from your Bibles to the Song
of Solomon. I'm going to bring tonight a
brief Bible study from the Song of Solomon, chapter 2. I've threatened
for many years to preach through this book. I love this book.
I think it's a tremendous picture of Christ's relationship with
his church. And here in chapter 2, you have
a conversation between Christ and his church. Our Lord Jesus
speaks first in chapter 2, verse 1, and he says, and here's where
we get our song that we sing, The Lily of the Valley, The Bright
and Morning Star, the song The Rose of Sharon. He says, I am
the Rose of Sharon. I am the lily of the valley.
And he says, as the lily among the thorns, as beauty among ugliness,
as the fair one among the ugly ones, so is my love among the
daughters. He's talking about his church
here. He says, I am the rose of Sharon, I am the lily of the
valley, and my church, my people, my beloved, is as the lily among
the thorns. the beauty among the ugliness.
Now, you know something that I never knew until today. I looked at verse 3 as the apple
tree among the trees of the wood, and then down in verse 5, it
says, see verse 5, it says, sustain me with flagons or vessels of
wine, comfort me with apples. Apples. Then turn to Song of
Solomon chapter 8. And we'll show you what I learned
today. I never knew this. Solomon 8, verse 5. Who is this that cometh up from
the wilderness? Solomon 8, verse 5. Leaning upon
her beloved, I raise thee up under the apple tree. under the
apple tree. You know what I thought when
I saw that under the apple tree? Some of you old folks, now come
on, what did I learn? Don't sit under the apple tree
with anyone else but me till I come marching up. You know
there's something to that? I read in two or three or four
places, I checked on this, listen to this. Apple tree is a symbol
of love. Did you know that? Throughout
the world. That's right, the apple tree.
And you see this in the Song of Solomon. It's a symbol of
love. And John Gill said this, to send
or throw an apple for years and years and years meant love. When you sent someone an apple,
or you tossed them an apple, or you invite them under the
apple tree, it was a sign you loved them. And that's the reason
it's used so often. And we're talking about the apples.
Look at that again in verse 3. As the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, and the apple tree is symbolic of love. As the apple
tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sun.
That means more than that. The apple tree has a tremendous
shade. You remember, just talking about
a hot oriental country. And when you're under that apple
tree with its tremendous shade, but it not only has shade and
comfort and rest, it has something good to eat. Something good to
eat, something to feed the soul. And that's what he's talking
about. And the other trees of the wood are the fir, the cedar,
and the other trees that have no fruit. And he says, my beloved,
now this is church speaking here in three. You see, the Lord speaks
in verse 1, I am the rose of Sharon, I am the lily of the
valley. The Lord speaks again in verse 2, as the lily among
the thorns, so is my love among the daughters, the daughters
of women. My love is the beautiful one,
but it's his beauty, not ours. It's his beauty. And then the
church speaks. And the church says, as the apple
tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. My beloved, he is rest and shade
and comfort and fruit among the other trees. He rests my soul
and he feeds my soul. And I sat down under his shadow
with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." You see,
there's the tree. There's the apple tree. I sat
with Christ, who is my shade in a weary land, my rock in a
weary land, but my apple that gives me comfort from the burning
heat, and also is sweet to my taste. And then verse 4, it says,
he brought me, to say this is the church speaking, he brought
me to the banqueting house, the gospel feast in the house of
God, the banqueting house. And all that my soul needed was
met there. He brought me to the banqueting
house to feed upon his mercy and his grace and all of his
gifts, and his banner over me was love. My reason for being
there was that he loved me. That was my reason for being
there. You know, if a great king gave a great feast, a banquet
now, and invited the generals and the princes and the captains
and the citizens and the mayors and the councilmen and all these
people, and they all came, who, which guest would feel most secure? I tell you, the young lady he
brought there because he loved her, she would feel more secure
than anybody there. And that's what he's saying here.
He brought me to the feast. He brought me to the banquet.
