Text this evening is the Song
of Solomon, Chapter 2, verses 8 through 15. Song of Solomon,
Chapter 2, verses 8 through 15. The voice of my beloved. Behold,
he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a
young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the windows,
showing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake. and said unto
me, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the
winter is past, and the rain is over and gone. The flowers
appear on the earth. The time of the singing birds
has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
The fig tree put forth her green figs, And the vines with the
tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one,
come away. Oh, my dove, that art in the
cliffs of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me
see thy countenance. Let me hear thy voice. For sweet
is thy voice and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes,
the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender
grapes. The things that we see in God's
creation around us, I believe are intended of God to be maybe
not in all things, but probably in all things. types and pictures
to remind us of his wondrous works of grace. The works of
creation are children, are pictures to the children of God, representing
to us the secret mysteries of God's grace and his providence. God's truths are apples of gold,
and the pictures of the visible creation are baskets of silver
in which they're set. Here in the Song of Solomon,
We have a picture given us of revival, a time of great joy,
refreshing and singing. It's compared to springtime when
the winter is past, the frosty cold mornings and the freezing
evenings are gone and the earth springs with life again. And
so he gives us a picture of that which God does in our souls in
the sweet manifestations of his grace when Christ comes to his
people and gives us a time of refreshing. The title of my message
tonight is taken from our text, Winter is Past. Oh, may it be
so. Spirit of God, grant us this
very hour a time of refreshing in our Redeemer. I realize that
we are living in perilous, perilous times. We are living in the midst
of the greatest religious apostasy the world has ever known. I have
no question at all that's so. In this day, it appears that
God has, as the Apostle Paul said he would, has sent a strong
delusion that men should believe a lie because they would not
receive the love of the truth. The whole world today is drunk
with the wine of Babylon's fornication. Drunk with the wine of will worship. Drunk with the wine of the worship
of man instead of God. And that's what will worship
is. It is the worship of man, the exaltation of man, the magnification
of man, the praise of man, rather than the worship and the exaltation
and magnification and praise of the triune God. Free will
works religion is the religion of Babylon and it is the religion
of the whole world. The whole world engulfed in this
notion, this idea that somehow man after all is his own Savior. That somehow man after all is
the one who determines what God Almighty does. It is the worship
of man and it is the religion of Babylon. This modern-day man-centered,
man-exalting, man-pleasing, God-debasing, God-hating religion, which seems
to engulf the whole world and all the religious sects of the
world, is the greatest religious deception the world has ever
known. I don't know, but it seems that
perhaps we are living in that little season described in Revelation
20, when Satan must be loosed from his prison for a little
while, for a short season. and that he should return again
to do what he did before he was bound at the cross. Prior to
the crucifixion of our Redeemer and our Lord's resurrection glory
when the gospel was then sent into all the nations of the world,
Satan blinded the eyes of all the world lest they should see
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Blinded them with pagan false
religion. They were blinded with the whole
Gentile world. Somebody was talking about family
tree back there a little while ago and tracing out family tree. That's all right. Don't misunderstand
me. If you want to do that, that's just fine. But our ancestors
weren't exactly what you'd want to look at and be proud of. Just
go back far enough and you'll find them worshiping everything
under the sun. and practicing every evil under
the sun, your ancestors and mine. The Gentile world was engulfed
in satanic delusion until God sent the gospel to the Gentiles
to call out his elect among the Gentiles. But at the end of the
age, Revelation 20, we're told that Satan must be loosed for
a little season to deceive the nation. to deceive the nations,
to again send blindness to those who have heard but would not
receive the love of the truth. It appears that the world by
and large has accepted the doctrine of Antichrist. And the doctrine
of Antichrist is any doctrine that puts God in your hands.
