Okay, coming to our last study
in the Song of Solomon, chapter 8. And as I look these last few
verses over, I'm always looking for a title to the message. And
what I settled on was the words found in verse 10. I am a wall
and my breast like towers. Then was I in his eyes, as one
that found favor in his eyes, one that found favor. And notice
the marginal reference there is peace. The Lord Jesus Christ
has made peace for us with his own blood. I was in his eyes
as one that had found favor. And we know that also means grace. We have found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. I think the first time we read
that word in scripture is over in Genesis chapter six where
it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And
that's what all of his people have found. The Lord is gracious.
We had found favor or peace with the Lord. That will be the title
of the message. Now we have discovered By the
revelation and the grace of God that our Lord Jesus Christ has
been pleased to be gracious unto his people. We read just a moment
ago from Ephesians chapter 2, but God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sin. The Lord has been pleased to
be gracious unto his people. The Lord has been pleased to
show us mercy. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will. He's rich in mercy. To show us
mercy and to die for our sins according to scriptures. He died
for our sins that we have sinned against him. And then he reconciled
us through that sacrifice unto God. The Apostle Paul puts it
this way in 2 Corinthians 15. All things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation. He is our peace. He reconciled
us both unto God. He came and preached peace, peace,
peace to us. through the sacrifice of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He had given to us, he reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ. Now what a delightful study this
has been through this love story of the Lord Jesus Christ and
his bride, his church. We've seen this intimate, blessed
conversation, and it gets quite intimate, doesn't it, between
the bride and the bridegroom, the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a love story, and it's a
picture of Christ and His church. We see that. We see Christ's
eternal love for us, and the fruit of His love toward us is
our love toward Him. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, is our love toward
Him, toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, as the Apostle John says,
we love Him because He first loved us. That's the only reason
we love Him, because He first loved us, because He has shed
abroad His love in our heart by the Holy Spirit. A couple
of verses stand out to me in particular in this love story.
You remember back in chapter 2, verse 16. Turn back one page. Chapter 2, verse 16. My beloved
is mine and I am His. You remember that? My beloved
is mine, verse 16, chapter 2. My beloved is mine and I am His. I'm glad I'm His. I'm glad He
chose me to be His. And then the other verse that
I love to think about, in chapter 5 verse 16, His mouth is most
sweet, He's altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, this is my
Friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. My Beloved is mine and I am His,
and He is altogether lovely to you who believe. The Lord Jesus
Christ is precious, precious. His bride, that is His church,
His elect, were sovereignly chosen in Christ in eternity. We are bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, because God has, from the beginning,
chosen you unto salvation. We are His by His electing love. He elected to love us. And he
elected to choose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. We call that the blessed doctrine of election. He will
have mercy on whom he will. Their names of God's elect were
written in the Lamb's book of life. before the foundation of
the world by His eternal purpose, by His eternal purpose and grace,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise
of His glory, who first trusted Christ. We're trusting Him for
all of our salvation. He chose us. He wrote our name
in the Lamb's Book of Life. His people were redeemed by his
precious blood at Calvary's tree on Calvary's cross. We are redeemed
with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bought
us with his own blood. He called us, regenerated us
by the power of God and the Holy Spirit. You have the quickened
who were dead. The Lord then made us willing
in the day of his power to serve the Lord, to believe him, to
submit, to bow to him with gladness of heart. We are a willing, submissive
bride to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're motivated by love.
The love of Christ constrains us. It's not the whip of the
law, not the fear of punishment, or the promise of reward. We're
motivated to serve the Lord out of love and thanksgiving unto
Him. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called sons of God. I thought of this
scripture in light of that. And when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are
son, God has sent forth the spirit of his son in your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Because you are son, God has
sent the spirit of his son in your heart to make us cry unto
our Father. What do we cry? Lord, have mercy
on me, the sinner, the sinner. And these last few verses we
see, because of the privilege we have given unto us, we see
something of our responsibility as believers as we live in this
world. to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We are made heirs of His eternal
glory. One day soon we'll enter into
that blessed state and worship and love the Lord like we really
desire to do now. And that day we'll worship Him
perfectly, love Him perfectly. No more walking by faith, but
seeing Him by sight, beholding Him face to face. But until then,
We're to serve Him in whatever capacity, whatever ability the
Lord gives us, however He is pleased to use us. I like the
confession of Isaiah. You remember after he saw the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he said, I'm undone, I'm
a man of unclean lips. And then the Lord told him, I've
taken away your sin. And the Lord asked that question,
who will go for us? You remember what Isaiah said?
