This evening now, Song of Solomon
chapter 6, and we want to take a look at verse 4 down through
verse 10, and just glean some thoughts of the Lord describing
His church. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 4. This is our blessed
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. After the church confesses, I
am my beloved and my beloved is mine, he feeds among his people. And then he responds back in
verse four, in this love relationship between the Lord and his bride,
between Christ and his church, he says of her, thou art beautiful. Thou art beautiful. No, no blemish,
no spot in thee, thou art beautiful. And he says, you're my love. We are the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are the love of his life,
the love of the gospel. He loved his church and gave
himself for it. As beautiful and lovely as Tirzah,
Comely, beautiful, wonderful as Jerusalem, and then frightful
as an army that fights with purpose under his banner, under his banner. So I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said there in the first part of verse four,
thou art beautiful. Thou art beautiful. Oh, oh my
love. What great love he has for his
church. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God who is rich in mercy, for
his great love wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in
sin, we can't talk too much about this love that's a sovereign
love of God. The scriptures know nothing of
what they call a universal love and universal fatherhood. That's
made up by man-made religion. They say in religious circles,
well, God loves everybody. That's not so. That's just not
so. Jacob have I loved. Esau have
I hated. So you got a problem there if
you want to try to promote the universal love of God. If God,
think about this, if God universally loves all people everywhere the
same, then none can perish for whom he loves. You have to, what
about those people who perish in everlasting condemnation?
Did he love them? Did he love Esau the same way
he loved Jacob? Did he love Judas the same way
he loved Peter? Well, no. No, so we preach what
this Bible teaches is sovereign love. I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. He'll love whom He will. And
the reason He loves any sinner, now you think about this, the
cause of God loving any sinner is not found in us. We don't
merit His love, do we? We don't earn His love, do we?
No, He gives His love. The reason of His love toward
us is not found in us, it's found in Him. God is love. He is love. but not at the expense
of his holiness. So, thou art beautiful, O my
love. This is the way the Lord Jesus
Christ sees his church. This is the way he sees his bride,
his wife, his elect. We've seen this description before.
Turn back to chapter four, verse seven. Look at chapter four, verse seven.
Thou art all fair, all fair, my love. There is no spot in
thee. No speck, no blemish, no spot,
no sin in thee. Think of it. Isn't that glorious? Look at chapter five, verse two.
Chapter five, verse two, he says this again. Open to me, the middle
part of verse five. Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew, my locks
with the drops of the night. Open to me, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. How can this be? We know that
we are sinners. We know that we are guilty. How
can the Lord talk about us that way? Only as we're found in him. Look at chapter seven, verse
six. Again, he says, how fair, you see that in verse six, chapter
seven? How fair, how pleasant art thou,
O love, for delights. The father delights in his son,
right? This is, he said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased. What the father says of the son,
he says that of everyone in the son, for we are one with him. You remember Ephesians chapter
5. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. That he might present it to himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Amazing, isn't it? What did we
read a moment ago over here in Colossians chapter 1? That it
should be in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy, unblameable, unreprovable, in God's sight. That's how his
people appear before him. John writes about it this way
in 1 John. Here it is, our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
as he is, so are we in this world. Wrap yourself around that statement.
As he is, so are we in this world, as we're one with him. Notwithstanding
our manifold iniquities, our many transgression and sin, the church is yet beautiful in
his eyes, altogether lovely, as he sees us in Christ. Now, in our study today, we see
five descriptions that the Lord gives of his church, his body,
his bride, his wife, and what he says of the church collectively.
Now, when we talk about the church, he's the head of the church.
We're not talking about local congregations. He's talking about
the universal church. And I mean by that, all that
are called out of darkness into his marvelous light. That's what
the word church means. It means called out. We've been
called out of darkness, and he's ahead of it. He's ahead of it.
And when he says of the church collectively, universally, that
church of the redeemed, the church of the firstborn, is true of
all believers individually, today, right now, and forever. Forever and ever and ever. And then look at verse four again.
Beautiful. Thou art beautiful, O my love,
beautiful as Tirza. Now, what I can study on that
word, Tirza, it is a city of the tribe of Manasseh, a well-known
city for its beauty, its pleasantness, its sweetness, its acceptableness. It's kind of like a city of Zebulun.
We have this city of Zebulun, this community of Zebulun. You
know, Zebulun was one of the sons of Jacob. Did you know that? Beautiful as Tirzah, a well-known
city for its beauty, its pleasantness, its sweetness, its acceptableness.
What high thoughts the Lord Jesus Christ has of his church. There
is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.
