Song of Solomon chapter 8. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 3. His left hand should be under
my head and his right hand should embrace me. Being embraced by
the Lord Jesus Christ. His hands, the Lord's hands does
embrace us. He reaches out with His mighty
hands and pulls us into His chest and He lovingly embraces us. He embraces us. This was given
to us once before in chapter 2. Turn over there. It's worth
re-quoting in Song of Solomon chapter 2. Look at verse four, he brought
me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons and comfort me with apples, for I am sick
with love. His left hand is under my head,
his right hand doth embrace me. I charge you, O daughters of
Jerusalem, by the road, by the hinds of the field, that you
stir not up, nor wake my love, till he please. And he repeats
that in chapter eight as he closes this love letter. We read a moment
ago those special, special verses there in John chapter 10 where
he says, no one can pluck them out of my hand or my father's
hand. No one is greater than my father.
No one can pluck us out of his hand. You know, remember in the
Psalms, we are called the sheep of his hand. We're in his hands. He's not in our hands. We're
in his hands. That's where I want to be. David
said, my times are in thy hands. That's where I want them, don't
you? You remember from the confession found in Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar,
that pagan king who was taught the gospel. He said, all the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and no one
can take his hands or say unto him, Lord God Almighty, what
doest thou? His hands are mighty hands. It
says in Isaiah, his hands are mighty to save. Aren't you glad?
These are the hands that hold us and embrace us and keeps us. No one can pluck us out of his
hand, out of his hand. Now, as we come to the last chapter
in Song of Solomon, we see the affections between Christ and
his church. His spouse, his wife, his bride
are strong and lively here in the closing chapter of this song. Strong as ever, and maybe even
more so, because as we grow in grace, we grow in faith, we grow
in knowledge, but we also grow in love toward the Lord Jesus
Christ, don't we? We love him more now than when
we did Many years ago, when we first met the Lord, we grow in
grace and we grow in love toward Him. I like what it says in verse
7, and we'll consider this next week. Many waters, you see that
in chapter 8 verse 7, many waters cannot quench love. The waters
of trouble, heartache, and the waters of turmoil cannot quench
His love. Neither can the floods drown
it. We know something about floods,
don't we? It's been flooded a few times here. But that doesn't
drown our love, does it? That doesn't mean that God doesn't
love us because he sends us these trials. No. Whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he receiveth. Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can a flood drown it. If a man would give all the substance
of his house for love, What would you give all your substance away
and just count it as nothing to have that love of God shed
abroad in our heart? What a great love. What great
love we have. We read in Christ, nothing can
separate us from the love of God, which is in our Lord Jesus
Christ. Nothing. And if you read that
list in Romans 8, it's exhaustive. Height nor depth nor anything
else, no, any creature can separate us from the love of God. which
is in the Lord Jesus. Those covenant love mercies we
read about in Jeremiah 31 where it says, he's loved us with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with love and kindness,
he draws us to himself. The cause of his love to us is
not found in us. There's nothing in us that's
lovely. There's nothing in us to love. The cause of his love
to us is found in himself. He loves us because God is love. There is here an expression,
an expressed desire of every believer's heart of a constant
intimate communion and love with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's as
if the believer is saying, oh, let me know you love me. Let me know that your presence
is with me. And you know what it is? You
say, Remember the promise of the risen Lord to those scattered
disciples when they came together, and his parting word to them.
He said, all powers given to me in heaven and earth, go and
preach the gospel. And remember this, lo, I'm with
you always, even to the end of the world. He's with us always. It doesn't mean that He said,
well, I don't feel that he's with me. It's not based upon
feelings. It's based upon his promise.
It's impossible for God to lie. He said, lo, I'm with you always.
I'm with you always. Fear not. I'll never leave thee.