The doctrine of Antichrist is any doctrine that makes salvation
dependent upon you. Your will, your work, your religious
practice, your religious morality, your religious duty, your worth,
any doctrine that puts God in your hands makes the will of
God subject to your will. makes the work of God subject
to your work, makes God's purpose to depend upon you, is Antichrist. It is Antichrist, it's blasphemy,
and it's damning. Well, brother Don, that takes
in just about everybody I know. It does. It does indeed. It does indeed. Any religion
that is man-centered, Any religion that has for its foundation man's
will, man's works, man's dignity, man's rights, man's worth, any
religion that promises honor and dignity to the pride of man,
any religion that pampers and cultivates self-righteousness,
self-esteem, and self-worth before God is Antichrist. I realize
I am aware that we are living in terribly
perilous times. But I do believe that we may
be experiencing the greatest true revival the world has ever
known right smack dab in the middle of these perilous times.
Hold your hands here in the song of Solomon. We'll be back to
it in just a little bit. Turn to Revelation chapter 11. I see more men preaching the
gospel of God's free grace in Christ than at any other time
in history. More men and women who believe
and worship God according to truth than at any other time
in history. Mother Donna, are you aware of
what you're saying? I don't say such a thing lightly. I am fully
aware of what I'm saying. Now, there had been in other
days, as there are in our days, a lot of hireling preachers,
a lot of professional preachers who will talk about the gospel
and debate about the points of the gospel and argue over Calvinism
or Arminianism as they sit in the coffee shop and sip coffee
with one another, but they don't dare stand on their hind legs
and declare God's truth because they're hirelings, because they're
hirelings. Several years ago, My friend,
Dr. George Ella, I had not met him.
He was preaching in a large Southern Baptist church. He was preaching.
He was having some historic lectures. And I had planned to fly out
and see him. And I got stuck in Cincinnati Airport. And it's
a good thing I did. It's a good thing I did. I got
stuck there because of snow and turned around late that evening
and flew back home. And I called George and explained to him why.
And he said, oh, Don, I wish you could have been here. I said,
really, it went well. He said, there were 30 Southern
Baptist preachers here, and they love the gospel of God's sovereign
grace. I said, do what? He said, there
were 30 Southern Baptist preacher here. I said, they all claim
to believe the gospel of God's grace? Yes, sir. I said, George,
are they going to come back tomorrow? He said, I think so. I said,
I'll tell you what I'll do. You take a survey of those 30
Southern Baptist preachers who just love the gospel of God's
grace. And find one or 30. You find any of them who in their
own pulpits, who in the past 12 months have preached on limited
atonement, unconditional election, sovereign predestination of the
sovereign character of God, I'll give you $100 for every sermon.
I haven't lost any money. folks who play intellectual ball
games, and the gospel's meaningless to them. And they, for their
hire, refused to do so. In every age, there had been
such men. They wrote about it. They debated it in their schools
of theology. But preaching it is another story. You search the history books
and find them for me. But today, there are men literally
all over the world who preach the gospel of God's free grace
all over the world and increasing day by day. We go down to Mexico. It's such a delight to visit
down there and preach in those various churches and be among
those preachers and hear them. Matter of fact, when I go back
in December, I've arranged, I'm going to take first half of one
of the classes, first half of the day's classes in the preacher
school. And I told Cody, I said, I want to hear one of these fellows
lecture to me. And so one of them is going to do the lecture
in the second half, or either way around. It's a delight, delight. God has more men today preaching
the gospel of his grace than at any time in church history,
so far as I know, so far as I can tell. It appears that Christ
is again working mightily in Zion. I hope I'm not deceived. But so far as the Church of Christ
and its universal aspect is concerned, I can almost hear the Savior's
voice. Rise up, my love, my fair one,
and come away, for, lo, winter is past. Winter is past. The rain is over and gone. The
flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing birds has
come, and the voice of the turtle dove heard in our land. I don't
want to be presumptuous and yet I don't want to fail to recognize
God's hand of blessing when it is upon us. In his wisdom and
grace the Lord sends upon his church long cold winters but
he also sends springtime of revival to his beloved and that's what
the Song of Solomon is all about. Those seasons of darkness and
cold, those winter times when things are nearly frozen over
and it looks like all life is gone, and then times of sweet
refreshing and revival. Anyone who reads the history
of the church with half an eye open will recognize that she
does have her ebbs and flows, winter times and spring times,
and the fact is we do individually as well. We have our seasons
of darkness and our times of bright sunshine. We have our
times of coldness and emptiness and barrenness when it seems
that life is just frozen out of our souls. And times of refreshing
when the Lord comes and brings forth fruit to his glory and
enables us to worship him. Often it seemed as if the church
would be frozen out of the earth. Ungodliness, heresy, error have
prevailed at times. And at other times, he's been
fruitful, triumphant, majestic under the reviving influence
of God's spirit. After 400 years of silence, Malachi
spoke and then God didn't speak for 400 years. He sent John the
Baptist and sent his son, And his son, crucified, risen, and
exalted, poured out his spirit on the day of Pentecost. And
the Lord God in one day added three thousand souls to his church. In one day. And daily added to
the church such as should be saved. Now hear me, children
of God. The Lord God today continues
daily to add to his church, such he should be saved. He continues
daily to call out his elect by the preaching of the gospel.
