to wretch like me." He wrote
another that is found in very few hymn books today, and I'm
not sure that it's one that should be commonly sung, but it is one
that speaks much to my own experience. "'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? If I love, why am I thus? Why this dull, this lifeless
frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who have never heard His name. Could my heart so hard remain? Prayer a task and burden prove? Every trifle give me pain if
I knew my 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 His 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? In the 25th chapter of Genesis,
when Rebekah found two nations struggling in her womb, she asked
the Lord the same thing. It is a question that believers
often ask. She said, Why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. Now that's what I want us to
do tonight. Why am I thus? The Apostle Paul
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
life? Why is evil always present with
me? Why is there a constant warfare
in my soul? These questions I have been asked
everywhere I have gone by one person or another throughout
this world, all of my life as a preacher. And they're questions
I often ask myself every day. Why? My God, why? Am I like I am? And the Word of God supplies
the answer. The Word of God gives us the answer. It's clear. It's simple. That which is born
of flesh is flesh. And that which is born of spirit
is spirit. Brother Darwin Pruitt said to
me, either on the way to or from Fairmont a couple of weeks ago
when we were driving up the road, we were talking. He said, few
people seem to understand that when a man is born again, flesh
is still flesh. And that old man Adam is still
dead in trespasses and in sins. All true believers are people
with two natures that could not be more opposite. Two natures
that could not be more opposed to one another. Two natures that
could not be more contradictory. Every child of God in this world
is a person who lives both with flesh and spirit. Those two natures constantly
war against one another. The spirit will never surrender
to the flesh. The flesh will never bow to the
spirit. We do not live after the flesh
and we do not walk after the flesh. Paul tells us plainly,
you're not in the flesh but in the spirit. We don't live after
the flesh or walk after the flesh, we live in the spirit and walk
in the spirit if we live by faith in Christ. And those who walk
in the Spirit do not fulfill the lust of the flesh, and yet
we never escape those lusts. We will never be free from this
body of flesh, this body of sin and death, until we've dropped
this body in the grave. Painful as those facts are, they
are facts, and they are painful. And painful as this condition
is, it is best for us. We are justified, sanctified,
redeemed, forgiven, accepted, righteous, holy. All those things
are true of every believing sinner right now. And my friend Bob
Duff, Saint Bob. What a word. Saint, that's real. That's real. We don't become
saints when we die. He's a saint right now. Right
now. Saint Bob. Full of sin. How can that be? There's nothing
yet to be done to make us more accepted with God. Nothing yet
to be done to make us more righteous. Nothing yet to be done to make
us more prepared for heaven. Nothing yet to be done to make
us more fit for heaven. We are right now made meat to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. Well,
why has God left us here on this earth in this condition? Why? Why has he not eradicated
sin from our beings? That wouldn't be a problem with
him. He put it away and he's going to eradicate it. But why
not now? Because it's best for us while
we live in this world to live in this condition. I'll give
you three reasons. We must never forget The only thing that distinguishes
us from the damned in hell is God's distinguishing grace. And
the only thing that distinguishes us from any other human being
in this world is the distinction God made between Israel and Egypt,
between His own people and the rest of the world. No other distinction. What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Here's
the second reason. We must never forget the only
acceptance we have before God in all his glorious being is
the blood and righteousness of his darling son. Our acceptance
with God does not vary, and it is never dependent upon, it is
never determined, not for a second, upon something within us. It's all together outside us.
Our acceptance is the doing and dying of his dear son as our
substitute and the acceptance of his son as our substitute. We are accepted in the beloved. And third, we must never become content
with life in this world. Never. But ever looking for that
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Savior, ever longing to put off this earthly house of this
tabernacle, that it may be dissolved, that we may have a house of God,
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now turn with
me to the Song of Solomon, if you will, and let's see what the Spirit
of God teaches us about this conflict that rages in our souls. We'll begin in verse 11. Now let me give you the context.
