Song of Solomon this evening.
We'll continue in our Bible study that we've been going through
since February 1st. Song of Solomon chapter 6. I'm
taking the title from what is said in verse 13. What will you see in the Shulamite? You see in Song of Solomon 6
verse 13, there's a question there in the middle of that verse.
What will you see in the Shulamite? Now, the Shulamite here is a
picture of a believer, the name of a believer. What will you
see in the Shulamite? As it were, a company of two
armies. What do we see or find within every believer? A struggle,
a conflict between the flesh and the spirit. A company of
two warring armies in constant conflict with each other. The
old preacher John Gill, in his commentary, who lived back in
the middle 1700s, and I think one of the best commentaries
that we can read, he said, nothing was to be seen in her, that is
the church, but two armies, flesh and spirit, sin and grace continually
warring against each other. And that's the prone to wonder,
we sang a moment ago, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone
to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Now, this is a sad but
true reality of a constant battle within every believer of this
of our sinful flesh and the new man created in righteousness
and true holiness. There's a battle between that
old Adam nature and that new divine nature given to the believer
in the new birth. We have that which is flesh and
that which is spirit. Our Lord writes about that. John writes about what the Lord
said. He said, that which is born of the flesh, flesh. That which is born of spirit
is spirit. He didn't say it's spiritual,
it's spirit, born of God. Paul writes about it in Ephesians
4, that you put on the new man, which after God is created, it
wasn't there before. The new man is created in righteousness
and true holiness. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
And then Peter writes about it this way. He said, whereby are
given to us exceeding great and precious promises that by these
you might be partakers of a divine nature. So we have that old Adam
nature, don't we? That old sinful flesh. And the
believer now, now this is not true of every person, but the
believer has a new divine nature that's implanted in us in the
new birth and regeneration. The old man can do nothing but
sin and that new nature cannot sin because it's born of God. Now last week we closed our study
with verse 10 where the Lord describes his church as the light
shining forth in this dark world. Look at verse 10. Who is she
that looketh forth? Looketh forth as the morning.
This is a look of faith. He's talking about and describing
the church called the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church
is the love of his life, his bride. Who is she that looketh forth
as a morning fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible as
an army? She looketh forth with faith,
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Always saving faith is always
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. When the morning light, the believer
is looking for Christ, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the morning, David said, in
the morning, I direct my prayer to the Lord. And that's what
we do when we wake in the morning, when we sleep at night, when
we go to pillow our, put our head on the pillow, we cry unto
the Lord, have mercy. And when we wake in the morning,
we look to the Lord and say, thank you. Thank you, Lord. Fair
as the moon, or beautiful as the moon, reflecting his light.
The moon has no light in itself, does it? It reflects the light
of the sun. but he's his here, fair, fair
as the moon. Look right across the page in
chapter seven, verse six, how fair, how pleasant art thou,
O love, for delights. We've seen this over and over
again, how the Lord describes, describes his church, his lovely,
lovely people in Christ. Christ in you is a hope of glory. We studied in Matthew 5, our
Lord said, you are the light of the world. A city that stood
on a hill cannot be hid. And then he says, secondly, clear,
clear as the sun, shining with all of its powerful light. And
that's the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. How does a church shine clear
as the sun in this dark world? With reflection fair and beautiful
as a full moon? You don't have a full moon looking
at a full moon. Isn't that beautiful? It's beautiful
to look at, isn't it? And that's the way the Lord sees
his church, as fair and beautiful as a full moon. And how does
the church shine clear as a sun in this dark world with a reflection
fair as the moon? By holding forth the word of
truth. Holding forth the word of light,
the word of life. By preaching Christ the light.