I'll never forsake thee. Fear thou not. I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will hold thee with the
right hand. of my righteousness." There's
that hand again. He said, I will, I will, I will,
I will. May we like Mary. Remember Mary
and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, when the Lord came to their house
for dinner and Martha was cumbered about with much, much serving. And Mary's over there sitting
at the Lord's feet, being fed with his precious word. And Martha
was a little bit upset and said to the Lord, don't you care that
I'm doing all this work and there's my sister over there just sitting
at your feet? And the Lord said, thou art careful
and troubled about many things, anxious about many things. One
thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen that good
part which shall not be taken away from her. There's Martha
over there, busy and cumbered and anxious and worried. Here's
Martha over there sitting. Lord, don't you care? I'm working
and working, and Mary, just over there sitting, she's chosen the
good part to sit at my feet and to learn of me. Now look at verse
1. Chapter 8, O that thou wert or
were as my brother, and he is. We can read this in the positive,
he is our brother. My brother that sucked the breast
of my mother, born into the same family, adopted into family by
his choice, when I should find thee without, on the outside
of organized religion, on the outside of the city, I would
kiss thee, yea, I should not be despised, or they should not
despise me. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
our husband, remember, from Isaiah. He's our husband and our Lord,
but he's also our blood brother. We have a close, intimate relationship
like brothers. Brothers who both nursed their
mother's breast together. My son sent me a picture of the
twins he had a couple months ago. And they're both brothers, twins,
nursing on their mother's breast. And they do so because they're
brothers. They have the same mother. Who
doth make thee as a brother to me? We can read it that way.
Who doth make the Lord Jesus Christ as a brother to me? Who maketh thee to differ from
another? What do you have that you didn't receive? It's by the
grace of God. He's made us to differ. It is
blessed to know and enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his
names, offices, and relationship, for he fills them all, doesn't
he? He fills them all. Who maketh
thee, who makes the Lord as our brother? Who adopts us into his
family? His choice. He said, you didn't
choose me, I've chosen you. Christ is really our and truly
our brother by his incarnation. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh. You remember the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. For what the law could not do,
Paul said in Romans 8, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh And
for sin, condemn sin in the flesh. Now think about this. The Lord
Jesus Christ incarnate nursed upon his mother as a baby. Why did he do that? He was a
real man. The old timers used to have it
this way. The ancient of days became an
infant. The ancient of days became an
infant of a day old. and sucked the breast of his
mother, desired that milk to nourish him. You see, he identified
with us, just like us when we were infant children. The Lord,
for as much as His children are partakers of flesh and blood,
He also likewise took part of the same. as our brother, as
our blood brother. He's not ashamed, we read in
the book of Hebrews, he's not ashamed to call us brothers. Remember from our study? Let
me read that verse to you. For both he that sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Think about that. Oh, this brother,
we are not ashamed to own him as our elder brother. And that's
a miracle of grace. As Paul said, I'm not ashamed
because I know whom I have believed and persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed unto him against that day. But what
is the amazing thing about the gospel is he's not ashamed to
own us. We have been by his grace adopted
as sons of God. Remember in the fullness of time,
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. He adopted us into His family.
He adopted us. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. The risen Lord said to the women,
touch me not. for I'm not yet ascended to my
father, but go to my brethren, my brethren, he owns us as brethren,
and say unto them, I ascend to my father and your father, I
ascend to my God and your God. His father is our father. His
God is our God. He is our brother and he is called
in scripture, he's the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. If you ever had a dear, sweet
brother, I often think of your brother, how your hearts were
knit together. That's a sweet, sweet relationship. But how much greater is that
relationship between Christ and His people? Christ and His people. You had a privilege of your brother
being your brother in the flesh and also brother in the Lord.
Now, that's a special relationship. That's a special relationship.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is that brother that sticks closer.