Here am I, Lord, send me. Send me. Send you. Send you. Now, with that introduction,
let's look at verse 8. We have a little sister. We have
a little sister. And she is just very little. She has no maturity. She has
no breasts. What shall we do for our sister?
What shall we do for our little sister in the day when she is
spoken for? What shall we do for her? Preach the gospel unto
her. Preach the gospel unto her. We have this little sister. She's
not grown up to maturity. Who does this little sister represent? All the elect of God among the
Gentiles who are yet uncalled, still dead in their sin. You remember our Lord mentioned
those, he said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, this nation, The Jews,
Israel, which are not of this fold, them I also must bring. They shall hear my voice, and
there shall be one fold and one shepherd." That little sister
there, that God-delect among the Gentiles who are yet uncalled
and yet dead in their sin. She has no principle of grace
yet in her heart, no heart love for the Lord Jesus Christ, no
heart compassion for the gospel of Christ. Although she is a
family member, part of the body of Christ, God's elect among
the Gentiles, yet at one time uncalled, unconverted, and at
one time, just like all of God's elect among the heathen, without
God, without Christ, and without hope. having no interest in the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that our case, all of us
by nature? At one time we had no interest
in the gospel. At one time we had no maturity
and growth in grace. She is called here a little sister
because she has no revelation of Christ to her heart, as yet,
no knowledge of a true and living God, no good hope through grace,
no consolation of mercy, no instruction through the word, no faith in
Christ, although chosen of God in election, and part of the
body of Christ, she remains lost, uncalled, unconverted, until
God sends forth the gospel preacher, the power of God, the Holy Spirit.
One day, by God's sovereign grace, through the means he has ordained,
she shall be spoken for. See the last part of verse eight?
What shall we do for our sister in the day, the day of God, when
she shall be spoken for? What shall we do for our sister? Well, preach the gospel. to those
who are lost. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having a seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. The Lord knows His people, but we don't, not until they
manifest a love and a belief and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What shall we do for our little sister, yet uncalled, unconverted?
What shall we do for her? What shall we do for those who
are lost and dead in their sin? What shall we do for those who
are yet our family members may be unconverted, unconcerned?
What shall we do for them? Our neighbors, our loved ones,
our community. What shall we do for them? Preach
the gospel to them. Tell them the truth. what the
Lord has told us to do. Go and preach the gospel to every
creature. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. Our Lord said, faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the word of God. It pleased God through
the foolishness of preaching to call out His people. Call out His people. Faith comes
through the word being preached. Faith also grows By the same
means, the Word of God. We are desire. You want to grow
in grace and knowledge of Christ? Desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you might grow thereby? What do young babies, when they're
born, what do they desire? Mama's milk. Mama's milk is the
best thing for them. And when they desire Mama's milk
and they drink of Mama's milk, what do they do? They grow. They
grow. They grow. Let us do all things
for the elect's sake. As Paul said, I've suffered all
things for the elect's sake. Let us use every means, every
opportunity to preach the gospel to those who are lost. Let's
pray for them and encourage them and encourage them to seek the
Lord. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord, what do we do? Persuade men. Persuade men, not
that we try to talk people into a profession, but we persuade
them by the means that God has given to us. That is the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we're not responsible
for the results of our preaching. God will use his word preached
as he sees fit, but we as the church of believers, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are responsible and commanded
and charged to preach the gospel, to preach the gospel. And we
have so many excellent means by doing so. We don't have to
get on a sailboat as the Apostle Paul did or walk hundreds of
miles to go and preach here and there. such convenient means
of travel, airplane, car, whatever. We can fly to California and
preach the gospel there. We can fly to New Jersey and
preach the gospel there. And Clay Curtis' or fly out to
Southern California and preach the gospel out there to Kevin
Thacker and his folks out in California. We have such excellent
means by the way of radio. Our radio program goes all over
the world. It's heard all over the world.
