such a blessed hymn. Let's turn this evening to the
Song of Solomon chapter 7. Our text will be verses 10 through
13. Such is our condition in this
world that we who are born of God's Spirit, washed in the blood
of Christ, given a new heart that truly loves him. Still, our hearts are, as the
spouse here says in the Song of Solemn Hours, two armies warring
against one another. And we are in a constant fluctuating
state from warmth and zeal, passionate love for Christ, to coldness
and indifference, hardness of heart toward Christ. We often spurn him when he knocks
at our hearts through his word. The word comes to you in your
private reading and preaching or after the message is preached,
you'll be driving down the road in your car God speaks to you
and you just push it aside. I put off my shoes, I shall put
them on. I'm comfortable now, everything's
going fine. I don't want to be bothered right
now. And when that happens, our Lord
graciously causes us to smart for it. He hides his face from
us. He won't speak to us. He opens his word and exposes
our sin, takes away our veil and makes us to know our shame
and our guilt, and graciously, gently, effectually forces us
to seek him. Aren't you glad? If we're his,
he will not leave us to ourselves. If we're his, though oft we forsake
him, he will not forsake us all. He hides his face and makes it
appear that he's forsaken us, because he is determined that
we shall love him. And he is determined to break
every odious idol from our hearts, to drive every rival from us
that would rival him and our affection for him. And at the
same time, our Lord graciously assures us of his steadfast love
in his word. While he hides his face and doesn't
speak, while he hides his face and seems to turn a deaf ear
to our prayers, while he will not give us any tokens of his
manifest presence, yet he's given us his word and he assures us
being washed in his blood, our sins are gone, and we stand before
him as a chaste virgin. Robed in his righteousness, we
are pure and holy and undefiled. And that's how we see him describing
his church throughout the Song of Solomon. Now in one of these
horrible, languishing conditions, the Lord Jesus makes a promise.
He promises up here in verses eight and nine, I will go up
to the palm tree. That's what he calls us. We're
weak and shaky and wavering. He says your palm tree. I planted
you by the rivers of living water. And I'll go up to the palm tree
and take hold of the boughs thereof. Now also thy breast shall be
as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like a
He said, I'm going to come to you and I'm going to make myself
known to you. And then you shall be fruitful
again and your soul refreshed. Or maybe now. And so the spouse in her acknowledged
condition of languishing and her acknowledgment that her sorrow
and her pain is inflicted by her own coldness of heart, she
responds and says, I am my beloved's. His desire is toward me. Come, my beloved. Now this text of scripture And
the message it contains is a call for revival. We have four things
in these verses. First, a blessed assurance of
Christ's love. And then an earnest desire for
Christ himself. And a willing submission to examination. And then finally, a sincere promise
of love. Let's look at the text. In verse
10, we see a blessed assurance of Christ's love. The spouse
speaks now, after he has described her, and described her beauty
in his eyes, and described what she is before him, and made the
promise that he will return to her. She said, I am my belongs,
and his desire is toward me. Thus faith takes hold of the
word of God. She takes Christ at his word. He told her of his love. He told her of his steadfast
interest in her. And she took him at his word.
She believed it. She said it doesn't much look
like it much of the time. In fact, If the truth were known, and let's just let it be known, we don't behold one another this
way. Thank God we don't. I hope we
don't. But most of the time Rex, most
of the time, as I try to deal honestly with my own heart and
soul, most of the time, In my inmost being, I don't much act
like or show forth any real evidence that I'm his. Most of the time there's hearts
so cold, so hard, so enamored with the world, so
filled with sin. Most of the time. But he says, I've redeemed you. He says, I've washed you. He says, I've robed you with
my righteousness. He says, you're mine. And I believe him. Contrary to all the evidence
that says otherwise, I believe him. Contrary to my own opinion
of myself, I believe him. I am my beloved. And not only
that, his desire is toward me. What a word. Turn over to Jeremiah chapter
9. Believing Christ. Trusting Christ. Looking to Christ alone for acceptance
with God. Acknowledging and confessing
my utter depravity, corruption, and sin. Trusting him alone for
redemption and righteousness. Trusting him alone to give me
acceptance with God. I rejoice to hear him declare
I'm his. Listen to this. Jeremiah 9 in
verse 23. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. It won't last long. Neither let
the mighty man glory in his might. It'll wither quickly. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches. Somebody will steal them sooner
or later. But let him that glory glory in this, that he understandeth
and knoweth. Oh, now there's something to
rejoice in. Here's something to, here's something that ought
to flood your heart if it's true of you. I understand, and I know
the living God as he revealed in Christ, who exercises loving
kindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. Now this is what I want you to
understand. Listen to me. God help you to hear me. If you
can right now, Gary Baker, if you can right now, if you'd never
had before, if you can right now, take your place before God
Almighty as a worthless sinner, trusting Christ alone. He's yours. But I feel, doesn't matter, but
I, doesn't matter, but I, doesn't matter! If you can take your
place before God Almighty as a worthless sinner, trusting
Christ alone, He is yours. That's what this book says. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that hath
the Son hath life. This is the record God has given.