Psalm 46, the holy place, the tabernacles of the most high
God, the city of God. The city of God, Tirzah was the
city of God. The city of God, the holy place,
tabernacles of the most high, that's where he dwells among
his people. And then he says, comely, and
we know that word, we're beautiful and lovely through his comeliness,
through his beauty, comely as Jerusalem. Jerusalem was known
as the city of God, the city of peace. That word Salem there
means peace, doesn't it? It means peace, the last part
of Jerusalem. You remember in Revelation 21,
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared at the bride, adorned for her husband.
There, the church is called the New Jerusalem, comely as Jerusalem. The church is often called Jerusalem
Chosen by his grace, bought with his precious blood, and kept
by his power. You remember Isaiah 40? Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem. Now who's he talking about? He's talking about the church.
Crying to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord then double for all
her sin. Now, he's not talking about and
describing a physical city. It's a spiritual city in Christ
Jesus. So we are beautiful. We are the
apple of his eye, the apple of his love, Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem. And then watch this, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is his army in this world. As an army with banners. He says
that again, he repeats it in the last part of verse 10. Terrible
as an army with banners. Believers in this world are soldiers
enlisted in the army of grace. You remember from 2 Timothy 2,
we're told to endure hardness as a good soldier of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Believers in this world are soldiers
enlisted in the army of his grace. We boldly fight the good fight
of faith under the banner of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We courageously contend for the
gospel of Christ being led by the captain of our salvation.
One of the names, you remember those sevenfold name of Jehovah,
Jehovah Jarrah, Jehovah Sidkenu, Jehovah Rapha. One of those names
is Jehovah Nisa. Exodus 17, 15, there's a paper
on the table out there with those seven names and what they mean.
Jehovah Nisa means the Lord, our banner. Lord, our banner. We have the victory of salvation
through his banner. We wave that banner, don't we?
Like the flag. Most, most, you men who've been
in the army don't most what do they call that, divisions and
then battalions and different things. Don't they have some
kind of a banner that when they go into battle they carry those
banners? And that's what we do, our banner is Christ. And his
banner over us is love. You remember, I read it a moment
ago, but if you wanna look with me, chapter two, verse four,
he brought me into the banqueting house, the banqueting house of
mercy, and his banner or his standard or his flag over us
was love. We fight the good fight of faith
knowing that He is our Lord and Master. He's given us weapons
in this battle. We're not left to fight this
battle, this spiritual battle, spiritual wickedness in high
places. He's given us weapons to carry
out this battle. You remember Ephesians chapter
6 talks about the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit.
Stand fast therefore, having your loins girded about with
truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. and your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." He's
given us some excellent weapons to use in this fight of faith. 2 Corinthians 10, Paul writes,
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds. He's given us the message we're
to proclaim. He said, go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature because the gospel is
the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes, to
the Jew, to the Gentile, for therein is that gospel, is the
righteousness of God revealed. Our message is Christ and him
crucified, isn't it? He has assured us that his battle
plan is complete and cannot fail. Every enemy will surrender, right? Remember Psalm 110, the Lord
said unto my Lord, David speaking, the Lord Jehovah said unto my
Lord, sit at my right hand until I make all thine enemies to bow
at your footstool. You remember Paul writes, God
has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name that
at that name every knee shall bow. Every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
You see, in this battle and in this war, we cannot fail because
the Lord Jesus Christ has won the battle for us. We cannot
fail because he cannot fail. One of my favorite verses in
Isaiah 42 verse four, he shall not fail. And then the second
description he gives, and I've already mentioned this, oh my
love. You see that in verse four, oh
my love, my love. The church is the object of his
love. His love is an everlasting love. He loved us with everlasting
love. Therefore, with love and kindness does he draw us to himself.
His love for us, his love for his church never changes. He
never falls out of love, even though we're miserable, sinful
creatures. He's loved us with an everlasting love. He said,
I'm the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob, sons of Jacob,
supplanters, are not consumed. The Lord's love to us is the
same today, yesterday, and forever. We read in 1 Corinthians 13 that
his love never fails. In Romans 8, we read that nothing
can separate us from the love of God, nothing, and that list
is exhaustive, isn't it? Neither height nor depth nor
any other creature. can separate us from the love
of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. His love is sovereign
love. Jacob hath a love, Esau hath
a hated. His love is sacrificial love.
Herein is love, not that we love God, that He loved us, gave Himself
for us. His love is saving love. We read
about in the Revelation on Him who loved us and saved us from
our sin in His own blood. To Him be all the honor and glory.