They live stream it on the internet. It goes all over the world. Through
sermon audio, we preach the gospel to 60 or
65 different foreign countries every month. We get a report.
Usually 4,000 to 5,000 sermons a month go out of here. All over
the world, God's given us such excellent means to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach not ourselves. Paul
charged young Timothy, I charge thee before God and the Lord
Jesus Christ, preach the word, preach the word. Paul said, I'm
determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. We preach not ourselves, but
who do we preach? Preach Christ, Christ, His person,
His work, what He did, what He accomplished for us. We have a little sister, it's
true. And she has no maturity, no breast.
What shall we do for our sister today when she's spoken for?
Love her, receive her, preach the gospel to her. Now look at
verse 9. If she be a wall, or if she be
walled, we will build upon her a palace of silver. And if she
be a door, We'll enclose her with boards of cedar, boards
of cedar. Now, this is symbolic language. We understand that. The Lord
assures us what he will do for his elect. He will build her. He will build her. He will enclose
her. The Lord will take care of the
little sister and call her out of darkness into his marvelous
light. We preach the gospel. We preach
the gospel, but it's God who gives the increase. It's God
who gives the increase. He calls us out of darkness into
his marvelous light. We will do it. Notice, if she
be a wall, we will build her a palace of silver. Who's this
we here? Who's this we? Well, it's the
same one who said, let us make man. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Let us make man. God, who has
begun a good work in you, he will finish it. He will perfect
it. Matthew Henry has a very good commentary that I often
read over the years and have over the years. And he makes
this statement. We will do it, Father, Son, Holy
Spirit, all concur in contriving, carrying on, and crowning the
blessed work when the time comes. Whatever is wanting shall be
set in order, and the work of faith shall be fulfilled with
power. Though the beginnings of grace be small, the latter
end shall greatly increase. The church is in his care concerning
those that are yet uncalled." That's a good statement. Christ
says, as if he says, I will do the work. He said it is finished. Remember he said, I will build
my church in the gates of hell. shall not prevail against my
work, against my church. He will perfect his church. In
him goes all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and in him
we are complete. We need not fear. He died for
his people because he chose them in eternity. He died for them,
and he will yet call them out, and he will build them up a palace of silver. I will build
my church in the gates of hell, shall not prevail. He will perfect
his church of his fullness, have we all received grace for grace.
He will preserve his church morning. We're kept by the power of God.
He's able to keep us from falling, and His church will prevail.
His church will prevail because He prevails over all things. Remember, I think we read, was
it last week we read this? What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who could be against us? The church of God
shall prevail because whatsoever the Lord please to do, that's
what He does. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely? I love
that word, don't you? Freely give us all things. We're
justified freely by His grace, the redemption that's in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We labor faithfully. Preaching
the gospel, it is a labor of love, but it is a labor. But
the work of salvation is of the Lord. Adding to the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ is his work, not ours. We're not out
trying to recruit people to put on the church role. We don't
have a church role. We preach the gospel and leave
folks alone. God adds to the church as he
sees fit. You remember when the apostles
preached there on the day of Pentecost, and they preached
the determinate counsel of God, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken Him by wicked
hands and crucified the Lord of glory. And Peter preached
Christ, preached Christ, salvation through Christ. And you know
what the Lord did? He added to the church daily
such as should be saved. He added 3,000 souls one time. How did He do that? Through the
means He's ordained. He preached the gospel, God the
Holy Spirit brought it home to the heart and made them new creatures
in Christ. The Lord adds to the church daily
such as should be saved. The Lord knows how to save His
people, regenerate them, make them new creatures in Christ.