He has given us eternal life. And this life is in His Son.
Who does He give it to? Anybody and everybody who believes
His Son. I am my belongs. With those words
the believing soul acknowledges that all she is and all she has
belongs to Christ. If I am His, Now listen to me. If I'm his,
I'm his lock, stock and barrel. If I'm his, I am his. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Jesus Christ is my Lord and I
belong to him. I'm his property. I say that
on these grounds. First, he chose me from eternity. Secondly, I'm healed by legal
purchase. He bought me at Calvary. Thirdly,
I'm healed by divine gift. God the Father gave me to his
son in eternity, and God the Father gave me to his son in
time when he brought me to him in faith. And fourthly, I'm healed
by deliberate willful choice. Lindsay brought out so well in
the study in Ruth this morning. We must decide for Christ. We must choose Him. I know you
have not chosen me. I know that. I know you cannot
choose Him. I'm aware of that. I know you'll
never decide for Him. I'm fully aware of that. But
you must. You must. And everyone who is
His has chosen him, decided for him, and given himself to him
as resolutely as Ruth gave herself and devoted herself to Naomi
her mother-in-law, I will not leave thee! I've chosen you,
you're mine, and I'm yours. How come? Because God has so
revealed him in our hearts by his irresistible grace that by
the force of his irresistible love we're drawn to him and we
can't do otherwise. You can't do otherwise. A young
man courts a young lady and, you know, he's after her hand
and he wants her. And she kindly spurns him and
he keeps courting her. And she spurns him a little more
and he keeps courting her and he buys her gifts and he shows
her how much he can do for her. And after a while, she's kindly
overcome and she can't resist him anymore. Well, I heard of
Christ with the hearing of the ears. One way or another hurt
him all my life. I heard about him, and heard
about him, and heard about him, and experienced providential
tokens of his goodness day after day after day, though I spurned
him continually. Oh, but one day, God the Holy
Spirit called me to see him. And I couldn't say no. I said no all my life, I couldn't
say no anymore. I said here I am. Lord God, if
you'll take me, I'm yours. I'm his. Lock, stock and barrel. You see, faith in Christ is nothing
less than a voluntary, willful, deliberate surrender of myself
to him. That's what faith is. Faith is
not, faith is not just believing that he is. The devils believe
that and tremble. They got Moses the most Baptist.
They tremble believing that he is. Faith in Christ is believing
him, and believing him is surrendering to him. Nothing less than that. Real revival is a renewed commitment and devotion
of my entire self to him. Everybody talks about revival,
C.S.I. and having revival. Revival is
not some kind of religious fit. It's not something you have in
the fall and in the spring at a regular scheduled time. Revival
is God the Holy Spirit moving our hearts anew to Christ. Sweetly constraining us by irresistible
power and grace, voluntarily again to yield ourselves to him. That's what it is. and his desire is toward me. What a word that is. As the faithful
husband's desire is toward his wife, so that in all things he
seeks her happiness, her comfort, and her welfare. So Christ's
desire is toward his church. Now I've got to say this, because
it needs His desire is toward his church exclusively. His desire
is not sort of toward us like it is toward everybody. That's
not much to that. That's not a preaching of vociferousness. Oh no, his desire is toward me,
his bride, his church, specifically and only. His desire was toward
me from eternity. And his desire is toward me immutably. Isn't that great? His desire is toward me immutably. Immutably. Before I was converted,
as I lived in this world, despising him, his desire was toward me. And since the day of his grace
dawning in my soul, though I have often spurned him, his desire
is toward me." Nothing changes, not on his part. His desire is
toward his own elect, and that desire will never be fully satisfied
until he sees us with him in glory, and we are made like him. As a tender husband, the desire
of our Lord's heart is always with his people. He sympathizes
with us in all our distresses and in all our circumstances.
He protects us in all our dangers and provides for us in all our
needs for all time and all eternity. All right, look at verse 11.