He brought me to the house of God, the gospel feast in the
house of God. And he brought me there because
he loved me. I'm the object of his love. His
banner over me, his hold on me is love. That's what it was. Sustain me. Just make that word
stay, sustain. That's what it means. Sustain
me with flagons. That's vessels of wine. Wine
poured out. Comfort me. Comfort me with apples. Say you love me. That's the church
speaking. For I am sick, and that word
is not of love. The church is never sick of his
love. What the church is saying here, I'm sick with love. I'm
sick with love. I'm wanting his love so much
that I'm upset. I'm yearning for his arms about
me and his lips upon mine and his heart one with mine that
I just get sick. I just want him so badly. It's
not I'm sick of love. Nowhere in no time is his church
ever unhappy with his affection. But the Church is saying here,
I want him so badly, I'm really sick. See, we're upset. Upset because I can't get enough
of Christ. And here's the embrace of love
and also the support of love and the strong hand, held with
both hands. His left hand is under my head
and his right hand does embrace me. I'm secure. He brought me
to the banquet house because he loved me and he fed me. And I'm just so upset, I want
him so badly. And then he embraces me, and
he embraces me securely with both arms. It's not just a tap
and touch of love, it's the full embrace of love. And then the
church says, I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the
rows and by the hands of the field, that you stir not up,
nor awake my love till he pleases. My love is sovereign. He's a
sovereign love. He does what he pleases, and
that's what he's saying here. Nearly all the writers agree.
They say, today, where's your God? He said, my God's in the
heavens. He does what he pleases. And that's what the Church believes
about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's sovereign, and we don't
want anybody disturbing his rest. He'll do what he pleases. He'll
rise up when he pleases, and he'll lie down when he pleases.
He'll reveal himself to us when he pleases, and he'll withhold
his presence when he pleases for our good and his glory. So
just don't disturb him, O ye daughters and O ye strangers
of Jerusalem and whoever you are. All right, the church is
speaking here in verse 8. The voice of my beloved, she
knows his voice. She knows his voice. Behold,
he comes leaping up on the mountains and skipping up on the hills.
My beloved is like a roe, like a young deer. Behold, he standeth
behind our wall, he looketh forth at our windows, he showeth himself
through the lattice." Now then, this is not easy. This is not
easy to interpret and translate. I know a lot of folks feel like
this is so easy to find what the Lord is saying here, what
the Church is saying, but it's not that simple. But I'll tell
you the picture I get. Our Lord, you know, he said in
John 3, he said, talking about the new birth, he said, the wind
bloweth where it listeth. And you hear the sound thereof.
But you can't tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, even
so there that borne of the Spirit. And back here in verse 7, you
remember he said, the church says, my love is sovereign, don't
wake him till he pleases. Well, he'll manifest himself
and reveal himself when he pleases. And he comes so quickly and quietly,
like a young deer. Like a young deer. You know,
youth folks that live in the country, you're walking through
the house, you look out the window, and there's nothing out there.
You go and come back in, there stands a little deer, looking
through the fence. You ever seen that? When I was
in Rescue, California, the pastor told me, he said, we have a lot
of deer around here. The church is out kind of in
the woods. And he lives there. He lives in the church and there's
a fence that runs between his house and the woods. And I'd
get up and go to church and get a cup of coffee in the morning
and about 7 o'clock one morning, he said, keep your eye open for
the deer. And I love those things and I just keep my eye open.
And one morning I was standing there getting a cup of coffee,
he said, come out here. And I walked around, and there standing 15
feet from me was a little deer. So alert. And he'd look around,
you know. And then I went to get Doris,
and was he gone when you came out? He was gone. But then he
came back. He came when he pleased. He'd
come and I left him an apple out there sticking on a fence
one day, a big red apple. I kept watching that apple to
see if he'd come get it. But he never did come after it.
He'd come when he pleased. And here she says, my beloved,
verse 9, is like a roe or a young deer. Suddenly he's standing
behind our wall. Suddenly he's there. Or he looketh
through the windows, or he showeth himself through the the lattice.
He comes quietly and quickly. The Lord, we pray for his presence, we pray for his blessing, we
pray for his mercies. He'll come. He'll be there. He'll be there. And then Christ
speaks again. He speaks, says, My beloved spake
and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. You see, this relationship, this
relationship between Christ and his church is not something that's
drawn up by catechisms, rules, and orders of religion. This
is a heart relationship. This is not a relationship in
which a man enters because he makes a decision. This is a relationship
of an everlasting, eternal love that's put upon the heart by
the God of glory, and the response is that new nature that he's
put in there by regeneration, and nobody understands this but
those who are involved. And that's what he's talking
about here. And he speaks. He says, rise up, my love, my
fair one. Christ speaks to the church and
calls the church his fair one. That's terms of endearment, my
love and my fair one. Rise up. Rise up from where you
are, from the doldrums and the flesh and the burdens and the
depression and the cares and the weariness and all these things.
Rise up and come away. Come away. You know, that little
deer that's standing there looking through the fence at me, I was
very careful not to offend him, not to drive him away, because
he's so easy to drive away. Rise up and come away with me.
Now look at verse 11 through 13. Below the winter has passed.
The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth.