He's that friend that sticks closer than a brother. The church
here expresses her passionate desire for a special union and
closer communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew Poole said
that. Like a brother, the Lord Jesus
Christ sympathizes with us in all our afflictions. Remember,
he was tempted and tested in all points like as we are. He's
a great, great high priest that's compassed about with many infirmities
just like we are. Like a brother, the Lord Jesus
Christ comes to our aid when we are in trouble. He said, I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Like
a brother, he's tender and caring toward us. Christ indeed is our
brother who is near at hand. The old songwriter put it this
way, nearer, Nearer, nearer I cannot be in the person of his son,
I'm as near as he. Dearer, dearer I cannot be in
the person of his son, I'm as dear as he. Like a brother. He's tender and caring toward
us. Christ is our brother who is willing, ready, able to help
us in our time of need. When is that all the time? No
wonder he said, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in our time of need. Oh, that weren't as my brother
that sucked the breast of my mother. When I should find thee
without, I would kiss thee. Yea, I should not be despised. When I would find him by his
grace, I would kiss him with kisses of love. Remember how
this love story started? Turn back to chapter one, look
at verse two. Chapter one, verse two. Let him kiss me with the
kisses of his mouth. You see that? Let him kiss me
with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. Now, she says, when I would find
thee without, remember he was crucified without, outside the
city, outside the gates. When I would find thee by his
grace, I would kiss thee. Yea, I should not be despised
or they should not despise me. I would kiss him, kiss him. Remember,
and I thought about this. Psalm, Psalm 2, remember, kiss
the son lest he be angry and he perish from the way. Blessed
are all they that put their trust in him. Kiss the son. It's a
kiss of love, isn't it? Kiss of love. Every morning when I, come over
here to work after breakfast, I would give my beloved wife
a kiss, always kiss her, and hug her, kisses and hugs. And
then I come over here to work. And I do that because we're in
love. She kisses me back and I kiss
her. Those who have been kissed by the Lord Jesus Christ, we've
been kissed by His grace, long to kiss Him with kisses of gratitude,
don't we? Those who have been kissed by
His salvation, long to kiss Him with praises of thanksgiving
and love. And everything give thanks for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And everything
give thanks. Those who have been kissed by
his love and mercy long to return to him kisses of adoration and
love. We love him because he first
loved us. Kiss the son lest he be angry
and you perish when his wrath is kindled but a little. Look
at the last part of verse one. Yea, I should not be despised,
or they should not despise me, even though the world of unbelievers
would despise true believers, because they despise the one
we love and highly esteem. You remember in Isaiah 53, he's
called despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. Because they despise the one
we love and highly esteem, they despise us. One day the world
of unbelievers will be amazed, shocked, and stunned by His grace
as Christ is not ashamed to own us, His church, and to bless
us forever as we are held forth as trophies of His grace. Trophies
of His grace, trophies of His love. I'm thinking of a verse
here. that in the ages to come, he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ. He's gonna show us off as the
trophies of his grace. Remember in Matthew 25, he shall
set the sheep, he'll separate them, set the sheep on his right
hand, the goats on the left, then shall the king send them
on his right hand, come ye blessed in my father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world, that the kingdom
prepared, inherit that kingdom, then shall he also say to them
on the left hand, depart from me, cursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. The unbeliever will be
totally cast out while we shine forth and show forth the praises
of his glory in us. Our Lord says, whosoever shall
be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when
he cometh in glory of his Father with his holy angels. Those who
are ashamed of him, whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my
words in this adulterous generation of him, shall the Son of Man
be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with his
holy angels." to own him now, not to be ashamed of him. And
that's what made me think of that song we sang a moment ago.
Ashamed of Jesus, can it be? A mortal man ashamed of thee? Ashamed of these whom angels
praise, whose glory shines through endless days? Ashamed of Jesus? Can it be? Oh no, not for a believer. Not for a believer. This whole
verse, John Gill says, expresses the believer's boldness in professing
Christ without fear or shame in a most public manner. As Paul
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Not ashamed
of it. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, that believeth. Those old timers who
burned at the stake. They weren't ashamed to own him.