Chapter 5, the church is in a terrible state of languishing. The Lord
rouses her up, causes her to seek Him, and she finds Him. We get here to chapter 6, and
in these verses that we're going to look at, our Lord speaks to
His church not in her time of shame, sleeping in carnal ease,
He speaks here to his church in her very best condition. She's
just begun again to enjoy his blessed fellowship. The Lord
Jesus has now returned to his spouse. The breach that was made
by her negligence and her disobedience, the breach made by her refusing
him has now been healed by his grace. And there's now a time
of sweet renewing of love and fellowship. In verse 11, our
Lord speaks to his beloved church, and he 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 over
my garden with tenderness, love, and care. Though you didn't see
me, I saw you. I'll never forsake the apple
of my eye. I'll never abandon the labor
and work of my hands. Look at verse 11. I went down
into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley. That's
where God's church is always found. It's always found there. She's called the hill of Zion. She's called Mount Zion. But
she's always described as in the valley. That's where God
plants His people. That's where He causes them to
grow. I know religious folks like to talk about living on
the mountaintop. Well, when I hear folks talk
about living on the mountaintop, I conclude immediately, either
you don't experience what I've experienced by grace, or I don't
experience what you do. Either you don't know what this
thing is or I don't know what it is. One of the two. I spent
the last 40 years in the valley. But it's a good thing. Nothing
grows on the mountaintop. We thank God we have a few mountaintop
experiences. But in those blessed experiences,
the air is thin and our heads get dizzy. And we soon are brought
back down to the valley. He says, I went down to see the
fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished,
and to see the pomegranates that budded. In verse 12, the Lord
Jesus tells us how he was overcome by the broken, aching hearts
of his people, and how anxiously he returned to his people who
cried after him. Or ever I was aware, what a word,
or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of
Abinadab." It's as though he said, I could
hide my face no longer. My love for you compelled me
with irresistible force to return you. And before I knew it, look
at the marginal reference, give you a better reading of this.
My soul set me on the chariots of my willing people. He set me, my soul was set on
the chariots of my willing people. You remember when Joseph's brethren
came to him down in Egypt? Joseph hid himself from them
and spoke to them roughly in a strange language. Not because
he despised them, but because he loved them. His object was
to chasten them, but all the while his heart was bursting
with love for them, and finally he could refrain himself no longer,
and he broke out weeping and said, I am Joseph! That's the
picture we have here. The Lord Jesus says, I am here,
and I'm yours. We ought to be always a willing
people, seeking Christ, always seeking Him in love, in faith,
and in hope. For these will be like chariots
to bring Him to us. If we continue seeking the Lord,
He will return to us in due time. Matthew Henry said, No chariot
sent for Christ shall ever return empty. It won't happen. It won't happen.
Our Lord will return to us because of His own grace, love, mercy,
and faithfulness. We can do nothing to win His
favor. He is gracious because He will be gracious. He loves
us because He will love us. He returns to us because He will
return to us. He is faithful. Now look at verse
13. The Lord Jesus having returned
to His beloved church courts her, wooing her heart, and invites
her to return to Him. 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, Shulamite.
The word really would be better translated, Salima. The Hebrew
word is the feminine of the name Solomon. The Lord Jesus made
us so thoroughly one with himself that he has given us his name.
When Faith was a little girl, for some reason, the conversation
came up. In those days, some folks, some women were beginning
to talk about, when they get married, they wouldn't take their
husband's name. They'd keep their own name. And I sat my little
girl down and had a talk with her. And I said, don't you ever
even consider such a thing. Don't ever consider it. You can't
find a man whose name you're willing to take. Don't you marry
him. Because you see, marriage is for a woman the fulfillment
of herself. A woman who's married to a man.
I'm not talking about one who's got a piece of paper. I'm talking
about one who's married to him. She finds her completion in that
man. She finds her identity in that
man. She finds her life in that man
and she gladly takes his name. And there's a reason why God
has so ordained it. Because the marriage of a man
and a woman is a picture of the marriage of Christ and his church,
just as we have it here. Our Lord Jesus is our husband
who has espoused us to himself and has given us his name and
we gladly take his name. Losing our identity in Him. Finding our completion in Him. Having our life in Him. Hold
your hands here in the Song of Solomon and turn to Jeremiah
23. Let me show you. All that Christ is, He has made
us to be by His marvelous grace. And he calls us himself. He calls us himself. Jeremiah
23, verse 6. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name, his name,
whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Look
at it one more time in chapter 33. Jeremiah 33. I want you to see it. I've shown
it to you many times. I want you to see it. I pray
God will burn it in your heart. Verse 16. Almost identical words. But now the prophet is not speaking
about Christ. He's talking about his church.
He says, In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely. Talking about the very same thing.