That's why Paul said, I charge thee before God and the Lord
Jesus Christ to preach the word. Preach the word. By following
the Lord Jesus Christ who is the light of the world. And then
he mentions here, With a look of faith in the morning, fair
as the moon, clear as the sun, and then terrible as an army,
an army with banners. We've seen this before. Look
up the page there to verse four. Thou art beautiful, O my love,
as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
His banner over us is love. We fight under his banner, fighting
equipped by following the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of the
world, fighting and equipped as a well-armed army, well-trained
army, fighting under the banner of the gospel, the banner of
his grace and love. We read in John 8, then spake
Jesus unto them again, saying, I'm the light of the world. He
that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. The Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, the light. The Lord said, I am the door
by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. One day soon,
when the Lord returns in all his glory, his church will truly
shine as a sun of righteousness, For we shall be like him and
we shall see him as he is. I think we closed the message
last week by reading Matthew 13, but let me just quote it
to you again. Then shall the righteous shine forth when the
Lord comes forth in all his majesty and glory. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who
hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now look at verse 11. This is
still the Lord speaking of his church, often called a garden. I went down into the garden,
the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valley, to see
whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded. The
Lord is among his people. The garden has been used as a
symbol of his church throughout this beautiful love story. If
you look back at chapter four, verse 12, Turn back to chapter 4 verse
12, a garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up,
a fountain sealed. And then you remember that verse
16, chapter 4 verse 16. Awake, O north wind, and come,
thou south wind. Blow upon my garden that the
spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his
garden and eat his pleasant fruits. And chapter 5, verse 1, I am
come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my
myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I have drunk my wine with milk. Eat, O friend, drink,
yea. Drink abundantly, O beloved."
So his church is his garden, his garden planted by his grace,
cultivated by God the Holy Spirit, watered by his word. It is a
pleasant and fruitful garden that flourishes into a valley
in which the Lord gathers his lilies together, his chosen people. I went down into the Garden of
Nuts, verse 11 again, to see the fruits of the valley
and to see whether the vine flourished. And we know whenever we see that
word vine, it talks about Christ who is the true vine. We are
the branches. And the pomegranates budded. The Lord dwells among
his people. And Christ does see the fruits
of the valley because it's his fruit. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, the fruit of spirit. He does see the vine as the vine
does flourish because of his grace and his mercy and his love
toward us. It has to flourish for we're
one with him. We're one with him. Look right
across the page at chapter seven, verse 12. Let us get up early
to the vineyards and let us see if the vine flourish, where the
tender grapes appear and the pomegranates bud forth, there
I give thee my love. Let us get up and see if the
garden flourishes. And certainly the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ is a flourishing vine, a flourishing garden because
it's connected to the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. This garden is called the Garden
of Nuts. Now, that doesn't mean that believers
are crazy, although some people might say that most people are
just a garden full of nuts. They're crazy folks who believe
in salvation by the sovereign grace of God. But believers could
be described as the Garden of Nuts. Someone suggested this
way. One commentary said, like a walnut. A walnut And it has a bitter
outer husk. We have in our neighborhood two
big huge black walnut trees. And sometimes in the fall, take
a five gallon bucket up there and just pick up all those walnuts. And they have that husk, don't
they? That bitter outer husk. And then you rip that off and
then you have a hard shell, right? And then you crack that shell.
I usually put them in a vice and crank it down and pop it
open. And then you get them sweet,
tasty kernels. And that's like a believer. The
believer is a sinner saved by his marvelous grace. An outward
husk in a hard shell, yet a sweet kernel of mercy and grace and
love manifested the love of God that should have brought in our
hearts. by the power of the Holy Spirit. The believer is a sinner
saved by God's marvelous grace. I am what I am, he said, by the
grace of God. Still a sinner, still in the
flesh, but born again by the power of God, the Holy Spirit,
and made a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ that flourishes,
that's budded like a pomegranate full of Juice. Sweet juice running over. And
that's the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, meekness, temperance. Now look at verse 12. Wherever
I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amenadib. Amenadib. The chariots of Amenadib
were known for their swiftness in race. If you look back at
chapter 1, verse 9, we had something of a description of a chariot. Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verse
9, I've compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's
chariots. Special, special chariots. These
chariots, and notice the marginal reference there in verse 12 where
it says, made me like the chariots My soul made me like the chariot
of Amenadab. And the marginal reference has,
or set me on the chariot of my willing people. You see that?
