grace book. I remember the experience. Number 43 in your Songs of Grace
book. There is a struggle in my soul,
a warfare in my breast. My sinful flesh strives for control
and never lets me rest.