Our history leads through the dark ages of papacy to the time
of Reformation when God raised up men like Luther and Calvin
and the word of God again flourished in the earth. And then there
was that cold, cold winter of rationalism when everything went
to went to hell holding a Bible in their hands, pretending to
worship God with their own brilliance. And then God raised up George
Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards and the days of John Gill and
days of Augustus Toplady and what an awakening time we had.
And then right behind those men came the free will, emotional
fundamentalism affinity that pervaded for the next 150 years. In these days, God seems to have
given another time of refreshing. It looks to me like that's exactly
what we have in John's revelation in Revelation chapter 11. This
is exactly how God told us things would be. There was given to
me a reed likened to a rod and the angel stood saying, rise
and measure the temple of God. and the altar, and them that
worship therein. Measure it. These are God's people. They're always safe and secure. Measure it. God's temple, God's
kingdom is always exactly as God would have it. But the court,
that is the outer court, which is without the temple, leave
out. Measure it not. They're not included. For it is given unto the Gentiles,
and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two
months. And I will give power unto my
two witnesses, and they shall prophesy. Now I don't know exactly
who these two witnesses are. Maybe it's talking about the
Old Testament and the New. Maybe it's talking about the local
church and various arms of ministry with the local ministry and missionary
work. Perhaps those things, perhaps
something else. He's talking about his witnesses proclaiming
the gospel. They shall prophesy a thousand,
two hundred, and threescore days clothed with sackcloth. Prophesy
as men prophesying in hard times. These are the two olive trees
and the two candlesticks. You see them in almost every
vision given of the holy place in the Old Testament. The two
olive trees and the two candlesticks. Ezekiel saw them. Zechariah saw
them. standing before God the God of
the earth and if any man will hurt them fire proceeded out
of their mouth and Devour their enemies and if any man will hurt
them he must in the same manner be killed These two candlesticks
giving light these two olive trees giving life in the earth
by the ministry of the word. I They have power to shut heaven,
that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and have power
over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all
plagues, and often as they will. And when they shall have finished
their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill
them. and their dead bodies shall lie
in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom
and Egypt. The great city perhaps refers
to the whole world, but I think more distinctly refers to the
religious world, where also our Lord was crucified. And they
of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations shall
see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer
their dead bodies to be put in the graves. And they that dwell
upon the earth shall rejoice over them. They've bothered us
long enough. They've bothered us long enough.
They've troubled us long enough. They've denounced us long enough.
Now they're dead, and we'll rejoice and make merry. and shall send
gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented
them that dwell on the earth. But the story doesn't end there.
And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered
into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell
upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice
from heaven say, come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven
in a cloud and their enemies beheld them. Their enemies beheld
them as men accepted and honored of God, raised up and revived
by God. Verse 13. In the same hour there
was a great earthquake and a tenth part of the city fell in the
earthquake and were slain a million seven thousand and the remnant
were frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second
woe was passed and behold the third woe cometh quickly and
the seventh great angel sounded and there were great voices in
heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever. The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And I see
it happening literally every day. God gathering his elect
out of the four corners of the earth, the kingdoms of this world
being made to bow to our Lord and his Christ. Now, I place
no stock whatsoever in the fantastic tales men tell about revivals
of the past or of the present. They appear to me to be nothing
but fits of religious frenzy and emotionalism. Some years
ago, Some of you who are living around here, you'll remember
there's supposed to have been a great revival down here at
the college. Forgot the name, doesn't matter.