This is the Lord speaking. The time of the singing of the
birds is come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in
our land. The fig tree put forth her green
figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one."
There he repeats it, my love, my fair one, and come away. See
back there in verse 10, my beloved spake and said to me, rise up,
rise up from where you are, my love, my fair one, come away
with me. And then he talks about the winter, the time when people
stay indoors, when the fields are dry and dead, and the storms
are everywhere, and darkness is everywhere. He's talking about
this time of, you know, unhappiness. But he
said it's gone now. Christ is come. Christ is come. It's gone. And the flowers are
blooming, and the birds are singing, and the doves are heard, and
the fig trees are producing fruit, and the tender grapes are on
the vine, and the sun shines. It's spring. The darkness is
gone. The night has ended. You come
on, go with me. Don't be fearful. Don't be doubtful. Rise up and come with me. Rise
up and come with me. Verse 14, he said, O my dove,
thou art in the cleft of the rocks. Why are you in there? Well, a dove is so weak and timid. Someone said a dove is harmless
and beautiful, but weak and timid. And this is where the doves hide.
They tell me that over in Jerusalem there's a rock of the doves in
which 5,000 doves sometimes are hid. They hide from the hawks
and hide from other things. I don't know what he's talking
about. The cleft of the rocks is Christ in many cases. But maybe not here. He said,
O my dove, thou art in the cleft of the rocks and in the secret
places of the stairs, an old musty stairwell, and the dove
goes under there to hide. To hide, to get away from those
enemies, to get away from those that would harm the dove. They
hide in the rocks, and they hide under the stairwells, they hide
up in the attic, they hide anywhere where they can get away from
these enemies. And he says, you come out of
those places and come with me. I'll be your hiding place. Don't
be afraid. I believe that's what he's saying,
Charlie. Because it goes back to verse 10 when he says, rise
up my love, my fair one, rise up. Out of your refuge of lies,
out of your hiding place, out of your false refuge. Rise up.
Come on with me. Now, the winter's over. Don't
be afraid of the winter. It's gone. Don't be afraid of the
wind. Don't be afraid. No one's going
to hurt you out here. The winter's gone, and the sun is shining,
and the flowers are appearing, and the birds are singing, and
the trees are blooming, and the grapes are blooming. Now, come
on. Come away. Oh, my dove, you're in the cleft
of the rock, in the secret places. Let me see your countenance.
Let me see your face. I want to see your face. That's
what he said. My love, I want to see your face.
Don't hide from me. Let me see your face in worship.
Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice in prayer.
Let me hear you calling on me, for sweet is your voice and your
countenance is comely. This is Christ speaking to the
church. That's who it is. I want to hear your voice. I
want to see your face. You come out of those hiding
places. You come out of those places where you don't hide from
shame and guilt. What's this guilt mess? What's
this sort of thing? Why are you hiding from me? He
said the darkness is gone. The winter's passed. There's
nothing now to fear. Come out. Come out of there and
go with me. Go with me. Freedom and joy and
happiness. I'm your refuge. I'm your strength.
And verse 15, now this is a real difficult one. I read Matthew
Henry, Matthew Poole, Matthew Gill, and all the other Matthews.
But let's see if we got something here. Take us the foxes. Somebody said to us, is the Hebrew
there? Far us. Take far us the foxes. Take far
us the foxes. The little foxes. Why are they
called little foxes? Because they're not as big as
the big foxes. And the big foxes are the big enemies, like Satan,
and principalities, and powers, and rulers of the darkness. But
these are the little foxes. These are the little foxes that
spoil the vines. They nibble at the grapes, and
nibble at the leaves, and nibble at the branches, and nibble.
And just in their way, they don't even notice them. And then first
thing you know, the whole thing's messed up. For our vines have
young grapes, tender grapes, grapes that are just beginning.
Who are these little foxes? Well, all of our illustrious
commentators disagree. Some of them say it's the false
teachers, false preachers, false prophets we studied last Sunday
that nibble at the Church and draw people away after themselves,
disciples after themselves. They're called little foxes because
they're not big as the powerful enemies in the great universe
of God. But Matthew, or Henry, said this. our sins, our flesh. Let's put
away these infirmities that war against the soul. Help us, O
our God, take away, take from us, and take for us the little
foxes that spoil this fellowship, spoil this relationship, spoil
it. You know, we had, Our grandchildren spent the night
with us last night, and they went to bed so happy. Our baby
sat with them, and we went out to eat, and we visited a little,
and they went to bed. This morning, they got up at
6.30 to get ready for school, and they got up so happy, and
Becky came by, and we had coffee and pancakes and talked, and
the children were happy and laughing. They had to kind of be rebuked
at the table for laughing too much, but they left in such a
happy mood. And when they left and everybody's
gone, just Garson, I turned to her and I said, now, this is
the way home life ought to be all the time, happiness. We ought
not allow our temperament and our selfishness and our contrariness
and our bickering and all these things to make one another unhappy. We ought to go to bed happy and
we ought to get up happy. And we all eat our meals in happiness.
