It's already the scripture reading. I appreciate you being taking
this seriously, and I profit by it greatly. Thank God for
it. Let's turn now to the Song of
Solomon, Chapter 8. Song of Solomon, Chapter 8. Verse five. Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up
under the apple tree. There thy mother brought thee
forth. There she brought thee forth that bare thee. Set me. as a seal upon thine heart, as
a seal upon thine arm. For love is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave. The coals thereof are coals of
fire, which hath the most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench
love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man would give
all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly
contemned or despised. Now, faith in Christ is described
in many, many symbolic forms in the word of God. Faith toward
Christ, regrettably in this day, it needs to be said, has nothing
to do with physical acts, physical posture, or physical deeds. People somehow have gotten the
notion that walking to the front of a church aisle, kneeling at
some imaginary man-made altar, saying a prayer that somebody
else wrote out, is faith. That's not faith. Coming to Christ
is not something you do with your feet, nor is it something
you do with your lips. Coming to Christ, believing Christ,
is an act of the heart, and yet many, many physical acts are
used in the Word of God as symbols and pictures of faith in Him. The scripture uses the idea of
looking, and describes faith as looking to Christ. Our Lord
says, behold me, behold me, look unto me and be ye saved, all
the ends of the earth, for I am God and beside me there is none
else. He says, this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone
that seeth the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life. Just as the children of Israel
looked to the blazing serpent and lived, so we are bidden of
God look to Christ. And every sinner who looks to
Christ lives by Christ Jesus. Faith is described also as coming
to Christ. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So
the coming and believing is described as the same thing. Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. I was discussing this matter
of faith with someone several years ago in a meeting up in
New York, and a large group of people there, nearly a thousand
people I was preaching to in this place, and people from all
kinds of walks and religious backgrounds were there at the
meeting, and this young man couldn't understand what I was talking
about faith being an act of the heart. And I said, you don't
come to Christ by moving. But Scripture says, come to me.
I said, watch me now, watch real close. I'm taking a long trip. My wife is 500 miles from here,
but I'm going to go see her right now. I said, did you see it? He looked at me like I had lost
my mind. I said, did you see it? He said,
what are you talking about? I said, I just went to see her.
I just went to visit with her. And that's the heart. You understand
what I'm saying? Coming to Christ is an act of
the heart. I bid you who are yet without
Christ, come to Him right now. Brother Scott Richardson, a preacher
one time, he said, fold up your feet and set on your hands and
feet both and come to Christ. Don't move a muscle, don't blink
an eye, don't say a word. Just come to Christ. I bid you
come to Him. It's faith. Believe on Him. Trust
Him. We come to Thee, Blessed Savior,
for pardon, righteousness, and redemption. We come to Him for
life. We have come to Him. We are coming
to Him. And we shall come to Him. Faith
is not something that we did yesterday. It's not something
we did this morning. It's not something we did 20
years ago. Faith is what we are and are doing right now. We're
coming to Christ. It's not an act of life, but
rather it is a condition of life. Faith is described as fleeing
to Christ. In Hebrews 6, we have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us. The Lord
is a strong power. The righteous runs to him, and
they're safe. Realizing that we are under the
wrath of God, and knowing that the Lord Jesus is the only refuge
for our souls, we have fled away to him. And realizing that he
alone is the refuge for our souls, we continually flee away to him. Faith is described in that same
passage as laying hold of him. Laying hold of the hope set before
us. Like a drowning man. Someone
cast him a life preserver and he lays hold of it. Because that's
his only hope. Only hope. God helped you to
lay hold of Christ. There's no hope for your soul
but Him. Someone said, but I don't know if I have strong enough
faith to lay hold. But I don't know if I believe in that. Lay
hold. I don't know if I have sufficient repentance. Lay hold
of Christ. Like a drowning man dying knowing
that he's perishing. Lay hold of Him. Lay hold of
Him. It's not your repentance. It's
not your healing. It's not your experience. It's
not your conviction. Faith that saves your soul. Lay
hold of him, and I guarantee you'll learn something about
repentance. Lay hold of him, I guarantee you'll learn something
about conviction. But I'm telling you, salvation comes by laying
hold of Christ. Faith is receiving. As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name. Receiving. We sometimes, because
of the Arminian free will works, heresy that surrounds us, we
have a tendency in our congregations, where the gospel of God's grace
is believed, to shy away sometimes from matters of responsibility.
