We've read the chapter previously,
so I'll tell you my text, and you probably may have guessed
it. Verse 16, and not the entire
one. As we said in the reading, it
seems that the bride of Christ, the church, this is what the
book is about. His love for her, her love for
him. seems to sum up in her answer to the question, what is thy
beloved more than another of verse 9? And she gives the answer
in verses 10 through 16, but she sums it up. You ask me who
he is above another? You've asked, or she had rather
asked them, if you see him, tell him, I'm sick of love. I'm looking
for him. I've neglected him, and I'm sorry. And they say, well, if we see
him, how will we know that it's him? And she says, oh, you'll
know him. There's not another like him.
If you have eyes to see, you'll know him. Yea, he is altogether
lovely. This is my beloved. As I said, this is part of her
answer. She sums it all up with those
words. I want to share something with
you. In my Bible, of course, it's
the King James Version. I don't use another, but it's
Nelson Publishing Company, I think it's called. And I've used them
before, King James Version, by that publisher. And in my older
one, they didn't have this chapter or book introductions as they
do in this 04 edition. I've hardly ever paid attention
to them, but I glanced at it last night. I want to share it
with you. This is their introduction to
the book of the Song of Solomon. It's not scripture. It's not
inspired. It's just their edition. Listen. Solomon was the author of the
Song of Solomon. Well, I declare. Yet, I wonder
how long it took him to figure that out. But Solomon was the
author of the Song of Solomon, written in 970 BC or later. This is the story of Solomon's
love for a Shulamite woman. his efforts to court her and
his eventual marriage to her. The language is similar to a
series of lyric poems written in dialogue form, each demonstrating
a deepening love. And then they give an outline
with six divisions, which I won't read. Not one word, Jeff. Were you listening when I read
that? Louie, they didn't mention Christ. They didn't mention Christ. They didn't mention the altogether
lovely One. When I read that last night,
I thought, how sad. How sad. I've heard this book
preached. and talk about Solomon, but not
talk about Christ. Talk about the bride, the Shulamite
woman, but not talk about the church. It's like Mary Magdalene,
when she went to the tomb of Jesus, and looked in, stooped
down we're told in John 20, and looked in, and two angels saw
her. The tomb was empty, but she saw
these two angels. And they said, whom seek ye? Why weepest thou? And she said,
because they've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where
they've laid him. When I read this introduction,
I thought of that passage. They've taken away my Lord, and
I don't know where they've laid him. But thank God, when we read
the Song of Solomon, we're reminded of the words of our bridegroom.
He said, Behold, a greater than Solomon is here. A greater than
Solomon is here. That's what this book is about.
That's what the song is about. If it's only a history of Solomon's
courtship of this Julemite woman and his marriage, that's not
worth singing about, is it? That's not worth raising our
Hosannas, is it? Oh, but when we see it speaks
about Christ, it can only be speaking of Him when she says,
My Beloved, yea, He is altogether lovely. All together lovely,
my prayer is that He'll be pleased to show Himself to us. Oh, she
said in verse 6, because of her neglect of Him, verse 6 of chapter
5, I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself. Oh, I didn't open when he first
knocked. I wouldn't get out of bed. I
was occupied. I was just too tired. When he
first knocked at my door and said, open to me, I was just,
I just couldn't do it. Oh, but then she thought better,
so she raises up and opens to my beloved, but he's gone. He had withdrawn himself, and
that's mercy there, brothers and sisters. Oh, the great shepherd,
the faithful bridegroom wants her to feel what she's missed,
wants her to by sweet grace, fill the pain and empty heart,
and go seeking after Him again, and she'll find Him. Because He even here is seeking
her, making her feel her emptiness. Her nothingness without Him,
as we said, without Christ, we can do nothing at all. He Himself
said that. So she sought Him, but we're
told she found Him not. She could not find Him. I hope
that will not be our case this morning. May we seek Him and