Set me on the chariot of my willing people. The chariots of his willing
princely people. Now, two things here. He set
his love upon us from all eternity. We know that. The Lord does swiftly
fly to the aid and distress of his covenant people. He does
swiftly fly like the swift chariot of Amenadab. Now don't turn,
let me just read this to you. I read this to you on Sunday,
but you remember in Psalm 57, where it says, be merciful unto
me, verse one. Oh, God, be merciful unto me,
for my soul trusteth in thee, yea, in the shadow of thy wings
I'll make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. I will
cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things
for me. He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach
of him that will swallow me up. God shall send forth his mercy
and his truth. And he sends it swiftly in his
due time, in his due time. Psalm 68 says this, the chariots
of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels, the Lord is among
them in his holy place. In the fullness of time, God
sent from heaven, didn't he? From the highest resources possible.
God sent from heaven, God sent forth the Lord Jesus Christ,
in the fullness of his time, the swiftness of his time, like
the chariots of Amenadab. And then secondly, the people
of the Lord do swiftly fly toward him. He swiftly flies toward
us as swift, like Pharaoh's swift chariots, and his people do swiftly
fly toward him by praying to the Lord, hear my cry. How many times have we seen in
our study through this book of Psalms that David cries Lord,
hear my cry. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgression. So the people of the Lord do
fly swiftly to him as he flies swiftly to us by praying to the
Lord. I looked that up in the book
of Psalms today, how many times David said, Lord, hear my prayer. Lord, hear my prayer. Lord, hear my prayer. I turn
to Psalm 143. I looked that up, and that statement
is made seven times in the book of Psalms, and here's one of
them. Psalm 143, verse one. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplication. In thy faithfulness, answer me,
and in thy righteousness. Lord, give ear to my cry. Enter
not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight no man living
shall be justified, that is, by the deeds of the law, no flesh
shall be justified. So as people do swiftly fly toward
him by praying unto him, Lord, hear my cry, and then we fly
swiftly unto him by faith, Don't we? Always looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. And then
we fly swiftly to the Lord in all of our hope of salvation
is vested where? Only in him. Only in him. And then we fly swiftly to the
Lord as we look to him in love. We love him because he first
loved us. These are like swift chariots
that bring us comfort and peace in all of our tribulation. In
this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, be of good
cheer, be of good cheer, for I have overcome. I was reading this earlier today,
remember in Romans 8, for I reckon that the suffering of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. Not worthy to be compared. I
often think of this verse over here in relation to our affliction
and our trials. Our Lord said, in this world
you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome. He says this in 2 Corinthians
4, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It's
just a light affliction we have here along the way. But even
in those times of affliction and chastisement of the Lord,
what do we do? We don't run away from Him. We
swiftly fly toward Him by faith, by hope, by love, and by prayer. Now, look at verse 13. Verse
13, chapter 6. Return, return. Four times the Lord says to Shulamite,
And this is your name. If you're a believer, you're
a Shulamite. Did you know that? You're a Shulamite. I'll tell you what that means
in a minute. Return, return, old Shulamite. Return, return,
that we may look upon thee, the whole triune Godhead, that we
may look upon thee. What will you see in the Shulamite?
Maybe this is the church answering back to the Lord. What will you
see in me? What will you see in this Shulamite?
As it were, the company of two armies. The company of two armies. Return, return, return. Good
instruction from the Lord. Isn't it? Return to me. Return
to me. It's much like he says in Isaiah
45. Remember? Look unto me and be
ye saved. For I am God and there is none
else. Isaiah 55 says this. So everyone
that's thirsty, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money,
come ye buy, eat ye. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Return, return, return. Look
to him. If you're thirsty, come to Him.
Then our Lord says this in Matthew 11, verse 28, Come unto Me, all
you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Isn't it
the same as the Lord is saying here? Return, return, return. Then our Lord said this in John
7, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come. Let him come to Me and drink.
Return, O Shulamite, return, look to the Lord, come to Him.