But you listen carefully to what I'm saying. If you would receive
Christ, it's something you must do yourself. You must do yourself. I recognize that God Almighty
is absolutely sovereign in this business of salvation. And I
recognize that no dead sinner will ever receive Christ until
Christ is first put in him. I'm fully aware of that. Your
heart's like stone and only God can melt it, only God can open
it up, only God can drop in his grace, only God can put his son
in there. But I'm telling you, no man saved who does not personally
Willfully, deliberately, as you were saying this morning after
counting the cost, receive Christ. The two words used in the New
Testament for receive. One of them means to receive
just like that glass received water. Now that's how we receive
grace initially. Somebody comes and pours it in.
God came to us by his spirit and poured in his rich grace
in Christ Jesus. But the other word to receive
is a word that means to reach out and take. That's the word
that's used right here in John 1 12. To as many as received
him, to those who reach out with willing heart, deliberately,
purposefully, and take him, to them he gave power, all that
it did, to have eternal life, even to them that believe on
his name. I bid you receive him. Believers are those who receive
Christ himself. Salvation is not receiving Christ
into the notions of your head, but into the affection of your
heart. Salvation is not receiving the doctrine of Christ. Lots
of folks get his doctrine and go to hell. Salvation is receiving
Christ himself. True faith receives Jesus Christ,
all of Christ, as He's revealed in Scripture. We receive Him
in all His offices, in all His character, in all His being,
for all our acceptance with God, and we receive Him in preference
to all others. But in our text this evening,
we see faith described in perhaps the richest, fullest, most intimate
connection in all of Scripture. Who is this that cometh up out
of the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Leaning. Oh, here is faith. It's something
more than looking for life. It's something more than coming
for hope, or fleeing for mercy, or laying hold of help, or even
receiving a savior. This is intimate, confident,
loving, admiring, adoring faith. It is leaning on Christ. Now, this is a description of
the church of God and of every true believer. The people of
God are as a bride coming up out of a dark, dangerous, desolate
wilderness, leaning on her beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in
these verses before us, we have four pictures of faith. Our faith
in four postures. we see faith leaning. And I'll
spend the bulk of my time here, because I want you to get it.
Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness, leaning upon
her beloved? Now this is a good description
of faith. Like a crippled man leans on his crutches, the children
of God lean on Christ. Like a woman walking with her
husband in a strange, dark forest, in a desolate wilderness. She's
frightened. She's uncomfortable. She's hesitant. She's fearful. And she leans
on her husband. That's how we lean on him. Indeed,
that's how believers lean on him. We lean upon him because
he's proved his love for us. He's proved his faithfulness
to us. We lean upon him because he's mighty. He's able to protect
and defend us. There's a clear connection. between
what we're looking at now and that which is in the preceding
verses, in verses one through four. There the passage talked
about intimate fellowship and communion with Christ. Here it
talks about leaning on Christ. The fact is, faith in Christ
and communion in Christ do indeed have an intimate connection.
The more heavily we lean on him, The more fully better guided
we trust him, the more communion we have with him, the greater
our fellowship with him is. Lean then heavily on the Son
of God if you would commune with him. I was told in Romans chapter
8, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are
in Christ Jesus, to them that walk not after the flesh, but
after the spirit. To walk after the flesh is to
walk after the senses of the flesh. To walk after the flesh
is to walk after carnal reason. To walk after the flesh is to
walk depending on myself. To walk after the flesh is to
live in this world in such a way as to say, nobody look out for
me, I got to look out for myself. To walk in the spirit I wish I could get the whole
world to hear this. To walk in the spirit is not hooting and
hollering and acting pious and walking up here in the clouds
as if you didn't live on this earth. Walking in the spirit
is walking in this world, leaning on Christ. Just leaning on Christ. Just leaning on Christ. Some
suggest that this question, who is this that cometh up out of
the wilderness, leaning on her beloved, was asked by Christ
himself. But really the question most
likely seems to be, to be raised by the daughters of Jerusalem,
who had just been charged sovereignly not to disturb nor awake our
beloved until he please. And so the daughters of Jerusalem,
they were gathered around there looking, they said, well who
is this that cometh up out of the wilderness, leaning on her
beloved? The people of God you see in
this world are passing through a wilderness. This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. Do
you understand that? Abraham was called of God to
a land that he didn't know anything about. And he left early counties
and went out and followed God looking for a city. But he wasn't
looking for a city on this earth. He was looking for a city which
had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. You and I,
like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, must sojourn through this world.