Folks talk about revival, that great revival out in San Francisco,
that great revival up in New York, that great revival over
in Wales. And they talk about people shouting
and screaming and having trances and waving their hands and ripping
their shirts open and crying out to God. Isn't it amazing
how similar Baal worship is to Pentecostalism? Read the book. Isn't it amazing? Oh, it's a great moving of God! No. Where God moves, God moves
with truth. You mark it down. Where God moves,
God moves with truth. And if What men call revival
has no connection with the gospel of God's free grace. It is but
a satanic delusion. There is a great distinction
to be made between satanic delusions and the works of God. Now in
this message, back here in the second chapter of Song of Solomon,
I want to show you how it is that the Lord brings revival
to His church. Revival is not always a sudden
burst of divine power upon the church. In fact, I think most
often it is not. It's much more than a temporary
emotional staring. True revival is simply the communion
and fellowship of Christ with his people that alters them forever. It is the sweet fellowship of
Christ, the revelation of Christ to his people that alters them
forever. One of the great theological
minds of this country and of this age, when I say this age,
I'm talking about this New Testament age, was Jonathan Edwards. But
Edwards, in his narrative of surprising conversions, sadly
betrayed something that showed a great lack in what's called
the Great Awakening. There was, in the midst of that
time of great revival, so much flesh involved. He spoke about
two and three-year-old children having a great moving of God
upon them. And I've always suspicion that
something's just not right about that. Something's just not right
about that. I've known a lot of two and three-year-old
children. I've never known one yet who knew how to read the
book, let alone knew what the book said. Oh, but this is supernatural. God speaks to men by his word. And it came to pass about 20
years later, those same people who were supposed to have been
greatly moved by God in revival put Edwards out of his pulpit
because he insisted on having a regenerate church membership.
He insisted that folks who joined the church at least profess to
be born of God. And so folks put him out, these
folks who had experienced great revival. Well, I don't think
so. I don't think so. True revival
makes a radical change upon God's people. It sometimes comes by
degrees, by the gradual manifestation of Christ himself through the
preaching of the word. Now, let's look at four things
in this passage and I'll show you how and when the Lord comes
in revival. Number one, Christ comes. When the Lord God visits his
people in revival, The Lord Jesus graciously comes to his own. The voice of my beloved, Song
of Solomon 2 verse 8. Behold, he cometh, watch this,
leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Any of you men, you older fellows
like me, remember when you go to court that lady. You remember
when you'd go to visit her and how just excited you were, just
your heart beat a little extra, get off from work and take a
shower, shave, put on that good smelling cologne and just anxious
to get to see her. That's the picture of our redeemer.
He comes leaping and skipping like a young man courting the
woman he dearly loves. My beloved is like a roll or
a young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the windows,
showing himself through the lattice. Now it is our responsibility,
yes, to call on him and seek him. If my people, which are
called by my name, humble themselves and seek my face, confess their
sin, then will I visit them. Yes, we must seek him. But the
fact is, we will never truly seek Him. We will never truly
call on Him until He first seeks us and calls us. If He turns
us, we shall be turned. If He draws us, we will run after
Him, but not otherwise. Turn to Psalm 80. Psalm 80. Many years ago, I remember our
dear brother Hubert Montgomery back in the office reading this
passage. And this is what he read from it. Verse three. Turn
us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be
saved. Verse seven. Turn us again, O
God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Verse 14. Return, we beseech
thee, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven and behold
and visit this vine. Verse 19. Turn us again, O Lord
God of hosts. Cause thy face to shine and we
shall be saved. And in between these pleas, the
psalmist speaks of this vine that God brought out of Egypt.
and planted and caused to grow and to flourish and spread over
the earth. And then he allowed their enemies
to come and break off the vine and destroy the vine. And God's people are that vine.
