with me, please, to the Song
of Solomon, chapter 1. The object of public worship
is that we may meet with and worship the Lord Jesus Christ,
that we may sit with him at his table. Communion with him is
what we need and want, that we might be fed by Christ himself. Now, I hope that you and I have
come here this morning seeking him, and I pray that he will
be pleased to make himself known to each of us by his grace. My
subject this morning is sitting with Christ at his table, sitting
with the king at his table. Let's begin reading in the Song
of Solomon, chapter 1, verse 12. While the king sitteth at
his table My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle
of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night betwixt
or between my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster
of camphor in the vineyards of Indettis. Behold, thou art all
fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair, thou hast
doves' eyes. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved,
yea, pleasant. Also our bed is green, the beans
of our house are sweeter, and our rastas are firm. Do you know
the Lord Jesus Christ as your King? Do you know the sweet taste of
his grace, the blessed experience of sin forgiven through him? Are you washed in his blood,
robed in his righteousness, and born of his faith? If so, then
I'm certain that your very soul longs, thirsts, and pants for
Christ. You hunger for him just as a
young bride ravished by the love of her husband pants and thirsts
and hungers and longs and yearns after her husband. You want nothing
like you want You want nothing like you want the sweet embrace
of his almighty arm and the blessing kisses of his mouth, kisses of
acceptance, favor, approval, constantly bestowed. That which
we need, and I hope desire above everything else, is the sweet,
blessed, felicitous, with Jesus Christ our Lord. The experience
of grace presses on me and on all who believe many, many great
ambitions and desires, but none greater than this. Oh, how we
want uninterrupted, constant, perfect communion with the Son
of God. Now, here we will never have
it. but soon we shall. And while we live here, we must
earnestly pursue it. Oh, that Christ might be pleased
to visit us this morning and make himself known to all. His
presence is everything. The absence of his presence makes
everything vanity. Our gathering here for worship
Without the fellowship of Christ, it's just dreary religious business. It's like a brook without water,
a cloud without rain, a sky without a sun. We need Christ. Without him, everything else
is vain. We have his doctrine, but doctrine without him is a
lifeless corpse. We have the blessed ordinances
of the gospel, but without Christ, those ordinances are just meaningless
ritual. We have our songs of praise,
but without his presence, our songs are just sorrowful groans.
We must have him. Let's never be wrapped up with
all of those things that are about him, but rather let us
be wrapped up Let us never be over-messed with those many things
concerning him, but rather let us be constantly overwhelmed
with him. We have before us in this text
a picture of King Jesus. It is an allegory. The most beautiful
poetry in the world is allegorical poetry. The most beautiful story,
the most beautiful form of writing in the world is allegorical writing
when it's well done. And it's never better done than
here in the Song of Solomon. We have here a picture of King
Jesus sitting at his table, a table spread with the rich morsels
of the gospel manifesting himself to his people. The picture, of
course, is of Solomon, who was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And I read over and over again yesterday various descriptions
of Solomon's riches, how the Queen of Sheba came and saw him
and observed many things concerning him. And all of the things concerning
Solomon's house and all of the treasures of his house and all
the instruments of his house were not silver, but gold, because
silver was counted like rocks in the street. In those days,
Solomon was All but his wealth is nothing compared to King Jesus,
and his banqueting table, though it was richly furnished, was
nothing compared to the banqueting table of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The picture then is a communion with Christ between Christ and
his people. May it be so that he will come
and sit with us here today in his own house for a little while,
appear in our midst, make himself known, cause us to hear his voice,
and to feast at his table. Now I want us to look at these
verses together, and let me show you three things clearly set
before us in them. First, in verses 12, 13, and
14, the Lord Jesus Christ is here spoken of by us. The bride speaks about her beloved,
and this is what we see. There is nothing so precious,
nothing so precious to the true believer as the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. While the king sitteth at his
table, my spite may send forth the smell thereof. A bundle of
myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night between
my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster
of camphor in the vineyards of Engedda. What a picture. The king sits at his palace table,
with his table spread sumptuously before him, and his bride looking
at him, and he just, oh, he just thanks God. He sees the magnificence
of his person, the bounty of his hand, the goodness of his
heart, and he's overwhelmed by him, and thus he speaks concerning
him. The Lord Jesus Christ meets together
with his people, and makes himself known, and he sees His banqueting
table is the gospel of God's grace. The banqueting table at
which we fellowship with Christ. Now I know in this day of religious
tomfoolery, churches have, you know, they've got their gymnasiums
and family life centers and churches of fellowship of excitement and
all that silly nonsense and folks talk about fellowship and together
when they get together have a softball game. That's not it at all. Believers
feed upon the gospel. and fellowship around the person
of Christ. What knits our hearts together
is not who we are and what we do. What knits our hearts together
is we all love one person. And we're united to Him. And
being united to Him, we're one in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ
is precious to the believer. Unto you, therefore, we believe
Jesus is precious to the sinner. Now let's see how it's illustrated
here. First we see Christ the King revealing himself in the
blessedness of fellowship with his people in this 12th verse.