Pilgrims here! Don't ever forget! Let us then,
in our hearts, set our hearts and our minds being fixed upon
Emmanuel's land, and not upon the things of this earth. Our
pilgrimage, however, is not a lonely one. The picture here is the
bride coming up out of the wilderness. She is not coming up by herself,
but her beloved is with her. And every soul that journeys
toward heaven journeys there with Christ at hand, with Christ
at our side, with Christ at our elbow, leaning on him. Christ is with us in sympathy
so that wherever the path takes us, he's been there and he knows
what it is. I received a few cards and notes
after mother's death last month from folks who had experienced
it, and received a lot of cards from a lot of people who had
never experienced it. And you appreciate folks' thoughtfulness
and their care, but you can read in the lines and know immediately
who's been there. You know immediately who's been
there. Listen to me. The Son of God has been there. He's been there. And he is always
with you in sympathy. Wherever you go, he's touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He is afflicted in all our afflictions. But more than that, he is with
us in reality. Turn back to Isaiah 41. I want
you to look at two texts here. Isaiah chapter 41 in verse 10. Listen to what he says. Fear
not thou. You say, well, Doesn't matter
what the circumstances. He said don't be afraid now.
Don't be afraid. And here's the reason. Isaiah
41 10. For I am with thee. Be not dismayed
for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Now turn over a page to chapter
43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, fear not. Now here's a good reason, I've
redeemed you. Lord, if he's redeemed you, what
do you reckon he will do for you? I've redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. He's talking to his people. I've
redeemed you, I've called you. Thou art mine. I'm his. I'm his. Now you tell me of what and of
whom I should fear. I'm his. Read on. When thou passest
through the waters, and you will, mark it, you will. If you're here, you're going
to pass through some deep water before this is over. It's going
to happen. But you won't pass through it
alone. He said, I'll be with you. And through the rivers,
rivers of water that come up, they shall not overflow you.
When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned,
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. You'll go like the
three heathen children, that is, those three men shall be
shackled to bed to go, cast into the fire of the furnace with
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, at your right hand. And there
won't even be any smell of smoke on you when you come out of the
furnace. Have we here? Read on. For I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for
your ransom, Ethiopia and Cebu for thee. Since thou wast precious
in my sight, thou hast been honorable. I have loved thee, therefore
will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Whoo! What
you gonna do about that? There's nobody I won't sacrifice
for you. I sacrifice myself for you. Fear not, I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather it from, gather thee from the west. This is not
a fiction. It's not a fairy tale. This is
not something you read in a dime store novel. This is fact. Blessed, glorious fact. The Lord is at hand. And though
our pilgrimage sometimes seems long, when the water is deep, and the
river runs rapid, and the fire is hot, it seems long. But we're passing through, Lord. passes through the waters, through
the river, and through the plain. Who is this that cometh up out
of the wilderness? We're coming up out of this wilderness.
That's what happens in conversion. Men and women are in a dark and
desolate wilderness and God brings us up into glorious life. This
is our conversation. We are coming up out of this
wilderness. And this is what happens in our ultimate conquest.
John Newton had it right, through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me home. Throughout our pilgrimage
here, it is our privilege and our joy to be leaning on our
beloved. I like the chorus we used to
sing, learning to lean. Learning to lean. I'm learning
to lean on Jesus. Finding more power than I've
ever dreamed. I'm learning to lean on Jesus. I've been learning it now for
nearly 33 years and I'm just beginning to learn. Learning
to lean on him. I hear Younger fellows sometimes
preaching and they get kind of carried away and they overload
themselves, you know. They say, well, you don't have
any shirt, you don't have faith. Come on now. Come on. We're just
learning to lean that way. Just beginning to learn. Just
beginning. When Peter Heard the Lord said,
come to me on the water. Peter, man, he took off walking
on the water. There's assurance, there's confidence.
It wasn't long he was out there. He said, man, look at me. Boy, now look at me, I'm walking
on water. Just like the Lord himself. You
better watch me, I'll show you how it's done. Down he goes. Did he have any faith? Yeah.