You remember Psalm 127, where it says, Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh it, but in vain. Now look at
verse 10. I am a wall, because we're built
up in Christ. She says, I am a wall, and my
breasts now are like towers. full of grace and mercy and love. Then was I in his eyes as one
that found favor, one that found favor with the Lord. The Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bride of Christ, acknowledges
all that she has, all that she knows, and all that she ever
will be is by His grace and His favor. Remember the Apostle Paul
said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Everything I know,
everything I have, everything I ever will be is all by His
sovereign grace, is it not? I am a wall because I've been
built up in Christ. And my breasts now are grown
and full of love and faith toward Christ like a tower, a tower
looking and pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, oh then,
I was in his eyes as one that had found favor. I found the
Lord is gracious to his people. I am a wall. And my breast like
towers, in his eyes I found favor." And notice the marginal reference
on that word favor there is, I found peace. I found peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? Being justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I think
there's a paper back there on the table about the seven names
of Jehovah, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sid Canu, the Lord will provide,
the Lord our righteousness. But one of those names of our
Jehovah God is Jehovah Shalem. And that word Shalem means peace.
He's Jehovah, our peace. And that's what the word is there,
peace. He's the Lord, our peace. This word, favor, is used over
200 times, and many times that word is translated peace. It
means, in the Hebrew, it's pronounced
Salome. Salome. Solomon's name means
peace. Peace. Christ is our Jehovah
Shalom. He is our peace. We have peace
with God in Christ, only in Christ. The believer assured the little
sister that Christ is able to save to the uttermost. He saved
me. He saved many others. He's blessed
many others. He had mercy on me. Why not on
others? Why not on you? He's able to
save, we're gonna study in our Bible study on Sunday morning,
Lord willing, Hebrews 7.25, where it says that he, wherefore he
is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing
he ever lived to make intercession for us. He had mercy on me, why
not you? You remember the story I told
you before? I've told you this story before,
haven't I? About John Newton and William Jay. Remember John
Newton, the old preacher, back in the 1700s. He wrote many songs,
but we know him best of all for that song he wrote, Amazing Grace,
How Sweet the Sound, that saved a wretch like me. And there was
another preacher in that area where John Newton lived over
in England somewhere. His name was William Jay. He
was also a well-known preacher. And one day William Jay came
over to see Brother Newton, And he said, I've got good news.
I've got good news, Brother Newton. He said, down there in Bath County,
an old, notorious, rotten, wretched sinner. The Lord had mercy on
that man and made him a new creature in Christ. And Brother Jay said,
I'll never despair of any sinner again since God saved that old,
low-down sinner. And Brother Newton replied, Brother
Jay, he said, I've never despaired of God saving any since He saved
me. If God saved a wretch like me,
I tell you, I don't despair of God's power to save any sinner.
He's able, He's able to save to the uttermost. What the Lord
has done for us, He'll do for all, all of His elect. What He's
done for us, He'll do for all of His people. Let us freely
acknowledge that salvation is altogether, and altogether the
work of grace. You remember the story of the
exodus from Egyptian bondage and all those thousands and thousands
of people that Moses led out of Egyptian bondage by the will
and purpose of God. And God brought them all the
way down out of Egypt and brought them to the Red Sea. And there
they stopped. They couldn't cross. They couldn't
go over. They looked down behind him and
God stirred the heart of Pharaoh up. And here comes Pharaoh with
600 of his prime chariots bearing down on them to slaughter all
those Jews. Pharaoh said, I'm going to get
even. I'll show you. I'll show you that I'm the king.
I'm the king. You're not going to abuse me.
Well, you remember with the story, God parted the Red Sea. You remember
what? God said, stand still and see
the salvations of the Lord. And the sea parted. And Israel
walked across on dry ground. He not only parted the sea, but
dried the bottom. And they went all the way across.
In time, they got all the way across. Here come Pharaoh with
his army. And I love the Scripture, what it says there. I remember
reading this years and years ago. Those chariots, those people
of Israel, they were on foot. They were going through that
seabed there on dry ground. And here comes Pharaoh and all
his chariots with horses. You know how fast they run. You
know what the Lord did? He took the wheels off. The wheels
of the chariots fell off. And they started to drag down
in the dirt and they slowed down. And you remember what happened?