God's church is that vine. Lord God, turn and come to us. Cause your face to shine and
save us and we shall be saved. Back in the Song of Solomon.
Chapter two, verse eight. The church, the bride, hears
the Lord Jesus speak. It is the voice of my beloved. She hears Christ call her. He calls to tell her he's coming.
No one but Christ can speak to the heart and no voice but his
can make our hearts burn. We are his sheep and we know
his voice. He speaks through the preaching of the word. He
speaks by the gospel. He speaks as the word comes in
the power of the spirit. He speaks personally to each
of his own. Next, the Savior is seen coming. Behold, he cometh. Behold, he
cometh. He's given in the present tense. Not he shall come, he cometh. There the Lord Jesus is always
coming to us. Behold, he cometh. The eye of
faith looks for Christ and anticipates him and sees him coming. Now
certainly this has to be applied in at least these ways. Certainly
it very well may be taken as a prophecy for our Lord's first
coming in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus to suffer and
die as our substitute. That was the hope and the expectation
of the Old Testament Church. In the Old Testament, he was
seen in the pictures and ceremonies and types and prophecies of the
law. And the nearer his coming came, the clearer it was seen.
Abraham rejoiced to see his day. And when our Lord finally was
brought to the temple, you'll remember that old man Simeon
and that old woman Anna were waiting in the temple, waiting
because they had read the scriptures and they understood this is the
time when Messiah is going to come into his house. It's got
to be right now. It's got to be right now. And
they looked up one day, and there he came, carried in the arms
of his mother. And Simeon reached out and took that baby in his
arms, and he spoke with prophetic words, and he spoke with inspired
words. Lord, now let us thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Our
Lord Jesus came to redeem us, willingly, delightfully, skipping
upon the hills with great speed. He came as one pleased to come. He came with his heart fully
set in the work. He said to his disciples, I have
a baptism to be baptized with. How am I straightened till it
be accomplished? And Joe, he was talking about
bearing your sin. He's talking about suffering
the wrath of God for you. He says, how am I straightened
to be accomplished? That which would be his soul's
agony and woe, when he would bear the wrath of God in our
stead, he comes delightfully to sacrifice himself for us.
Our dear Savior came to remove the difficulties that lay in
the way of our salvation. to triumph over our enemies,
and as our mighty Joshua, the captain of our salvation, leaping
upon the mountains, skipping across the hills, the powers
of darkness, our own sins, the terrible curse of God's holy
law, all had to be overcome, and they melted before Him. He
laid every mountain low, Christ Jesus came suddenly and soon
after the promise was given. Now, God's people thought it
was going to be a long time, and they thought it was a long
time. The promise tarried and tarried, and the prophet Habakkuk
said, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not tarry. But
they thought it was such a long time because we always try to
measure God's work by our yardstick. God forgive us. He made the promise
in the garden in Genesis 3, 15. He's going to come crush the
serpent's head, didn't he? He made the promise. Four days
later, he was here and did it. Just four days. That's 4,000
years. That's what it said, four days.
Just four days. One day is with the Lord is 1,000
years, and 1,000 years is one day. God made the promise. Four
days later, he fulfilled the promise. Let us never seek to
compress God to our measurements of anything, to our understanding
of anything. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. God always does everything at
exactly the right time. At exactly the right time. I've
heard Bobby say many times, One of the reasons God brought Judy
into his life was to bring you to the Savior at just exactly the right time. At just exactly the right time. In due time, God does everything. When the fullness of time was
come, when the fullness of time was come, God never gets in a
hurry. He's never ahead of time and
he's never late. and the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law. This statement
concerning our Lord's coming certainly must be understood of any visitation
our Lord gives to his people today. His time is the best time. He
withdraws himself for a small moment in a little wrath But
at the appointed time, he will return. And when he returns,
he returns to make us to know his everlasting loving kindness. How often have you thought to
yourself, this is it. I'm gone. The Lord will never speak to
me again. That's where Peter was, you remember, when he denied
the Lord three times, cursed and swore he didn't know that
man. When it was over and he heard the cock crow the second
time, he went out and wept bitterly. He didn't go out and wept bitterly
because of repentance wrought in his heart. That wasn't the
case. David, he went out and wept bitterly because he thought,
I'm just like Judas. I'm cast off forever. I'm cast
off forever. He told his brethren, James and
John, fellas, if you want me, I'll be back where I started.