The king sitteth at his table. And this is the thing we most
greatly desire. If Christ will meet with us all
as well. Peace to people. When you go
to a country in ancient times where kings reigned, If you went
to England, they had a king in England. They wouldn't talk about
a king, they'd talk about the king, because it wasn't but one.
One king in all the realms. And I'm telling you that with
regard to God's people, they understand and know that our
God and Savior is the king. There is none else. He rules
everywhere. But this king comes here. He
condescends here in his house, in his palace and sits. Oh, what beauty, what pleasure,
what delight. Man comes into his house and
he's finished his work and he just sits there. The whole family
gathered around. What a blessed time. We just
sit and relax and enjoy. Our Lord Jesus has finished his
work. He sits on his throne in heaven,
but he sits here in his house with us. True believers not only
reverence him as their sovereign king, But we see his table spread
before us full of bountiful fat things prepared for all nations. It's a table finished by which
the souls of men are fed, furnished with the good things of grace.
Our Lord promised to be present where two or three are gathered
in his name. There's a few folks gathered
here. Not many, but more than two or
three. I wonder if there's just two
or three. who come here seeking you. Two or three who come here
trusting you. Two or three who come here for
His glory, seeking His will, seeking to know Him. He says
that the justicer gathered here, I know this man. He sits here
in our midst. Now may He be pleased to reveal
Himself to us. By the Spirit of His grace, by
the ministry of His Word, sit down and sup with us and allow
us to sup with Him. the Lord Jesus meets with us,
then all our needs are blessed indeed. Our Lord promised to
meet with his disciples in the assembly of his saints, and sometimes
he makes himself known. And if he ever makes himself
known, he's gonna make himself known right here, right here.
God give me grace, I wouldn't miss that for the world. Thomas
missed it on one occasion, he learned better. Look at what
makes himself now, and how blessed are these leaders. The Lord Jesus
comes to us in his presence, draws out the grace that he's
created in our hearts. That's what's meant by this statement
here in verse 12, I think it is. He says, my spiteness sendeth
forth the smell thereof. He sets his table, and when he
does, my spiteness. You remember how Mary came, that
woman who had been forgiven so much, in John chapter 12, and
she had that alabaster box of ointment, spiteness, very precious,
and she broke open the box and anointed the Savior for his burial.
She did it just for him. And the smell of the spiteness
filled the room. When the Lord Jesus meets with
his disciples, when he comes here and meets with us, he draws
out from us what he's put within us, the sweet graces that he's
made us know. He draws out from us faith, and
conscience, and love, and joy, and commitment, consecration
to him. As he makes himself known, he
just draws these things out of us, for he's put them in us by
his Spirit. When he withdraws and hides himself
from us, Our spirit's lanker. Lanker's like tender plants in
the noon-day sun. Shelby put out a good many of
her flowers the other day. We worked a few days, the last
couple of weeks, and she got those, I don't remember what
you call them. Those pretty flowers she likes
to give her. And they get dry, like that. And we're walking
down the porch yesterday afternoon, man, Just look like they're going
to fall over and die. But they even put a little water
on them. This morning they just took that
nice and put it. When he hides himself from us,
we're there. Oh, but when he comes and makes
himself known, he draws out from us that grace that he puts in
us. Nothing gives our soul so much joy and satisfaction as
fellowship with Christ. The children of God are not a
morbid people. We know how to enjoy the good
things of life, but the greatest joys known to men in this world
are mixed with a measure of bitterness and sorrow. We've been anticipating the birth
of this grandchild. I'm trying my best not to say
too much about it, not to act too silly, but we've been anticipating
the birth of this grandchild for nine months now. along with that joyful anticipation
against painful anxiety, painful fear, concern, our daughter going
to be difficult. That's just one sample. The greatest
joys we have in this world are mixed with bitterness and sorrow. But here's joy that's just pure
joy, the blessed fellowship of Christ. the blessed knowledge
of our Redeemer, the blessed enjoyment of his grace. And then
the Lord Jesus is set before us here as that unutterably precious
thing, which every believer possesses and loves. A bundle of myrrh,
verse 13, is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night
between my breast. My beloved is unto me. as a cluster
of cancer in the vineyards of Angelus. Now, we have here a
picture of our Lord Jesus, his value and his love to the believing
soul. The language is the language
of intimate love. It's altogether spiritual. When
you try to read this passage of Scripture and some commentators
read the text and they try to interpret it in a literal manner,
it becomes absurd. But here he's talking about something
that's altogether spiritual. but far more intimate than the
love between a man and a woman. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
choice object of our heart's affection. He's described here
as my well-beloved. No rival to you. No rival. Not one. Not even that one. No rival. No rival. He is like a bundle of myrrh
to us. Now, let me give you the background