All they had to do to escape the flames of that burning pit
was to deny the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a book back there called
The Fox's Book of Martyrs, and all through that book are many
stories of those who were burned and drowned and murdered in different
ways and stoned. As one martyr was heard to say,
I didn't come here to deny my Lord Jesus Christ. I came here
to own Him and to seal my death by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 2 now. I would
lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house, and would
instruct me, or he would instruct me, He would teach us, I would
cause thee to drink of spiced wine, perfumed wine, the wine
of juice of my pomegranate. The believer desires more intimate
communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and to
gain more knowledge of him. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me. He said, the believer, He said,
I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house, God's
church, like we would lead a brother or sister in her own house. Come
and welcome. I would lead thee as my brother
by the arm and hang upon thee. I would bring thee into our mother's
house, into the church, into the solemn assembly of believers,
and their saints have the most familiar communion with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I mean by that, he said,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, I'm in the midst of them." He
said, well, I don't feel his presence. I don't see his presence.
Believe his word. He said, where two or three are
gathered in my name, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why we're here. He said, I am with you right
now. He's with us. He's always with
us. We have the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit within us that always giving us a constant witness
to our heart of the personal work of Christ. There, it says,
thou wouldest instruct me, as some versions read, some interpret
that, there would thou wouldest instruct me, who would instruct
me or teach me. And that's where he teaches his
people. in the house of God, where the
gospel of God is preached, where the sons of God are taught the
gospel. Those that know Christ shall
be taught of Him. Therefore, we desire communion
with Christ, that we may receive instruction from Him. He has
come that He might give us an understanding, that we might
know Him that is true, and we're in Him that is true, even in
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I would lead thee and bring thee.
into my mother's house, that's the church, where he would instruct
me. He would instruct me the way
of mercy, the way of grace. Believers do crave instruction
from the Lord. Oh, to be taught of the Lord.
All those who have heard and learned of the Father, they come
to Christ. Believers do crave instruction from the Lord. by
the Master Teacher, the Master Preacher. You remember Peter
writes about it, as newborn babe, desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you might grow thereby. The Lord is pleased to teach
us through the means He has ordained, through the preaching of the
Gospel, through the Scriptures. You remember Paul writes to Timothy,
he said, Thou from a child has known the Holy Scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation, Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. So he uses the scripture, he
uses his servants. He gave some apostles and prophets
and evangelists, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of
the saints that we might grow in grace. And then God gives
us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes and he
takes the things of Christ and he reveals them unto us. When
the Lord is pleased to meet with us, we desire to offer our best
efforts at worship and praise. We would give Christ our all.
Can He expect less from us when we come to worship Him and praise
Him? As David said, bless the Lord,
O my soul, all that is within me. Bless His holy name. We're
going to study in Hebrews 13 in a few months. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is a fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Let us offer
the praise of thanksgiving unto the Lord. Now the last part Verse
2, I would cause thee, I would lead thee, I would bring thee,
that you might teach me, I would cause thee to drink the spiced
wine or the perfumed wine of juice of my pomegranate. Matthew Henry said, those that
are pleased with Christ must study to be pleasing to Him,
and they will not find Him hard to please. Pour out as an offering
of praise and worship unto the Lord, the spiced wine of the
juice of His grace. Drink it up. Now verse 3, His
left hand should be under my head. He holds our head, and
His right hand should embrace me. As I said before, this is
repeated in chapter 2, verse 6 and 7. This is the blessed
rest of faith, for we find sweet comfort, assurance, hope, and
rest in His hands. His left hand and his right hand,
they do embrace us. Our beloved Lord knows how to
comfort our trouble and distresses when we have trouble and distresses
in our hearts. He said, these words have I spoken
unto you that in me you might have peace. In this world, he
shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome. Our salvation in Christ is certain,
sure, and safe, ordered in all things, and sure, because of
his powerful hands. He will not let us go. He will
not let us go. No one can pluck him out of his
hand. The believer is in good hands.