I'll be back fishing. I'm going back to my nets. I'm
going back to where it was when it all started because I'm a
fake and a fraud. And the Lord Jesus told those
in his angel, tell those women at his tomb, you go tell my disciples
and be sure you tell Peter. I'll meet him at Galilee just
like I said I would. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. He comes to his own and he comes
again to make us to know his everlasting loving kindness. This is true also concerning
our Lord's glorious second advent. Behold, he cometh quickly. I
come quickly. And faith responds, behold, he
cometh. When Christ comes to revive and
refresh his people, he graciously reveals himself to our hearts.
We read here, he standeth behind our wall. He looketh forth at
the windows, showing himself through the lattice. This was the condition. of the
church in the Old Testament. Christ was with them. But he
showed himself to them in type and in pictures, not in his fullness. He stood behind the wall of the
law and showed himself through the windows of the lattices of
their ceremonies and sacrifices. In a sense, this is the condition
we're in as long as we're in this world, living in this body
of flesh. We see through a glass darkly.
This body of flesh is a wall which stands between us and the
knowledge of God. We know Him, but oh, how little
we know Him. We see Him, but oh, how little
we see Him. But when this body of flesh is
dissolved, and God wipes away all tears from our eyes, and
we see Him face to face, Just imagine what that'll be.
How glorious it is now to see him through a glass darkly. What
shall it be then when we see him and know him even as we are
known? Particularly, these words describe
our condition as believers when we're under a cloud. Christ is
always near, but sometimes he's out of sight. And it doesn't
reveal himself to our hearts. The wall that stands between
us is a wall that we've erected. Behold, your sins have separated
between you and your God. And no question, no question.
If ever the Lord hides his face, it's because we've put up our
hands and would not see him. If ever the Lord ceases to speak,
it's because we chose not to hear him. If ever the Lord brings
over us a dark cloud of spiritual desertion, it is because we have
deserted him. But Christ stands behind the
wall as one waiting to be gracious, leaning on the door, knocking. He says, behold, I stand at the
door and knock. He leans on the door. Just leans
against the door and knocks. He's leaning on the door. Now,
this is what he says. If any man, anybody sitting in
there, anybody here will hear my voice and open the door. Open the door, Bob. Open the
door, he said, if you will. I'll come in to him and sup with
him and he with me. We come together in the house
of God and he by his word knocks at the door of his church and
he says to his people, anybody who wants to eat and dine and
drink with me, open the door and we'll sit down and feast
together. Turn to Hosea chapter fourteen. Hosea fourteen. Here's how you open the door. Oh, Israel, return unto the Lord
thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with
you words, words of repentance, and turn to the Lord and say
to him, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. So
will we render the cares of our lips. That is, so will we praise
thee. Asher shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses.
We won't trust in the arm of the flesh. Neither will we say
any more to the work of our hands. Ye are our gods. For in thee,
O Jehovah, the fatherless find mercy. Now hear what he says. I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. Now watch this next line. For
mine anger is turned away from him. He who bore the curse of
God's law bore it away. And because God's anger is turned
away from him who was made sin for us, the Lord God says, I
will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. Our
Lord graciously looks in at the windows and shows himself through
the lattices. If I remember correctly, John
Gill suggested that the windows and lattices by which the Lord
shows himself are the ordinances of divine worship he's given
us. He looks through the reading
of his word and prayer, the preaching of the gospel, the singing of
his praise, the prayers of his saints, the bread and wine of
the Lord's table, and he shows himself to break us, to make
us open to him. to draw us after him. When you
come to the house of God, always ask the Lord Jesus to show himself
through the word, to show himself through the songs that are sung,
to show himself as the book is read, as men lead you to the
throne of grace and prayer, to show himself as you break the
bread and drink the wine in just a minute. Oh, Lord, show yourself. Make yourself known again. Now,
secondly, once he's come to us and revealed himself, causing
our hearts to burn for him, he lovingly calls us to himself.