a little bit so you can appreciate this. Myrrh was a very costly,
rare plant. It was greatly valued in ancient
times for a number of reasons. It serves well as a picture of
Christ in this passage in four or five ways. Christ may be compared
to myrrh because myrrh was very precious, very costly. You remember
when Jacob wanted to be sure he had gotten favor with Pharaoh,
he sent a bundle of myrrh. He sent lots of myrrh down into
Egypt, going to prepare the way for him. Myrrh was something
that was a rare commodity. We compare our Lord Jesus with
myrrh because he is the precious gift of God to us. When he gave
his son, God gave us his all. He is described as that unspeakable
gift of God. God gave him, in his incarnation,
gave him to die as our substitute God to account for his, and in
the fullness of time to take, and gave him to me. Put him right
here in me. Gave him to me. Oh, thanks be
unto God for his unspeakable gift. The Lord Jesus Christ may
be compared to Myrrh also. because myrrh was a very pleasant
perfume. It was myrrh that was mingled
with all the sacrifices in the Old Testament. You remember,
they'd come and burn the animal sacrifices, and when they burned
the animal sacrifices, you can imagine what a scent those animals
would have. But when the myrrh was mingled
with the sacrifices, as the smoke ascended, it ascended to God
as a sweet-smelling favor. Thus making those who worship
Him acceptable in the ceremony, pictured and typical, acceptable
in the ceremony with God Almighty. That picture was of our Lord
Jesus Christ, for we're accepted in to be loved. Through the sweet
fragrance of Christ, the Lord God smells our sacrifices. He's our patron. You just made
your gift to the cause of Christ this week. I don't care whether
it was $5 or $5,000, it doesn't matter. The only way it's accepted
is through Christ's sacrifice. We offer our prayers to God,
the only way they're accepted is through Christ's merit. We
come to God and offer Him our worship, but our worship, our
best worship standing on its own feet is just fear, that's
all. All but when we come to God and
offer Him our prayers, our souls, our gifts. Looking to Christ,
the Lord God says, I'll take you. I'll accept you, for he
is a bundle of myrrh to us. We are accepted in the beloved. But myrrh was also a preservative. The Egyptians used myrrh to embalm
the dead. Nicodemus and those holy women
who came to take the body of the Lord Jesus and wrap it for
its burial, prepared the body with myrrh. Our Savior was wrapped
in those burial quolls and his body prepared with myrrh as a
preservative. It was used to prevent decay
and corruption. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ,
like a bundle of myrrh, preserves us. It is He who keeps us. in the way we should go. It is
he who keeps us in grace. It is he who keeps our hearts
in the love of God. And Christ may be compared to
myrrh for purification as well. Now, I don't know that it was
so, but the ancient people thought that myrrh had certain medicinal
values. In times of pestilence and plague,
it was common for them to carry a little bag of myrrh around
their necks, hanging between their breasts like you would
a pendant. and the mare was thought somehow
to be a disinfectant. Now I don't imagine that that
has any real medicinal validity, but the picture is beautiful.
The Lord Jesus Christ has infinitely great medicinal value for our
souls. For it is he whose name is Jehovah
Rapha. I am the Lord that healeth me.
He saves and puts himself in our hearts and heals the plague
and disease of our hearts called spiritual death. He makes us
pure and perfect before God. More than that, Christ may be
compared to Myrrh because the women in ancient times used it
for a beautifier. You'll remember when Ahasuerus
Had Esther come in before him, that beautiful, most fair, beautiful
maid in all the land. Before she goes in to present
herself to a Hatcherist, it is, she prepares her body with mail. Kind of like you ladies put on
all of Ole, you know. It's thought to take care of
the wrinkle, make you look younger, make you smell prettier. And
so, this mirror was used by women in ancient times, those very
little women, to remove their wrinkles and soften their skins
and make them appear beautiful. Again, I don't know whether it
worked, but I know this. Nothing makes us beautiful to
God but Christ. And obviously, He makes us beautiful
to God. Beautiful in God's own eyes. He removes every spot. and every
wrinkle from all his feet. Now, our Lord Jesus is not only
compared here to a bundle of myrrh as a beautifier, but we
see that our Lord Jesus Christ is that one who makes us all
together, all together, what God approves of and is well pleased
with. Those ancient women would very
carefully take little sprigs of myrrh and hide them together
a little pouch and they'd wear it as a kitty, lying between
their beds. They'd walk by and say, I wonder
what you wear? It sure smells good. The Lord
Jesus Christ, he describes it like this, look at it. He shall
lie all night between my beds. How come? Because he's precious. is a pleasant perfume, is purifying,
preserving, he makes me beautiful. He shall lie all night, all through
this long night of my pilgrimage in this world, he shall lie all
night between my breast in blessing fellowship. If Christ will be
with me, I want no more. Now this statement, he shall
lie all night between my breast is an expression of intense desire. Can't do more than that. I want
him right here. More than that, it is a word
of confident faith because he said he would. He said, I'll never leave you
in opposition. Sometimes I'm not aware of it, but he always
lies. It's a matter of firm resolve.