Now I'm telling you this. And these little foxes, these
little foxes, these little imps of self and flesh in us, they
cause rifts between us, cause There's no reason for you and
I, Tom, to ever fall out over anything. You're human, I am.
We both love Christ. We ain't got any reason not to
love each other and to speak kindly with one another and to
deal kindly with one another and to help one another and encourage
one another and promote one another, pray for one another, forgive
one another. Isn't that right? And that's where it'll be in
my home and your home. I'm telling you, these little foxes take
from us these blooming little foxes that spoil our vine. I don't think it's the false
prophets. I think it's the false attitude, spirit in here that
we snap. I don't know why it is, but men
and women both snap at home more than they snap outside. Isn't
that correct? Isn't that us? We're a lot kinder
to strangers than we are to our own people. I've even seen folks,
you know, make over other people's children than they make over
their own children. There's something wrong with that. But it's just
taking each other for granted, and that's what he's saying here.
And the same thing goes with our relationship with Christ.
These little foxes, these little infirmities and humanities and
flesh and this sort of thing spoil our vines, and they're
such tender grapes, aren't they? It's that tender grace. I'm rebuking
me. You just listen in. We're talking
up here. That's the way I study these
things. I study them for me, and I figure if I pass it on,
you'll get a blessing. But take away the foxes, those
little foxes. And then he said in verse 16,
I want to give you this, and I'll quit. He says, my beloved
is mine, and I'm his. I got a little help from Mr.
Spurgeon on this. He said this, my beloved is mine and I'm his. You see anything wrong with that? Us Calvinists, I'm surprised
somebody didn't nod their heads. Well, someone may say, well,
surely the author of the song didn't mean it to be put in that
order. Surely he meant for this claim to be worded the opposite. My beloved is mine and I'm his,
but I am his by election and choice and purpose, and then
he's mine. I'm his first and then he's mine.
And you know, there's a lot of truth to that. A lot of truth
to that. But, in another sense, I believe
it's worded like it ought to be worded. I believe it's worded
just like it ought to be worded. I think Solomon is saying it
just like he meant to say it. My beloved is mine. He's mine.
And I'm his. And you know why? Because God's
first things are our second things. And our first things are God's
second things. Our first things are God's second
things, and God's first things are our second things. Take this
verse, for example. And someone quoted it already
here tonight. I don't know where it was, in
there or in here. Give diligence to make your what? Calling and
election sure. Which is first? Election's first. Which is first with me? Calling.
See what I'm saying? My calling's first. That's right. My calling's first with me. I
didn't know my election until I knew my calling. Isn't that
right? And that's what he's saying here.
My beloved is mine. He's mine. He's mine by faith.
I believe on him like semen of old. I took him up. I didn't
know he'd already taken me up. I found that out later. Isn't
that right? I took him up in my arm. That
woman with the issue of blood, you suppose she ever knew that
God loved her in the foundation of the world before she came
and touched his garment? No, she said, I touched him.
And then she found out that he touched her. That's right. Listen to this verse, Romans
8, 28. I know I heard this quoted, and we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. Which is first? Well, his purpose
is first. He purposed all this for I love
you. What's first with me? I love him. I love him. And then I found out he loved
me. That's exactly right. That's what he's saying in my
beloved's mind. He's mine. He's mine by faith. He's mine
by an affectionate relationship. I love him. I love him. And he's my beloved. That's what
she calls him. My beloved is mine. He's mine
by a living union. He is mine. He's my head. I'm
his body. He's my vine. I'm his branch. He's my husband. I'm his mate. He lives in me. He's mine by
divine decree, whether he elected me or not. He's still my Lord
and my King. He's mine. He's mine. But then he says this, and I'm
his. And wouldn't I say God's first
things are our second things? And our first things are God's
second things. My beloved is mine. He's mine
by faith, he's mine by an affectionate relationship, he's mine by a
living union, he's mine because he's my Lord and Lord of Lords
and King of Kings and Sovereign Master. And therefore I'm his. I'm his. I'm his, first of all,
because the Father gave me to Christ before the world began.