Here is an earnest desire for Christ himself. Come my beloved, let us go forth
into the field. Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards. Tell me, do you long for him? Do you long for his sweet manifest
presence? Do you long for him to kiss you
with the kisses of his mouth? Do you long for him to give you
fresh tokens of his love to speak to you and let you speak to him? Well, I tell you what you ought
to do, my love. Tell him so. Just tell him so. Come, my beloved. Let's walk
together that I may receive your counsel and your instruction.
come and comfort my heart and refresh my soul and revive my
spirit. Our Lord walked with the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus and they didn't really know what
was going on but after he departed from them they said, did not
our hearts burn with us as you speak to us by the way? Oh come
my beloved. The expression is a a desire
to know more of our beloved. The Apostle Paul said, Oh, that
I may know him. I want to know him. Oh, I want
to know him. Maybe I can roughly illustrate
what I'm saying. I have been getting to know Mrs. Fortner for 33 years, been getting
to know her. And the more I know her, the
more I admire her, and love her, and want to know her. Want to
know her. I want to know her so as to know
every thought of her mind, every desire of her heart, everything
that pleases her. I want to know her. Want to know
her. And that just painfully expresses
what I'm saying. I want to know Christ, don't
you? I want to know everything doctrinally revealed about him.
Everything. Everything I can possibly know
about him. I keep studying this book because
I want to know him. I want to know him. I want to know who
he is. And I want to know what his purpose
is. I want to know what pleases him,
what honors him. I want to know him experimentally. Not just know about him. By God,
I want to know him. And to know him growingly. Ever,
ever growing to know him. This expression is a desire to
enjoy a personal, private communion with him. The spouse here says, come my
beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us lodge in the
villages. You see, if we would enjoy fellowship
with Christ, we've got to lay aside the cares
and amusements of this world. We've got to avoid anything that
would distract us from him. Anything that would take our
hearts from him, anything that would come between us and him. And we got to get along with
him. Sometimes believers seem astonished that they know
so little and understand so little. And they come listen to this
message and they hear something and say, Where did you get that?
If you want to know him, you're going to have to spend some time
with him. You're going to have to spend some time with him.
That's how you get to know folks. You don't get to know them by
long distance correspondence. You've got to spend some time
with them. Our Lord said to his disciples, when you pray, enter
into your closet and shut the door. Now that doesn't mean have
a prayer closet so that you go in there and you put your little
candle out and you kneel down and that's where you pray and
work. It means spend some time alone with me. Spend some time
with me. And yet, we are never less alone than
when we're alone with Him. She's willing to rise up early
for this. She said, let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us get up early to the vineyards. Now, when I was younger, I used
to read about those old fellas who got up at 3.30 and 4 o'clock
in the morning and read and prayed for hours. I have to be honest
with you, I never gave it a real stab at imitating them. But I
found out soon that they went to bed at 3.30, 4 o'clock in
the afternoon, didn't have any light. They got some sleep in,
so there's no virtue in getting up 4 o'clock in the morning.
That's not to suggest that at all. But this is what it says.
If you're interested in knowing Christ, and walking with Christ,
and fellowshipping with Christ, you must be diligent in using
the means and opportunities He gives you to walk with Him. and
fellowship with him and commune with him. For the Milton Howard
and I were chatting a while back, some fellows got upset with him
because he kind of scolded folks not attending services. He said,
Don, if I lived to be a hundred years old, I'd never understand
a believer willingly sitting at home when God's people meet
and the Word of God is preached. for the worship of Christ. I
never understand that. And neither do I. I just never,
never, never understand it. Never. She would not be content without
Christ. And she would be content anywhere
with Christ. She says, let's go out into the
fields. Let's go out into the She recognized that her luxury
and her comfort and her choice of those things had once persuaded
her to seal up her heart against him who loved her. And now she
says prisons would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with me
there. Let's go out into the fields, out into the villages.
Now I rather suspect that when we desire Christ and so desire him, David, that
he's all we desire, we'll have him. I rather suspect. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. In verse 12, here is a willing
submission to examination. She says, let us see if the vine
flourish. Let us see whether the tender
grape appear and the pomegranate bud forth. Here's a parallel passage. Search
me, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, or see if there be
in me the way of wickedness, and lead me in the way everlasting. Our own souls are our vineyard
And it's our responsibility to keep our vineyards, not our neighbor's
vineyards, I can't do that for you, but Sam, it's my responsibility
to keep my vineyard, you to keep yours. And so the believing heart
says to Christ, come, let's go now alone into the fields and
into the villages, and let's see if the vine flourish. Someone said that vine is fake.
Let's see if the vine of faith is real. Let's see if the tender
grape of hope is lively. Let's see if the pomegranate
of love and joy buds forth. Do not I love thee, O my Lord? Behold my heart and soul, and
tear each odious idol out. that dares to rival thee. And then there's a promise, a
sincere promise of love. There, from the depths of my
heart and my inmost soul, will I give thee thy loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and
our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old. which I
have laid up for thee, O my beloved." Lord, come now. Let's get out of the field of damages away from
every care, away from every disturbance. And let's see if things are real. Mark, we better find out now. Let's see if things are real.
Let's see if the vine flourishes. Let's find out. I appeal to you. I say unto my soul, I am thy
salvation. And I will give you my love.