find Him. I pray that we'll be enabled,
and I know that we will, I don't doubt it. If he is pleased to
reveal himself to his bride once again this day, we'll leave here
singing something like this. In our handbook, page 67, oh
how can it be? How can it be that thou should
love a soul like me? Oh, how can it be? Ravished again,
overwhelmed again with adoration and wonder at the mercy, the
loveliness of the King of Kings, our Bridegroom. We mentioned
very briefly in the reading, and we don't want to take too
much time with it, but in the context, as we said, her response
was, oh, I'm asleep. I'm asleep. I just can't get
up. That was her answer to him at
the first. Remember, this is a believer. This is the bride of Christ speaking. Her answer has been my answer
far too often. I don't say it's yours. I don't
say it's yours, but I dare say that it has been. But I'll tell
you it's been mine. Far too often, too many times,
I've said, oh, I've got something else to do. Something else has got my attention
right now. I've taken off my shoes. I'm
in bed. I don't want to get up. The translation
is, I'm just too busy right now doing something else. I just
don't have the time for you right now. Larry, you've done that? Our pastor's saying he's done
that? Oh yeah. What indifference. What ingratitude. that he would condescend to come
to me and knock at my heart's door and say, come away, my beloved. Come away with me. And I'll say,
well, I'm busy now, Jack. I'm doing something else. I just
don't have the time. I'm guilty. Oh, no wonder the
hymn writer wrote, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave
the God I love. Oh, but here's my heart, take
and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Thank God he will
not let us go. Will he? Oh, he withdraws himself
deliberately. We always had the presence of
Christ. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. I'm with you always, even into
the end of the world. But what she prays for is His
manifest presence. I want to be aware of it. I want
to suck with Him and He with me. I want to feel His presence. Oh, walking with me and talking
with me and telling me that I am His own. Oh, and then Verse 6
speaks of the price of her indifference. The result is, as we've said,
we just can't do anything without Him. And for our own good, so
that we'll seek Him, He temporarily hides Himself. My father used
to say, my dad was an old-fashioned man, Lord. He believed in correcting
his children. That's strange in our day, isn't
it? the children tell their parents what to do. But my dad, he often
would tell me, well son, he'd only speak one time, tell me
one time. After that he'd say, boy, if
you can't listen, you're going to feel. And bam, ooh, I wish
I'd have listened. And that seems to be what the
bridegroom does. Oh, he has spoken, he has spoken,
but he was ignored. Now he says, oh, well, if you
won't listen, you'll feel. You'll feel what a desert it
is in your heart without me. And as a result, she arises and
seeks her bridegroom. Look at verse 7. She goes out
looking for her bridegroom. The watchmen that went about
the city found me. They smoked me. They wounded
me. The keepers of the walls took
away my veil from me. She's back on track now. It doesn't
sound like it, but she is. Who are these watchmen? Who are
these watchmen that she says have wounded me, smoked me, took
away my veil? They're gospel preachers. They're
the watchmen. They're the under shepherds.
They're faithful pastors. And by the preaching of the gospel,
which is about Jesus Christ, if we've drifted from Him, it
smites our hearts and we're made to cry out, O return unto me,
O my precious bridegroom. Thank God. How I thank God for
faithful pastors in my life. One in particular, he's been
my pastor more than any other, and I still consider him to be
Louis. I'm sure I'll be calling him. I'm sure I'll be seeking
his advice and counsel. But there's been others, though
I didn't sit under them, oh, I've heard their preaching. Sometimes
in person, sometimes on a CD, traveling down the road. Henry
Man, Scott, oh, I can name so many. And my heart has been smitten. And I've been convicted. I've
been wounded by sweet, constraining grace. They've taken away my
veil, my excuses. And I thank God for it. Thank
God for these faithful watchmen. Oh yes, she's back on track now. As the psalmist said, oh my heart
follows hard after thee. Now I'm seeking thee again. And look what she says in verse