And this is the name wherewith she shall be called. The Lord,
our righteousness. Solomon chose his bride and calls
her Solomon. This name Shulamiter, Solomon,
means perfection. And it well speaks of God's people,
for we are perfect in Christ, complete in Him. Washed in His
blood, we are spotless. Robed in His righteousness, we
are glorious, holy, and pure before God. And the name also
means peace. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our consciences no longer accuse us. We're no longer at enmity
with God. Peace has been made for us with
God, and the warfare between our souls and God is over. A
terrible warfare within, but not between us and God. God's
sword has been sheathed forever in the heart of His Son. Justice
no longer cries against us, but always speaks for us. Our Lord
graciously calls for us, back here in the Song of Solomon,
to return to Him. And he makes that call four times. Four times in one sentence he
says, return, return. Oh, Solomon, return, return. I take that to mean this. Our Savior is always willing,
always willing for us to walk before Him and with Him in sweet
fellowship. and in blessed communion. Return
to me, he says. Return to your first simple faith. That's the secret. That's the
secret. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you come to him, James?
naked, filthy, bankrupt, sinful, nothing to offer God, vile inside
and out, empty handed. Walk with them just like that.
And if you ever grow a step beyond that, you've grown too much.
Come to me, just as you came to me in simple faith, in tender
love. Return to the place where we
first met. Come now to Calvary and walk
with me. Ever walk with God. Oh, would to God I could cause
every man, woman, and child in this world to hear me. particularly
religious folks, ever walk with God on Mount Calvary. You can't walk with Him on Mount
Sinai. It can't be done. Now catch these
next words. Our Savior says to His beloved,
He says to you and me, Return, return, that we, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, the triune God, may look upon thee. He seems
to say, I have not seen you with me much lately. You neglected
my word and neglected me. Return unto me that we may look
upon you. If you return, we will look upon
you again. I will show you my face again.
I'll look on you in love and tenderness and forgiveness. I'll
look on you in kindness and pleasantness with satisfaction. But then in
the second part of verse 13, we get to what I want to talk
to you about. Here is the bride, the church, the people of God
speaking, convinced of her sin, full of
shame. God so convinced me every hour. So filled me. every hour, convinced
of sin, full of shame. She confesses her frustration
with herself. She thinks there's no beauty
in her, nothing in her that he could want to see. What will
you see in Solomon? And she answers the question,
as it were, the company of two armies. Now this is what she
said. There's nothing in me but conflict
and confusion. In my heart there are two armies
at war. If you look upon me, you will
see a raging battle, good fighting evil, light contending with darkness.
I'm not worth looking upon. I'm a house divided against itself.
Now that's a true, accurate description of God's people. God's elect
experience continual inward conflict, a conflict between flesh and
spirit. In your bulletin this morning,
I had a brief article by John Bradford that is so pertinent
to what I'm saying. He said, a man that is regenerate
and born of God consisteth of two men, namely the old man and
the new man. So that one man, inasmuch as
he is corrupt with the seed of the serpent, is an old man. And inasmuch as he is blessed
with the seed of God from above, he is a new man. Inasmuch as
he is an old man, he is a sinner and an enemy to God. So inasmuch
as he is a regenerate man, he is a righteous and holy and a
friend to God, so that he cannot sin. One man, therefore, which
is regenerate, well may be called always just and always sinful. Just in respect of God's seed
and his regeneration. Sinful in respect of Satan's
seed and his first birth. That's what we are. Two men living
in here. Two men living right here. Not
part of the time, all the time. Two men. Two men, one righteous,
one sin. One that can do nothing but sin,
and one that cannot sin. Constantly at war. Now let me
state what I want to in four statements. Number one, this is a fact. These inward conflicts are facts
in every believer's life. The believer's life is not all
a rosy, sweet-smelling, delightful garden. The believer's life has
some bitter conflicts, bitter conflicts which will cause us
much pain As long as we live in this world, much toil, much
heartache, and it will only increase as we increase in the knowledge
of God our Savior. You who are God's children know
what I'm talking about. The struggles between flesh and
spirit, I don't have to convince you of. To the unbelieving, to
the unregenerate, the mere religionist, true believers, true Christians,
are constant confusion, just a paradox. They can't understand
what you go through. We see traces of this conflict
throughout the scriptures. Let's look at it just here in
the song of Solomon, back in chapter 1, verse 5. Here is Solomon speaking, the
bride, Christ's church. I am black, but come Black as hell, but beautiful
before God. Black but comely, O ye daughters
of Jerusalem, as the filthy, dark, dirty, black tents of Keter,
and as the curtains of Solomon, as the beautiful curtains in
the Holy of Holies. Chapter 3, verse 1. And we do have our nights. On
my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found
him not. How often? Chapter 5, verse 2. I sleep, but my heart waketh. That's where I find myself most of the time, Ron. I sleep. It appears I'm utterly
dead, but deep down inside, my heart waketh at his voice. I read to you this morning Psalm
73 in preparation for the message tonight. David looked out his window and
he saw his neighbor, pagan, reprobate man. No fear of God before his
eyes. Had no concern for God, God's
glory, God's people. And David looked at himself.