And God's people, we do love Him only because what? He first
loved us. He first loved us, 1 John 4,
19. We love Him because He first loved us. We love Him not like
we should, do we? Not like we want to, not like
we will one day, But we can say with Peter, Lord, you know all
things, you know that I love you. Look at verse five, this is interesting
here. Verse five, turn away thine eyes
from me. Some render this, turn thine
eyes to me. And some of the older copies,
turn away thine eyes from me for they have overcome me. or puffed me up. Thy hair is
as the flock of goats that appear from Gilead. The Lord is moved
because of the love the church has for him. Turn back to chapter
4, verse 9. Chapter 4, verse 9. Remember
these verses? Chapter 4, verse 9. The Lord
says of his church, thou have ravished my heart, my sister.
My spouse, thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,
with one chain of thine neck. Oh, how fair is thy love, my
sister, my spouse. How much better is thy love than
wine and the smell of thine ointment and spices. The Lord loves to
be loved and praised by his people. Isn't it a delightful thing to praise the Lord and to worship
him. It is for his people. The Lord
of glory here is overcome with the love believers have toward
him. Isn't that amazing? Believers look to him with hopeful
eyes of faith, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. We read in Isaiah 45, the Lord said, look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God, beside me
there is none other. Believers look to him with hopeful
eyes of faith. The object of faith is Christ.
The believer looks to him with sorrowful eyes of repentance. Repentance like faith, as I've
often said through the years, is not an isolated act, is it?
We have repented, we are repenting, by his grace we continue to repent,
continue to believe. And we repent with sorrowful
eyes, with a broken heart over our sin. And believers look to
him, not only with hopeful eyes of faith, with sorrowful eyes
of repentance, but with sincere eyes of love. We do love the
Lord Jesus Christ. And because we love him, we love
his people. John Gill, the old preacher,
writes, the eyes of his church toward him, the Lord Jesus, has
made a conquest of his heart, which does not imply weakness,
but condescending grace that he should permit himself to be
overcome with the love, with our love to him. Just naturally speaking, isn't
it nice to be loved by someone? your children, your husband,
your wife. And the Lord Jesus Christ appreciates
and enjoys our love to him. Our love to him. And it's so
frail and weak. I don't much care for that song
that goes, oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love him. I'd rather
sing, oh, how he loves me. But we do love him. We do love
him. Now, here's the third thing,
verse five, six, and seven. The church is perfect in his
sight, and he repeats what he already has said in chapter four,
verse one through three. Verse five, verse six, and verse
seven, thy hair is as a flock of goats. Now, how many hairs would that be?
A flock of goats, that's a whole lot of hair, isn't it? that appear
from Gilead. I guess Gilead was known as the
place where the goats reside. Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep,
which go up from the washing, whereof every one that beareth
twins, every one beareth twin, that there is not one barren
among them. He makes us fruitful. He makes
us fruitful. The church in his sight is perfect
in his sight. The Lord is so pleased with his
church, he does not mind and take pleasure in repeating what
he's already said back in chapter four, verse one through three. As we read in Colossians chapter
one, he presents his holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. All
our beauty, all our righteousness is through his comeliness, through
His righteous merits and the sacrifice of His shed blood.
He cleanses us from all our sin. Think of that. Just meditate
upon that for a minute. How many sins of past, present,
and future of all the sins of God's elect laid upon him, he
cleanses us from all our sin. How cleansing is the blood of
Christ? So much so that God said, their sin and their iniquity
I remember no more. As far as the east is from the
west, so far have I separated you from your sin. One time we
read in scripture, our sin have separated us from God. Remember
Isaiah 59? And then David, when he writes
about that Psalm 103, he said, now our sins have been separated
from us. Think of that. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. What grace! We are accepted in the Beloved,
nothing can change that now or forever. We're accepted in the
Beloved. You know, it's always been that
way. We've been and are eternally
justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. He loved us eternally, right?
That means we're accepted and beloved from all eternity. That
means we're justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Before I was ever
born or committed one sin personally, the Lord Jesus Christ has already
cleansed us from all our sin. Get a hold of that. It's infinite,
isn't it? It's amazing, isn't it? In Christ
we are forgiven now and forever, redeemed with his precious blood,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sin, according to the riches of his grace. This forgiveness
of sin we enjoy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We mentioned four things. It's free, right? It's free. This forgiveness is free. We're
justified freely by his grace. It's full. His blood cleanses
us from all our sin. It's final, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. It is God that justifies. It's
who can condemn me. It's Christ who has died. The
Abrazer has risen again, who's even at the right hand of God,
who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect. And it's forever.