8. Verse 8, I charge thee, O daughters of Jerusalem. Who are these?
These are the church. This is the church. Will you
help me? Will you help me, O daughters
of Jerusalem? Will you help me find Him? Have you seen him? Do you still
have your gaze fixed upon him? I've temporarily closed my eyes. Oh, and I've lost my sight of
him. He's withdrew himself. But are
you still looking? Will you help me find him? That's
what she's asking. And they ask her, who is it? Oh, they knew. It wasn't for
them. It was for her that they asked,
who is it? Who is it? Was there a question
to her? And she answers. And as we said
in verse 16, I would encourage you to read her answer, every
part of it. From verse 10 to 16, we don't
have time. Oh, but she sums it up. This
is our text. Yea, he is altogether lovely. He was then, he is right now,
and he will be hereafter. Or as the writer in Hebrews wrote,
Jesus Christ the same, Oh, thank God! The same! He's the same! Oh, she had changed, but he hadn't! Her love and her heart fluctuates
like mine, but his doesn't. My love is warm, cold, but his
is ever hot, ever burning, ever the same. I've loved thee with
an everlasting love, intently, intensely, forever, never fluctuating. Not so with me. Oh, but he's
the same then, now, now he's the same, brothers and sisters
in Christ. Your faithful bridegroom is the
same. If you've been guilty of doing
what she did, Oh, I just don't have time right now. I'm occupied
with other things. Oh, don't be disheartened. Your
bridegroom says, look unto me. Look back to me. I've loved you. I am the Lord. I change not. Thank God. He remains what he
ever was, altogether lovely. Compare that, if you will, turn,
if you will, to a few of the Psalms. Let's start in Psalm
14, rather. To better appreciate the loveliness
of our bridegroom, let's compare that to what the Scripture says
about man. Psalm 14. about what we are by nature and
what we are even after being renewed. Psalm 14, verse 2, the
Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did understand and seek God. And look what it
says. Have you ever heard, I know you
have, that there is a thirst in man? I'm talking about unrenewed
man. I've heard preachers say, you
know, there's a little flame in all of us by nature, and if
God by His grace dispans that flame, it'll flame up. Every
man is thirsty, you know, by nature, and he doesn't know what'll
quench it, but, you know, he needs the water of life. No,
no, no. No, he's not. No, he's not. If he becomes thirsty,
Louis, it's because God makes him thirsty. That's the only
reason. Oh, no. God looked down from
heaven to see if there were any among the children of man. that
did understand and seek God. Is there just one? Is there just
one? Look what it says in verse 3,
and this is what we read in Romans 3. They are all gone aside, A-double-L. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Not you, not me, or anybody else. Turn, if you will, to the 39th
Psalm. Oh, in light of that, my vowedness,
my nothingness, oh, how precious He appears. Psalm 39, verse 4. Lord, make me to know my end. Here is man. Oh, He that is Christ,
He's the Ancient of Days. He had no beginning and shall
have no end. Compare that to me and you. Lord,
make me to know mine end and the measure of my days, what
it is that I may know how frail I am." How frail I am. We like to think we're pretty
sound. When we arrived at the parsonage Thursday, it was Thursday, wasn't
it, Terry? And I'd followed Terry and Lester. Terry was kind to, you know,
come up in his truck and come down in that trailer with my
stuff, and I didn't need hardly any of that once I got here and
saw the parsonage. But anyway, I don't know if anybody
knows, but there was a little set of weights that came out
of that trailer. To be honest with you, I don't know the last
time I used them, Jeff. Did you see them? Just for show. It doesn't take Something as
insignificant that can't even be seen with the naked eye, Lord,
to take us out. Lord, teach me how frail I am. Verse 5, Behold, behold, thou
hast made my days as a hand breath, and mine ages as nothing before
thee. Verily, every man Not just a
few, but every man at his what? Best state. I mean, at his very
best state is what? Altogether, from the head to
the foot, is altogether vanity. Selah, think about it. Oh, in
light of that, what a blessing it is to turn and see Him who
is altogether lovely. I'm altogether nothing. He's
altogether everything. I'm altogether corrupt. He's
altogether pure. I'm altogether sin. He's altogether
righteousness. I'm altogether nothing. Oh, but
in Him, I'm complete. He's altogether lovely. Oh, He was then in the Song of
Solomon, even though she didn't realize it or had forgotten it. And He will always be. All together. All together. I woke up, I can't
tell you how many times last night, or this morning, with
thinking of that Word. All together. All together, lovely. I declare, that takes a lot of
sermons, doesn't it? A lot of messages. All together. In every way. Always. None like Him. Altogether lovely. What does that mean? It means
perfect. In each and every attribute. I mean, just pick one. He's perfect
in that. Perfect. Altogether. In His glorious person, He's
perfect. God looked down from heaven and
didn't see anybody among the children of men that weren't
corrupt, that didn't seek after God, did anything to please him,
but the contrary. But one day he looked down from
heaven and saw the God man. And he said, this is him. He's
altogether lovely. This is my beloved son in whom
I am Well, please, he's perfect in his glorious person, in his
work, whatever aspect you want to consider. In life, in death,
in resurrection, he's perfect. He did everything perfect. Isn't that something? Isn't that
something? We've never done anything perfect. Much less to try to please God
in any way. Perfect? Oh, but he has. He has. That's why she says,
if you see him, you'll know him. Cause he's perfect. There's not another one like
him, Lester. He'll stand out. If he doesn't,
if he doesn't stand out, if you don't recognize him, you must
be blind. You don't have eyes to see. But
she's talking to the daughters of Jerusalem. She's talking to
the church. You'll know him. You'll know
him. He's perfect. Who he is gives
efficacy to what he does. Yeah, His work is worth something
to God Almighty first. He enabled God to be just because
He satisfied God. Therefore, God is just. based
on what His Son did. He looks for satisfaction to
His holy law, His holy character, not from you, not from me, but
from His Son. Always, always did, and always
will. That's comforting. If I'm in
Him, if I'm in Him, it doesn't matter how hard the wind blows. How great the storm is. My little
vessel, I might feel like it's going to sink. Oh, it doesn't
matter. The question is not, how goes
it with me? How goes it with him? Who's steering
this ship? It's the captain. And if it's
well with him, bless God, it's well with me. That's why we can
sing, it's well with my soul. Why? Because he's the captain
of my salvation. Oh yes, he pleased God in every
way and he did it for his bride. He did it for his substitute,
for his people. Grace is poured into his lips. Therefore, never a man speak
like this man." Oh, that was true here. It was true in Luke
when he said, fellas, all those scriptures, when he rose from
the dead and he took them aside and he said, he showed them thus.