I can just picture Thanksgiving Day. And here's David in his
house with Bathsheba and Solomon and everybody else. The whole household turned against
him. Hated him, Lindsay, like a man
would hate his most implacable enemy. His wives, his sons, his
daughters hated him. And there sits Joe Blow over
there. His eyes bug out with fatness. Every son, every daughter,
Every grandchild, every in-law, they've all come to the house
for Thanksgiving. They all gather under his table.
They don't ever give him any trouble. They cause him no difficulty. And David looked at him and he
said, what's the use? I've served God for nothing.
I've washed my hands in innocence. It's a vain thing I've done.
He said, that's what I thought. until I went in the house of
God, and I saw their end. Surely,
oh God, the reason they enjoy such fatness is because you've
set them in slippery places, because you've determined to
destroy them. And the reason you've left me here like I am,
because you won't leave me." He said, I was as a beast before
thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. This is what Paul was talking
about in Romans 7, Galatians 5, when he talks about the flesh
lusting against the Spirit. He says, in me, that is in my
flesh, dwelleth no good thing. And yet, at the same time, he
says, there is another law in my members. I divide in the law
of God after the inward man, but this other law is continually
conflicting with me. So I can't do the things I would,
and the things I hate are the very things I do. We see this
continually. this terrible conflict in our
own lives. Turn over to 1 John chapter 3. We have a corrupt nature within
us, a nature that can do nothing but sin. And we have within us
a righteous nature. A righteous nature which would
draw us into perfect conformity and union with Christ. Indeed,
a righteous nature that is into perfect conformity and union
with Christ. And between these two forces
of good and evil, there's no agreement. Look at verse 7. Little children, let no man deceive
you. Now look, watch the language
and watch it carefully. He that doeth Righteousness is
righteous, even as Christ is righteous. That that practices
righteousness, that that does righteousness is righteous, even
as Christ is. Verse 8, he that commiteth sin,
he that practices sin, he that does sin is of the devil, for
the devil sinneth from the beginning. Now the doing of righteousness
is Christ in me, the hope of glory. Paul said it's not me, not me,
but Christ that liveth in me. Remember what he said in Galatians
2.20? No more I that do it, but Christ that liveth in me. And
he that does sin is that old man. So Paul says that's not
me either, that's the old man. That's the flesh. That's the
nature of corruption. Read on. For this purpose, the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of
the devil, whosoever is born of God. Now, if you haven't done
so already, take your pen and mark that so you won't forget
it. Doth not commit sin. And you can write this in the
margin, ever. Are you sure? Are you sure? Well, let's see. For his seed
remaineth in him, and he, what's the next line say? Can not see
it. How come? Because he's born of
God. That's something holy God put
in you. That's something righteous God put in you. And that holy
thing, that righteous thing, that seed that's in you is Christ
himself. living in us by his grace. Now
here's the second thing. This conflict is caused by and
begins in regeneration. A new nature is planted within
us as we just read. But the old nature is not eradicated.
Don't think for a moment that old man Adam dies in regeneration. Don't ever imagine that somehow
he gets weaker or gets better. Flesh is just flesh. How often God shows us this in
the Scriptures. Brother Noah. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. He built an ark to the saving
of his house by faith. And he got off the boat, burned
the timbers the boat was made of, and raised a vineyard and
there he is drunk. What a picture of Saint Noah. That ain't him, that's Adam. But a lot, righteous lot, righteous
lot. Folks say what they want to about
lot, God called him Righteous Lot. Matter of fact, the only
time God ever described him, the only time God ever attached
an adjective to his name, he called him Righteous Lot. Never
anything else, because God always sees his own as they really are
in Christ. But there's Lot, freshly delivered
from Sodom, two nights in a row in a drunken stupor with each
of his own daughters. Committing incest. David. David, that man after God's own
heart. David, whose name is used throughout
the Old Testament in place of Christ himself because he's such
an imminent type of our Redeemer. David. One night One afternoon,
late in the evening, on his castle, he looks out and spies a beautiful
woman bathing herself, and he sends for a servant to get her.