My beloved, speak, and said unto me, rise up, my love, my fair
one, and come away. Below, the winter is past. The
rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of singing of birds
has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with
their tender grape give good smell. Arise, my love, my fair
one, and come away. In all our frames and circumstances,
Christ's love and his attitude toward us is just the same. He calls us in our soul's declension. My love, my fair one. My soul through many changes
goes. His love, no variation knows. Because in his eyes, Ron, we're
always the same. Made fair and beautiful by virtue
of our union with him. Through his blood and righteousness,
his beauty put upon us. The Lord Jesus calls for us to
arise and come away with him. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light. Arise from your sullen indifference
and your worldly care and come away to Christ. Come away to
me, he says. And then he presses our hearts.
Tells us winter's past. Don't you hear the birds singing?
Look at the time of the fruitful vine and the figs giving out
their figs. Winter is past. The long, hard,
bitter winter will not last forever. These days will pass and spring
will not be far behind. But springtime, you know out in San Diego, California,
they don't have a springtime. They don't have a springtime.
It stays 68 to 78 degrees all the time out there unless you
get out in the desert. Is that about right? They don't have a springtime.
They don't have a wintertime. What a way to live. What a way
to live. They don't know the joy of getting
up in the morning and looking out and seeing those first jungles
pop up in the spring. They don't know what it is to
be blanketed with snow in the wintertime. And those cold, cold
blustery days when you just have to brace yourself against the
wind to walk to your car. The springtime would never be
as pleasant, as delightful, as enjoyable, as well perceived
if it weren't for the wintertime. So it is with our souls. Our
Lord Jesus sends the winter that he might send the spring. And
the time of fruitfulness and singing comes. When Christ comes
and makes himself known, he causes his people to rejoice. And then
he gives a time of sweet communion. Verse 14, Oh my dove, that art
in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs,
let me see thy countenance. Let me hear thy voice, for sweet
is thy voice. and thy countenances come. Frank Hall, the Lord Jesus wants
to see you and hear you. He wants to see me at His throne
and hear my voice. Let us therefore come boldly,
come freely to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need. The Lord says, and I'm
talking to you, to you who hide in the clefts of the rock, to
you who hide in the rock of ages, me. Cleft for me. Let me hide
myself in me. To you who hide in the clefts
of the rock. He says, show yourself. Quit hiding from me. Don't be
afraid of me. Come near and speak. For your
countenance is lovely. Your voice is sweet to me. He comes to commune And then he gives a warning,
a warning very briefly given, an admonition very tender. Look
at verse 15. Take us the foxes, the little
foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. Little foxes. come and destroy lives, little
foxes. We've had 31 years of unceasing
blessedness from our Redeemer. God's given us tremendous open
doors of utterance for the gospel these 31 years. He's given us
fellowship, like I've never known in my life anywhere in the world. I'm speaking for me. He's given us a church family. I've never known anything like
it. Never known anything like it. The little foxes spoil the vines. Let's be careful
to avoid Be careful to avoid pride, anger, wrath, schism,
selfishness. Be careful. You see, what God's
given us is as solid as God's will and purpose, but it's as
fragile as blown glass unless God preserves it. So watch out
for the foxes. Cherish the Redeemer. Cherish
the fellowship of Christ in this place. The fellowship of Christ
with his people. The opportunity God's given us.
And see what God may yet do. He daily adds to his church such
as will be saved. And he visits his vine. And He bids us show ourselves
to Him and speak to Him, because He would see your face and hear
your voice. It's the voice of my beloved.
Do you hear? Leaping across the mountains,
skipping across the hills, He comes to visit His vine. Oh, bless His name. Amen.