We don't have a temporary amnesty. He forgives our sins forever. forever he obtained for us eternal
redemption, eternal redemption by his blood. Now here's the
fourth thing in verse 89, the church is one with Christ. There are three score queens, four score concubines, virgins
without number, Verse nine, my dove, my undefiled is one. Now wait a minute, virgins without
number? Queens, 60 queens, 80 concubines,
virgins without number? And my undefiled is one. Many
members, but one in Christ. She is the choice one of her
that bear her. He chose us, we didn't choose
him. The daughter saw her and blessed her. We're blessed of
God. Yea, the queens and the concubines, they praised her. The kings of the earth have many
wives, don't they? Talk about natural kings. Especially
back in biblical times, many wives, many virgins, many concubines,
virgins without number. Instead of King Solomon counting
his wives and concubines, I think it was 700 or 800, he had a great
capacity to love a great number of women, but in Christ we're
all one. Christ, our King, makes all of
his people, his wife, his bride, his church, we're one. The people
of God are one. Many members, but all the same
body. Differing gifts, but all one
body in Christ. We all have the same Father,
don't we? Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. We all have the same indwelling,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. We all have the same inheritance,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We all are of the
same household. We are of the household of God,
children of God, the household of God. We are one with Christ. You remember in John 17, his
prayer, he prayed, I in them, Thou in me that we may be made
perfect in one. We're one with him. The old timers
had a term for that. Vital union. We have a vital
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are one with him. My dove,
my undefiled is one. We're one in Christ. She's the
only one of her mother. She is the choice one of her
that bear her, born of God, begotten of God. The daughter saw her
and blessed her because we're blessed in Christ. Yea, the queens
and the concubines, they praised her. They praised her. The old preacher, Charles Spurgeon,
said the union of Christ and his people is real and actual. There is a mysterious union between
Christ and his people so that almost all things, and I would
change the word almost, I would read it, that all things which
may be said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ may be said also
concerning those that are in him. What's true of him is true
of us. What's true of the head is true
of the body. They are so completely one, still quoting Spurgeon,
they are so intimately united in bonds of mystic vital union
and eternal union that it would not be possible always to keep
the saying concerning them apart. When he described the glory and
beauty of Christ, he described the glory and beauty of the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're one with him. Now, verse,
it gets us down to verse 10. Who is she that looketh forth
as the morning? Now again, this is the Lord describing
his people. Who is she that looks forth as
the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible
as an army with banners? Now, the church The Lord says,
again describing his church, the church is the light of this
world. We studied in Matthew chapter
five, our Lord says, you are the light of the world, a city
that is set on a hill that cannot be hid. In the beginning of the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the beginning, just as a morning
light, Ever watch the morning sun come up? Especially when
maybe you're at the beach, when you have a broad horizon to look
at. And in the beginning, it's just
a dim light, and then it grows brighter and brighter and brighter.
And that's the way it is with the church. In the beginning,
the church had a very small beginning, talking about the church is redeemed. In the book of Acts, after the
Lord's resurrection, The book of Acts records the number of
disciples to be 120 people. Well, that's pretty small. That's pretty dim light, isn't
it? But as the gospel is preached on the day of Pentecost and following
by the apostles, 3,000 were added one day, 5,000 added another
day, and this light gets brighter and brighter and brighter, doesn't
it? in this world at best is as the
moon at night reflecting the sun of righteousness, the church.
How does the church shine as clear as the sun in this dark
world with a reflection fair as the moon? How do we shine
forth? By holding forth the word of life, by holding forth the
word of truth, by preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why Peter That's why, rather, Paul said to Timothy,
I charge thee before God. Preach the word. Preach the word. Be in season, out of season,
reprove, rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine. How do we shine
forth in this dark world as the light? By following Christ, who
is the light of the world. You remember John 8, 12, Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. The light of life. Who is she
that looketh forth? as the morning, fair as the moon. The moon is a reflection of the
sun, isn't it? Clear as the sun and clear as
the sun. He is the son of righteousness
with healing in his wings and terrible, terrible as an army.
One day soon, when the Lord returns in all of his glory, his church
will truly shine as the son of righteousness, for we shall be
like him in his resurrection glory. You remember Paul writes
about it in Philippians 3, he shall change our vile body that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to
the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. As for me, David said, when I
behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. Turn with me and I'll quit with
this, but turn over here to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. I thought this
might be a good scripture to close with. Matthew 13. We really will shine forth in
that day. Matthew 13. Verse 41, Matthew
13, 41. A son of man shall send forth
his angels, talking about the end time, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do
iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire, and
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who
hath ears to hear, let him hear." We'll shine in that day, won't
we? We'll shine in that day. The righteous shall shine forth
as we're one with him.