It's the wife of his faithful friend and faithful servant. He takes the woman, and to cover
himself, murders his friend. Now just what is it you won't
do? Oh, I'd never do that. Let God
leave you to yourself and it's done. That quickly. That quickly. That which is most
obnoxious in your own opinion. Let God leave you to yourself
for a split second and it's done. It's done. The most vile thing
your heart's ever imagined. Let God leave you to yourself
for just a moment. And when I say you, I'm including
the fellow talking to you. It's done. Just that quick. Just
that quick. I'm not a human being in the
world. I admire her like I do that one
sitting right there. I admire her. I admire her. And she's got the same kind of
heart you do and I do and David does. Same kind of heart. The same evil that's in Lot and
David and Noah, in her and in her husband. Who maketh thee
to differ? Who? Peter. Lord, I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. Though
all men leave you and forsake you, not me! And Lindsay, he
was telling the truth. He didn't leave him. He wouldn't
forsake him. He was with the Master to his last breath. But
the Master ran him through Satan's seal and taught him to understand.
Flesh is just flesh. Flesh is just flesh. And his
last word to him After he said, before the rooster crows a second
time tomorrow morning, you're going to deny me. He said, let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. We need no proof of these things. an honest acknowledgment of what
goes on in here is proof enough. Our thoughts from the rising
of the sun to the setting prove it. Our deeds prove it. Our prayers are more lust than prayer. That's
just fact. That's just fact. We read this
book. I can sit down and read a book.
I have a dear friend down in California. He's a brainy fella.
He's written four books for the United Nations on the non-nuclear
proliferation of space. I can't hardly say the words.
I don't understand a thing on earth in the books except the
name on front of them, Brother Stephen Doyle, and I read the
books or have read them just because he wrote them. And you
know what I can do? I can crack one of those books
open when I'm dead dog tired. I can open it at 2 o'clock in
the morning and read until 4 o'clock and never yawn. and don't understand
anything I read. It's just a technical bunch of
mishmash to me. And I'm opening this book when
I'm fresh and wide awake, just drunk a pot of coffee, and my
mind will run a thousand directions. And if I want to go to sleep,
surest way is read this book. Surest way. We come here to worship,
our minds run everywhere except to God. I remember what Brother Hubert
Montgomery said to me at his wife's funeral. Stood there by
the casket, tears running down his cheeks. That old man said
to me, if there was ever anybody in this world I love more than
myself is her. The fact is we love ourselves and we pamper ourselves and we
care for ourselves. We love this world and the things
of this world and hate the fact that we do, but that's just the
way it is. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, take and
seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. Here's the third statement. These inward conflicts do have
some good effect. Without question, we will look
back upon these days of great evil with gratitude when we see
things clearly and see the wisdom and goodness of God in all His
ways of providence. Our struggles with sin do help to humble us and curb
our pride, not thinking more highly of ourselves
than we ought to think. Our struggles with sin do force
us to lean wholly upon Christ, trusting Him alone. as our Savior,
our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. Our struggles with sin do cause
us to prize God's faithfulness. I recall when I was just a boy,
before I started pastoring, in college we had to prepare sermons
and preach them to the class. prepared and preached a sermon
on God's faithfulness. And it was good. I said everything
about God's faithfulness I could say in 15 minutes that Dr. Gill
said. It was all good. Every bit of it good. And I didn't know a thing on
earth about what I was talking about. And now, after 40 years of experiencing
it, I'm here to tell you, He abideth faithful. Faithful is our God. Our struggles
with sin do work to make us rejoice to
know that salvation is of the Lord. And one last thing, these inward
conflicts will soon be over. Blessed be His name. Turn to
Jude verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. God who hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now unto Him that loved us, or
that is able to keep us, to keep you from falling, and to present
you faultless, faultless, faultless, what a word, faultless
before the presence of His glory. Now watch this. With exceeding joy, To the only
wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Children of God, as long as we
live in this world, we shall be as a company of two armies.
So I'll give you one final word of admonition. Keep yourselves. in the love
of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life. Rest your soul upon Christ. Hang everything on that nail
God has put in the sure place forever. Amen.