Seek mercy where mercy is found in Christ Jesus. The book of
God in Revelation 22, you remember these verses? Verse 17, don't
turn on these, read it to you. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. Let him that heareth say, come. Let him that is athirst come,
and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life, Really,
really, really. Peter says, to whom coming? As
into a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but precious,
it's a precious cornerstone to you who believe. He is precious. His mouth is most sweet. He's
altogether, he's altogether lovely. What an encouragement the Lord
says to his people. Return to me, come to me, take
the water of life, look to me, rest in me, trust me. Trust him
at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. Now, this unusual name, Shulamite,
means perfection. It means perfection. Now, we
are perfect in Christ. You remember Ephesians 5, in
us, in the believer, in the church, because he loved us and washed
us from our sin in his own blood. No blemish, no spot. So the word
Shulamite means perfection. It also means peace, peace, peace. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ is called the King of Peace. In Isaiah 9, 6, he's called
the Prince of Peace, for he made peace for us with his own blood. Now Solomon chose his bride,
giving her his name. Shulamite could be translated
S-O-L-Y-M-A, Solomai, Solomai. In the Hebrew, it's the same
feminine name for the word Solomon. Solomon, now this, don't get
lost here. It's the same name as Solomon
in the feminine, okay? Solomai. The bride took Solomon's name.
The bride took Solomon's name. His bride wears his name. Now,
when a man is married to a woman, this is the way it should be,
and this is the way the Lord would have it to be. When a man
takes a woman, the woman does not retain and go by her maiden
name. My wife's maiden name is Ross. You all didn't know that, did
you? You know her as Bridget. Harding. She took my name. We are one flesh. We are one
in marriage. That's what Solomon is saying
here. The greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, we wear his
name. We are one with him. Remember
in Ephesians 5 when it talks about the church and Christ,
and then he talks about marriage. A man shall leave his own house. and take his wife, and they too
shall be one flesh." And then the next verse says, and this
I speak concerning Christ and His church, they're one. His
name and our name is the same. The greater Solomon, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And His name, Solomon, means
peace. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us
His name, is the point I'm trying to make. The bride of Solomon
took His name. So am I. That's our name. Our name is the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, God sees us in Christ. He's called our husband. Remember? He's called the bridegroom. We are the bride. The believer
has been sovereignly chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ and made
one with him. I in them, thou in me, that we
may be made perfect in one. We get right back to that vital
biblical doctrine of vital union with Christ. What's true of Him
is true of us. We're one with Him. God sees
us in the Lord Jesus Christ because we're one with Him. He's given
us His name and we're married to Him. Now this will be a blessing
to you. I've showed you this before.
But take your Bible and find Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23. This
is one of the seven names of Jehovah, Jehovah
Sidcanu. In Jeremiah 23 verse 5, Behold
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David
a righteous branch. A king shall reign and prosper
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his
days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And
this is a name whereby Underscore this he shall be called the Lord
our righteousness He is the Lord our righteousness now jot in
right there Jeremiah 33 16 and then let's turn over there Jeremiah
33 3.16, "...he shall be called the Lord our righteousness."
Now watch this, in Jeremiah 33.15 and 16, "...in those days, at
that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto
David," talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, "...and he shall
execute judgment and righteousness in the land." Verse 16, "...in those days,
Judas shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this
is the name whereby she shall be called. What's her name? The Lord our Righteousness. It's
the same as his name. You see, we're one with him.
We're one with him. As Solomon, King Solomon, was
one with his bride, so we are one with the greater Solomon,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us his name. You remember
in the Revelation study, blessed are they that are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb. Oh, that's a blessed, blessed
marriage, isn't it? Christ is a faithful husband.
who repeatedly and affectionately calls unto his wife, his bride,
his love, and says, return, return, return, don't stay away, come
to me. Salvation's in me. That we, look,
notice what it says there, that we may look upon thee. Now, who are these people? Who
are the we here? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Behold,
triune God, that we may look upon Thee with favor." You remember
God speaks from heaven and said, this is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased? God says that of every son in
Christ, every child in Christ, God is well pleased. Return,
return, return. Return to your first simple faith
in Christ Jesus. Return to your first tender love. That's sweetheart love for the
Lord Jesus Christ. Return to the place and time
where you first met the Savior. And I'm not talking about a physical
place or a physical time. I'm talking about return to the
place where you first met the Savior at the cross, at the cross
where I first saw the light. That's why Paul said, God forbid.