It behooved Christ to suffer, and the rise from the dead the
third day, and starting with Moses, and the prophets, and
the Psalms. That's everything. He expounded
to them that they might understand the Scriptures. Can you imagine
now how I felt when I read the introduction by the editors to
this psalm? Oh, our Lord said, Moses wrote
of me. If Moses were your father, you
would rejoice. He wrote of me. Abraham saw my
day, he said to those religious leaders. He saw my day and was
glad. Before Abraham was, I am. He's altogether lovely. Now,
right now, the same today, he's lost nothing, Jeff. Nothing. If he's everything I needed yesterday,
he's everything I need today, Lord. And everything I'll need
tomorrow, I don't know what tomorrow holds. Neither do you. Oh, but
God remind me, remind me that He holds all of my tomorrows. All of my tomorrows are in the
hand of my great effectual High Priest. I'm in His hand. And for that reason only, I can
never be plucked out. He won't allow it. He won't allow
it. And when I wander away, when
I say I'm in bed with an ungrateful, indifferent heart, he still said, uh-uh. Uh-uh. I'll stand at the doorknock,
and you're going to open to me. He comes in. He's got the key. and opens the heart so that we
again are ravished by His love. Oh, He's altogether lovely. Those in His day that claim they
look for the Messiah, when He appeared, they said, oh, He's
nobody. He's Joseph's son. We know His
brothers. We know His sisters. Just as Isaiah said, when they
should see Him, there's no beauty that we should desire Him. They
esteemed Him not. Oh, but He was still altogether
lovely, is He not? It's heartbreaking that our sons
and our daughters see no loveliness that they should desire him,
but he's still altogether lovely. Somebody said to me the other
day, you don't look 60. And I said, well, I still am. Whether I look at it or not,
I appreciate the compliment, but I'm still 60. Oh, and He's
altogether lovely, whether others see it or not. But God forbid
that I don't see it. God forbid that I look away. God forbid that I be attracted
to something else more than Him and bless God by His grace. He
does forbid it. When I do look away by His sweet
constraining grace, He turns my eyes back to Him. And I say,
God forgive me that I ever looked away. Oh, that's the question,
is it not? That's the issue, is it not?
What think ye of Christ? You remember the context in which
our Lord spoke those words. The Sadducees and the Pharisees
and the Herodians who squabbled all the time got together. They
were agreed on one thing, we've got to do away with him. They
got together for that, didn't they, Lord? And so they hired
him, they put forth a mouthpiece to try to trick him in his words,
you remember, about the resurrection. And the Sadducees didn't even
believe in the resurrection. They tried to ridicule him and
trick him with that, which is the greatest commandment, and
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, those real important
things. And Christ says, I'll tell you,
here's the issue. Here's the issue. What think
ye of Christ? That's the issue. And I'm asking myself that right
now. And I want you to ask yourself that right now. Don't think of
somebody else. What think ye of Christ? Larry, what do you think of Christ
right now? Is He lovely to me? Some say you're Elijah, risen
from the dead. Some say you're one of the prophets. Larry, who am I to you? I'm so thankful that I can say,
well, you're the Christ. I know that you're the Christ.
You're the Son of the Living God. And you're altogether lovely. And it doesn't matter one iota
to me what anybody else says. It doesn't faze me one iota if
all the doctors of divinity in this world says anything less
of Him. It doesn't faze me. I know that
He's the Christ. I know that He's the bridegroom.