Oh, it saved me, I pray. That's faith. That's leaning
on him. And we're going to learn to lean
on him. He's going to teach us not to lean on ourselves, not
to lean to ourselves, but to Christ alone. This is a good description of
faith. Lean on Christ for all things
related to salvation, and lean on Christ for all things, period. Trust in the Lord. with all thine
heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Every hour of every day, every
moment, and in every way, I'm leaning on Jesus. He's the rock
of my soul. I'm singing his praises. wherever
I go. The bride is leaning on her beloved. Oh, what a name for Christ. We
are accepted in the beloved. My beloved is mine and I am his. Who is this that cometh up out
of the wilderness leaning on her beloved? There's no better
description of faith than leaning on Christ. We lean on his person. He's God. All that God is, Jesus Christ
is. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And he's a man. A man just like me. Same flesh,
same blood. Same heart, same spirit, same
soul. Same mind, same emotions, same
feelings. Same weaknesses, same passions,
same desires. All except for sin. He's the
God-man, and this God-man redeemed us. We lean on Him. We lean on
His righteousness for our only acceptance with God. We lean
on His blood for our only atonement for sin. We lean on the fullness
of Christ to supply all our needs, physical needs, daily needs,
temporal needs, spiritual needs, eternal needs, leaning on Him.
In prayer, if ever we pray, we're leaning on Him. In worship, if
ever we worship, Mark, if ever we have the privilege of really
worshiping God, it's when we lean on Him. In serving Him,
when we lean on Him. Giving, we haven't given until
we've learned to give so as to make us lean on Him. Lean on
Him. In all that we do, in praise,
in worship, in service, it's leaning on Christ. All our hope
of acceptance with God is Jesus Christ the Lord. So we lean on
him. Oh God, teach me to lean heavily
on the Son of God. Lean on him. Come on. He's got broad shoulders and
strong arms. Come, lean heavily on the Son
of God. He can bear the weight of your
soul. and all the care of your heart. Lean on Him. Now, I just decided what I'll preach
to you tonight. I'll finish this up to you tonight, so you won't
hear the rest of it if you come back. But let me wrap this up
this way. This word meaning has numerous
shades of meaning. Sometimes you find words in the
scriptures, both in Hebrew and in Greek, that just can't be
translated by one word. in the English language, and
this is one of them. These are the suggestions. As
to what do you mean, lean on Christ. Cast yourself on Him. Venture your soul on Him. That's
what it is to lean on Him. Somewhat in a burning building,
three stories up. Firescapes are all blocked with
fire and smoke. The doors are all jammed and
the buildings falling in around you and there's somebody down
on the ground and 25, 30 men holding one of those nets and
they're hollering for you to jump. You got no hope but to
jump. And what do you do? You bet your everything on that
net held by those men you just cast yourself on. That's what
it is to trust the Son of God. Cast yourself on Him. Leaning
on Christ is joining yourself to Him. It's taking heel. Being wed to him. Leaning on Christ is associated
with him. Who is this that comes up out
of the wilderness? Who are these men? Who is this? Who is this
bride coming up out of the wilderness? Leaning on her beloved. Oh, what
a blessed place. to find a woman when her husband
is in trouble, when her husband's among enemies who despise him,
who won't have anything to do with him. And there she is, leaning
hard on him. He mine. He mine. Oh, in this world where all men
are hostile to the Son of God, let us never be ashamed to be
identified with him. Lean on Christ. is to cleave
to him as I belong. To lean on Christ in this wilderness,
to come through all things in this dark wilderness, coming
up out of this world into Emmanuel's land, clinging to Christ, rejoicing
in him as I belong. To lean on Christ as the idea
of finding strength in him. You're gonna need it sooner or
later. I hope you need it all the time. Often I have friends say to me, sometimes preachers, sometimes
folks like yourselves, God, I don't know how on earth
I'm gonna get through that. And this is my counsel to you.
This is my counsel to you. Lean on Christ. Lean on Christ. He won't fail you. You lean on
me, it'll be like leaning on a broken spear. You're gonna
hurt for it. Ah, but if you lean on Him, you'll
find strength in Him. Leaning on Christ is clinging
to Him. Tenaciously clinging to Him. Who is this that comes up out
of the wilderness? Leaning on her beloved? Right. This is the
church whom he loved and chose, whom he redeemed, whom he called,
whom he says is mine. This is the people who are married
to him and leaning on him. Oh God help you then to lean
on Christ the Lord. This is the posture of Coupé. It's leaning on the Son of God. Coming up out of this wilderness. Trusting nothing. Wanting nothing. Looking to nothing. Believing
nothing. Hoping for nothing. Except Christ. That's it. May God give you such
faith this hour. Amen. Number 255.