Actually, glory saved in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the question is asked
in verse 13, kind of in response as to what the
Lord says, return, return, that we may look upon thee. And then
the church seems to answer back, well, what will you see in me?
What would you have to do with me? I'm just a sinner. What favor would you have toward
me? What will you see in the Shulamite?
As it were, the company of two armies, two armies. The question is asked then, what
will you see in this Shulamite? A sinner resting in the grace
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. A sinner redeemed by his blood
and justified by his blood and made righteous in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what we see. That's what
the father sees. Sinners justified freely by his
grace through the redeeming blood that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these two armies, these two
armies that are mentioned here, I read several different commentators
and they had several different suggestions. I like the third
one, but someone said, the two armies are the family of the
Lord Jesus Christ in heaven and that on the earth, joined and
one with him, one militant contending for the faith, the other triumphant,
glorified in Christ. So that army in heaven and that
army among the earth, that was one suggestion. It could be,
it could refer to the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministering angels
are one army and the church the other, both being one in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when the Lord was
arrested and Peter took out his sword to try to defend the Lord
Jesus Christ? Remember what the Lord said?
Peter, put up your sword. I don't need your help. I could
call 12 legions of angels just to take care of these men just...
But then how shall the will of the Lord be done? So, but here's
the third thing, and here's what I see in it. But also we see
here that the believer has two armies within, that which is
born of the spirit and that which is born of the flesh. Now this
is true, not of all people now, but true of believers. All of
God's elect have this constant conflict between the flesh and
the spirit, between good and evil, and this causes us much
pain and grief. The things I would do, I don't. And what I should do, I don't. We have a new divine nature planted
within that cannot sin because it's born of God. His seed remains
in us, 1 John 3. But the old sinful nature is
not eradicated. Sin does not reign, but it does
remain. Our struggles within us cause
us to thank God that salvation is of the Lord. Because in this
flesh, as Paul said, I know that is in me, that is in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. There is none righteous, no,
not one. Remember when the Apostle Paul
writes about it in Galatians, he said this, walk in the spirit
and fulfill not the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary
one to another, so that you cannot do the thing that you would."
There is a conflict and a constant battle. Now, the unbeliever doesn't
have this battle. The believer does, and it's real. It's real. And that's what Paul
was writing about over here in Romans chapter 7. For I know
that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to
will is present with me, but how to perform that which is
good I find not. The good that I would I do not,
but the evil which I would not, that's what I do. I find then a law, a principle,
a nature that when I would do good, evil is present with me.
I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another
law, another principle in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin,
which is in my members. And then he says, oh, wretched
man that I am. This is a conflict every believer
has within his own heart, his own mind, a struggle against
this sinful flesh. Wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord, so then with my mind I serve the law of God
as it's fulfilled in Christ, but with the flesh, that old
sinful nature. That old sinful nature and the
law of God exposes that sinful nature. Now one day soon, one
day soon this conflict will be over when we put this old flesh,
this old rotten flesh back to the ground and to depart and
to be with the Lord forever, never to battle this sinful flesh
anymore. The Apostle Paul says, for me
to live is Christ, to die is gain. For our conversation is
in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus, who shall change our vile body that I may fashion like
unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself. One day soon, we
won't have any more conflict. We won't have any more sin. As
Paul said, thanks be to God who has given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. I'll have you turn to this reference. Let's find Revelation 21, and
I'll close by reading this. And we'll read this together.
Revelation 21, you remember, here the conflict's over. Verse
two, and I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them and be their God. Verse four, and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,
Neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, write, for these words are true. And they're faithful. And he said to me, it's done.
I'm Alpha Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcome us shall inherit all things. I will be his God
and he shall be my people. In that day, the conflict will
be gone, being one with the Lord Jesus Christ. So return, return,
oh Shulamite. return that we may look upon
thee. What will you see in the Shulamite?
The Lord Jesus Christ, a sinner saved by the grace of God. And
we have within this body, we are one person, but we have two
distinct natures. Believers do. That old man put
off the old man with his teeth, put on the new man, created in
righteousness and true holiness.