He's revealed Himself to me. And I thank God for it. Altogether
lovely. In the context of this book,
in the context of all the other books, in the context of the
entire Word of God, He's altogether lovely. But consider this. Let's consider this. When we
read that word, altogether lovely, I thought of this in the light
of other scriptures, but I think here as well. All together. Could that be taken thus, as
I said, especially in the light of other scriptures, that is,
us two? Us two? All together? All his church, his bride, together
with him? Lovely? Lovely? Perfect? Righteous? Complete? In the sight of God? Is that not what the Scriptures
teach? Absolutely. Accepted into be
loved? Lovely? John said, as He is,
so are we now. Are we in this present world? Father, I manifested Thy name
to those whom You gave me out of the world. Thine they were,
and Thou gavest them unto me. I pray that they may be one,
as we are one. I in them, and Thou in me, one,
all together, one. Lovely! Oh, my soul! As Paul said in Ephesians 1,
accepted, accepted, how? Where? In the Beloved, in the
Beloved. First he sees Jesus, the hymn
writer said, and then he sees me. Oh, in the Beloved, accepted
and free. I was going to say yesterday,
I think that's right. No, it was Friday. Friday. In Kentucky, I had Dish Network,
the satellite, you know. So it was advantageous for me
just to keep them, at least for a few more months. The fella
came down Friday. Friday. to set up my dish, you
know. He took down what was there and
put up the dish. And then he was there several
hours. And his name was Joseph. Well, when he came in, and Terry
and Robin had come by by that time. Terry and Pat, I'm sorry. You're welcome to hobble in any
time you want to. But Terry and Pat dropped in. He was still there, but finally
he got set up and he did this, you know, with that remote. And
I wanted him to do it all, because I can't figure that stuff out.
And I was still getting the channels from Lexington, for local channels.
put it on the weather. I did this morning. It was 39
in Danville this morning. I'm still getting local air.
And I asked him about that, you know. And he told me, well, you
know, this has been programmed. And he did it again. Still getting
Lexington channels. And Terry was sitting there.
I think he was just being amused by my ignorance. But anyway,
it finally dawned on me. You know, that That machine that
I brought with me, I can't even think of what they call that,
but it had been programmed to that big satellite out there
in space somewhere, and it didn't really matter where I moved that
thing. It was programmed to that thing
high, high, high. So all we had to do was turn
it back to that one That one, that no matter where I moved
to, that it was programmed to that one. And Christ Jesus, He's
that one that Paul said is high and lifted up. That God's given
a name above every name. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter where I'm at. It only matters where He's at. Where He's at, He's high and
lifted up. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter
1. Let's just read that before we finish this up. Ephesians
chapter 1, this is what I'm trying to say. Oh, and this is what
Christ does. He turns our wandering hearts
back to Christ. Back to Christ, who is where
He always was. He's not wondered, Ephesians
chapter one, verse, no, well, let's look at chapter two, for
time's sake, chapter two. Chapter one tells us he's high
and lifted up and given a name above every, or rather, let's,
maybe we ought to just read it in verse 21. Speaking of Christ,
chapter one, Ephesians verse 21. Far above all principality
and power and might and dominion, And every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all." Verse 4 of chapter 2. But God,
after speaking to about what we are by nature. But God, who
is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up
together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made
us set together in heavenly places in Christ. Like that receiver,
I thought of the word. Oh, just tune to that one. That,
that, out in space, thousands and thousands of miles away,
I don't know. Oh! Christ is high and lifted up,
and I was exalted with Him. I was raised up with Him, the
writer Paul says here, and I sat with Him in heavenly places,
the altogether lovely One, and in Him I'm lovely to God too. Isn't that something perfect,
accepted, and to be loved? One when He died, one when He
arose, one when He triumphed o'er His foes, one when in heaven
He took His seat, and heaven sang all hell's defeat. I've
got the clause. I've got the clause. Oh, just
go think about it. Think about it. Be Thou Thy Vision
was a hymn I thought of early this morning. I hope that you'll
sing that for us next Lord's Day. Bobby, but one verse of
it says, be thou my wisdom and thou my true word. I ever with
thee and thou with me, Lord. Thou my great father and I thy
true son. Thou in me dwelling and I with
thee, one. I declare. I with thee one. High King of heaven, my victory
won. May I reach heaven's joys, O
bright heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, whatever
it befall, still be my vision, my heaven,
my all. Yeah. You ask me, who's he above
another? He's altogether lovely. Is he
to you? Have you ever seen him? If not,
if he's not altogether lovely to you, it's because you're still
blind. And I pray that God would be
pleased to open your eyes. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.