The Lord closed the water. Killed all of them. Killed all
of them. The enemies of God. That's our God, isn't it? Salvation
is of the Lord. Stand still and see the salvation
that's of the Lord. We have every reason to be confident
concerning the salvation that's of the Lord. We are His workmanship. God who has begun a good work
in you, you reckon He'll finish it? I reckon He will. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. You see, His purpose cannot be
defeated. He said, I purposed it, I bring
it to pass. I'll do it. His grace cannot be frustrated,
can it? Paul said, I cannot frustrate
the grace of God if righteousness is by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain. His love cannot fail, can it? Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read
just a moment ago, verse seven, many waters cannot quench love.
His promise will be fulfilled, all the promises of God. All
that He has promised will come to pass. All that He has said,
not one word, will fail. His promises will be fulfilled.
His blood cannot be shed in vain. No one will perish for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ died. His power cannot be resisted,
can it? People talk about the power of
God. You can resist the power of God. No, you can't. No one
can. He's Almighty God. The gospel
is the power of God and the salvation. His people cannot perish. They're
predestinated to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look at verse 11 and 12, and I'll move along here
quickly. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Amon. He let out the vineyard unto
keepers. Now this vineyard here in the garden that's mentioned,
that has been mentioned, the vineyard in the garden, that's
a picture and type and symbol of a church. Solomon has a vineyard,
Christ has a church. He let out the vineyard unto
keepers. Who are the keepers? God's people,
God's sheep. Every one for the fruit thereof
was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. This church is valuable. A thousand pieces is a number
for an unlimited number, a symbolic number. The church of the Lord
Jesus Christ is precious and valuable to God. He bought us
with his own blood. Verse 12, he said, my vineyard
is mine. My church is mine. Solomon here
is the type of the Lord Jesus Christ, greater than Solomon
is here. The vineyard is the type of the church. Like before,
the garden represents his church. Every believer is called to labor
in the vineyard, and what a privilege it is to be a laborer in his
vineyard. What a great privilege it truly
is. Remember our Lord said, the harvest
is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the
Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labors into his field.
Our Savior's cause must be our cause, the cause of God and truth,
and the furtherance of the gospel. member in the body of Christ
is needed to serve his purpose. The foot, the hand, the eye,
the tongue almost work together for the common purpose and goal,
and that's his glory. God has set members, everyone
in his body, as it is pleased him. Paul often said to his fellows,
he called them fellow laborers, his brethren in Christ, fellow
workmen together in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at verse 13. Oh, Solomon, thou must have a
thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof, two hundred.
Again, I think these are symbolic numbers. Look at verse 13. Thou that dwellest in the gardens. He dwells among his people. He
said, where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst. Thou dwellest in the gardens.
The vineyard is mine. The companions hearken to thy
voice. The Lord caused me to hear thy
voice. Caused me to hear the voice of the Lord. How do we
hear the voice of the Lord? In His Word. In His Word. We don't look for signs and visions
to tell us things. We have the completed will of
the Lord right here. He speaks to His people through
His Word. Caused me to hear it. I would run from someone who
told me they had a vision from the Lord. The Lord doesn't speak
that way to his people, not in this day. We have the completed
will and word of the Lord. Now verse 14, our prayer is this. Cause me to hear thy voice. Cause
me to hear it in your word. Cause me to love it. Lord, give
me ears that I might hear. Make haste, my beloved. That's
our desire, isn't it? Make haste, my beloved. Be thou
like a young heart, a young deer, or a young roe, leaping upon
the mountains, leaping and skipping. It's good for us to be here among
the Lord's people, working in His vineyard, working in His
church, enjoying the fruit of His garden. But to depart and
be with the Lord is far greater. I mean, it's good to be among
the Lord's people. But what will it be like, as
Paul said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. It's
gain. Our Lord is coming back to receive
us unto Himself as we read in John chapter 14. And our prayer
is, Lord, make haste. Make haste. Come, my beloved,
come. You remember how we ended the
book of Revelation? Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Revelation chapter 1 says, Behold,
He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him. And they also
which perished Him, and all the kindred of the earth shall wail
because of Him. Even so, Amen, come Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's the way the book of
God ends in Revelation 22. Surely I come quickly. Amen. So be it. Even so come, Lord
Jesus Christ. Make haste, my beloved.