We have an insurance company that we insure our vehicles with,
Allstate Insurance. You remember they had a commercial
years ago, and they'd say, well, you're in good hands with Allstate,
you remember? I don't know if they do that
anymore or not. But as far as insurance goes, I guess I've
not had any problem with them, other than the fact that I have
to pay them every month, but that's okay too, but they give
me good coverage. We're in good hands in the Lord,
being in the Lord Jesus Christ, being made one with Him. I in
them, thou in me, that we may be made perfect in one. His hands
are tender hands, able to save like a mother's. caressing, tender
hand to that child who needs comfort. Mother's hand reaches
out and touches that child and says, it's okay. It'll be all
right. It's all right. His hands are tender hands, able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. His
hands are strong hands, able to keep us from falling and present
us faultless. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. His hands are wise hands, able to guide us. We need guiding, don't we? The
Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He leads me beside still
waters. He restores my soul. He leads
me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. His hands
are loving hands. They were wounded for us. He stretched forth his hands.
His hands were wounded for us to put away our sin. hearing
his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the sacrifice for our sin. You remember, was it Thomas who
said, I will not believe the Lord has risen until I see the
nail print in his hand? Ah, the Lord appeared, and Thomas
And the Lord appeared to Thomas, and Thomas looked at him. And
the Lord said, behold, my hands. And Thomas said, my Lord and
my God. You are my Lord and you are my
God. I don't need to see your hands. I've seen you. His hands
are carrying and able to supply all our needs according to his
riches in glory. We don't lack for anything, do
we? His hands supply all our needs. In closing, look at verse 4.
I charge you. I charge you, O daughters of
Jerusalem. Now some think this is the Lord
talking to His people now. The conversation has changed.
Some think it's still the believer talking. Some think it's the
Lord because of this statement, I charge you. Which if you go
back and look at that word in the original, charge, means to
be a perfect sevenfold charge. Seven's a number of perfection.
So I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not
up, nor wake up my love. And remember, He's the beloved,
we are the object of His love. The object of His love, the object
of His, thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee,
remember? I charge you, O daughters of
Jerusalem, that you stir not up, don't stir up my love, don't
stir up my people until the Lord is pleased to make a change. Now let us be very careful and
mindful not to purposely disrupt or interrupt the sweet and blessed
communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Some render
this, why will you disrupt this blessed communion? Someone wrote
this, so long as the Lord is pleased to meet with us, Let
us not displease Him by our willful disobedience to Him. So let us
be careful and mindful not to purposely disrupt or interrupt
the sweet, blessed communion we have with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Two scriptures I think of, Ephesians 4 verse 30 says, Grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed unto the day of redemption.
And then another one in 1 Thessalonians 5.19, quench not the spirit.
Let us always remember to honor him by believing him. Remember
Abraham was strong in faith, giving God all the honor and
glory. Let's always remember to honor him by our worship.
Honor him by believing his word. Embrace him with arms of faith,
whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
Let us remember to embrace him with arms of faith, love, and
kiss him with a cry of our heart, Lord, hear my cry." Let us praise
him with a heart of thanksgiving. When Job, I'll let you go with
this, when Job had lost all his substance, all his substance, the Sabaeans
and the others had killed all his livestock, and then the Lord
sent a great whirlwind And his ten children were over in the
house, one of the children's house, and that great whirlwind
came and crushed the house, killed all ten of his children. I can't
imagine the grief. I can't imagine the grief. He
didn't blame the civilians. He didn't blame the whirlwind.
What did he say? Job arose and rent his mantle,
shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground. He was grieved,
and he worshipped his Lord. And said, naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave. The
Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly." Boy, I want that kind of faith, don't
you? I want that kind of faith. May the Lord be pleased to work
that grace in our hearts. God, who hath begun a good work
in you, will, will finish it. Will, will embrace it.