He shall lie all night between my death. Christ, you see, is
our only exception before God. Look at verse 14. My beloved
is unto me as a cluster of temper in the binges of the desert.
Now you can look it up for yourself, but that word temper, it's the
very same word that is commonly translated atonement. The Lord
Jesus Christ is our only atonement, our only ransom, our only propitiation. He is the only one in whom, by
whom, and for whom God will look our way with favor. God looks
on us in Christ, through the blood of Christ, and smiles on
us as those who are accepted in the beloved. All right, let's
move on. Verse 15. In verse 14, we see
the bride speaking about the Savior. Here, the Lord Jesus
speaks to us about us, and as he is precious above all to us,
so there is nothing in all the world so precious to Christ as
his Church. Listen to what it says, Behold,
thou art fair by law. Behold, thou art fair, thou hast
done In the eyes of Christ, we are perfectly human. All fair. You see, He observes
us not as we are by nature, but as we are in Him. As we really
are in Him. And as we shall be forever in
Him. All fair. He has washed away
our sin. So you mean he doesn't see our
sins? Of course that's what I meant! You mean he doesn't observe our
iniquities? Of course he doesn't! He hath
not behold iniquity in Jacob! He does not see sin in his people,
for we are washed in his blood. More than that, we are the objects
of his special, peculiar, distinct love. Behold thou art all fair,
my love. He doesn't say that to everybody.
Oh no, Jacob hath I loved, Esau hath I hated. He said, I loved
you, therefore I sacrifice this nation for you. His love for
us is the special, distinct love of his sovereign grace. The special,
distinct love of his election purpose. It is the special, distinct,
saving, satisfying love of his heart for his people. One instance
of the beauty which our Lord mentions is that his people have
the eyes of a dove. Thou hast dove's eyes. Turn over
to Ezekiel 7. I'll show you a text. Ezekiel
chapter 7. Believers have eyes that are
enlightened and guided by the dove of heaven, God the Holy
Spirit. We have eyes that are like the eyes of a dove, loyal
and faithful. Believers have eyes for Christ
alone. But more than that, they have
weeping eyes. Like a dog in mourning. Look
here in Ezekiel 7. The prophet is describing the
time of God's judgment. And he says in verse 16, they
that escape of them shall escape and shall be on the mountains
like doves of the valley. All of them mourning. The Lord Jesus doesn't observe
our sins, buddy, but we never cease to observe them. He sees
us all fair, we fan black. He sees us in the robe of his
righteousness, washed in his blood, and we are mourning the
cause of our sins while at the same time rejoicing in his goodness.
Now then, look at verse 16. That's really difficult to say
whether Christ is the one speaking here or the bride is the one
speaking. It really doesn't make much difference.
But when Christ makes himself known to us and reveals his love
to our hearts, then all is pleasant. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved,
yea, present also our bed is green, the beams of our house
are cedar, and our rafters are fir, recognizing his beauty. He looks at us and says, Thou
art fair. And we turn and look at him and
say, oh, he looks fair to us. Thou art fair, my beloved. Yea, I did, he's grieving. You
see, the marriage between Christ and his people is a blessed,
happy, fruitful union. We were once married to the law
and just condemned. Now we're dead to the law and
dead to Christ. And being wed to him, I did it.
Our union with him is firm and lasting, for the beans of our
house are cedar, and you know that cedar is both a durable,
ancient, preserving wood, and so the union between Christ is
a union which will never be broken. He married us forever, and he
hates putting away, and our fellowship with him is most delightful. absurd. The word rascal is here. Originally should be translated
gallery, a bathroom. In the king's palace, bad porcelain. I can picture a port outside
the bedroom where the king would take his beloved bride and they
just go for a walk, have a little coffee, sit down and chat, visit
with each other. And he says here, our rastas,
our galleries of fur, fragrant, durable woolen fur, and the galleries,
the balconies with which Christ walks with us, the galleries
on which we commune with him, his words, the blessed ordinances
of the gospel, the assembly of his saints, the blessed privilege
of private prayer, covenant of his grace, the doctrines of his
gospel, he walks with us. Lord help the good. How we enjoy
his company when he walks with us and gives us grace to walk
with him. This is he whom I so love. May God make you to know Him
and love Him. Amen.