He said, all that my Father giveth me will come to me. I'm his because
I've been his all this time. And I'm here secondly because
he bought me on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years before I
was born. He paid my debt with a great
price. I'm here. He bought me. He redeemed
me. I'm his. Not only that, I am his because
he conquered me by his Spirit. He came and conquered me. He
wooed me and won me. And I'm his by a willing surrender. Thy people shall be willing.
And I'm his As a son belongs to a father. I've said this so
many times. My sons are my sons and nothing
can change that. I beget them. So I'm his. He beget me. He beget me. But then I'll tell you this.
In closing, I'm his bond serpent. The nature that he gives us in
regeneration delights to bow to his will. It really delights
to. Now, I have to disagree here with most religionists. I have
to disagree with a lot of the reformed law Calvinists. I really
believe that a child of God wants to please the Lord. I really
do. I can't help but believe that
a child of God wants above all things for the Lord to be pleased with
him. He wants to serve God. He wants to serve the Master.
He wants to love the Master. He wants to worship the Master.
He wants to be like Christ. He wants to walk in the beauty
of holiness. I believe he wants to above everything. I don't
think he needs rules and regulations and whips and rewards and threatenings
and promises. All he needs is to love Christ. I'm his. I'm his. He said, here, my beloved is
mine, and I'm his, I'm his. Lord Paul said on the road to
Damascus as he fell on his face, Lord, what will you have me do?
What will you have me do? Now then, I picked up a little
illustration today that just came to me with such power. I go around to different places
and I hear people use a term like this. Those things are non-essentials.
They're not essential to salvation. So, brother man, why fool with
them? Preach an election. That's not essential to salvation,
that a person know that he's elected. We use bread and wine
at the Lord's table. Is that essential to salvation?
Well, if you come right down to it, that's non-essentials. It's our salvation. Baptism.
Paul said, God sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.
So, if it came down to non-essentials, I can name several non-essentials. Do you know what I'm talking
about? What's essential to the salvation of the soul? God's
love, God's purpose, God's will, God's election, Christ's death,
Christ's resurrection, Christ's obedience, Christ's intercession.
These are essential to the redemption of the soul. But I'm not sure
that's a good term. Wait just a minute now. To a
servant, to a servant, everything his Lord commands is essential. Is it not? It's essential to
obedience. It's essential to a happy relationship,
huh? Why, it certainly is. My Lord
says, this is my commandment, that you love one another. You
say, that's non-essential. He said it. How can you say it's
non-essential? He said it. He said, go into
all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples and baptize
them. You say, that's non-essential.
Now wait a minute, I'm his servant, and when he tells me something,
to me that makes it essential. Essential to obedience. It's
essential to define whether I'm a rebel or a son. Now, I'll give
you this example. This is what I found. Suppose
there's a great and famous master, a beloved master, like our master,
a great and famous and wonderful master. And I'm his servant. I'm his chief servant. And he's going to have a great
feast. And he comes to me and he says, now I want to have a
feast. I'm going to invite some guests.
And you're my servant. Yes, master, I'm your servant.
I want you to get the best china, the finest linen tablecloth,
the best glasses that ring when you touch them. I want the finest
linen napkins with the initial on them. I want the finest silverware.
I want candles and flowers. I want the finest food for my
guests. So the hour comes, and the guest
and the master comes in, and he stops at the door. And there
on his table is a roll of white paper. And on the white paper at each
place is a divided paper plate, and plastic knives and forks,
and Styrofoam cups, and plastic flowers. And he stops and he
says, what's going on here? And here I come in with a big
turkey. But I said, that's not essential. The food's what's
essential. You get my point? The food's
mighty important, but I tell you, the word of the Master is
essential. Whatever he says. That's what Mary said to the
people at the feast. She said, whatever he says to
you, do it. Do it. So, my beloved is mine. And you know what I found out?
I found out that I've been His for a long, long time. I'm His. I'm His by divine choice. I'm His by divine purchase. I'm His by divine conquering. And I'm His in here. I want to
do His will. I really do. I want. I want Him
to be glorified. And I believe you do. I believe
we can all say tonight, from the heart, my beloved's mine,
and thank God I'm his. Our Father, love your word. Oh, how we love your word. And
Lord, desperately and sincerely from our hearts, and as Alan
said, you know every heart. You know every heart, mine, every
person. Like Peter said, Lord, you know my heart. You know I
love you. And it embarrasses us that you know our evil thoughts,
but it rejoices us that you know that we love you. You can see
our hearts. And we do want to understand
the Word, not to argue, not even to show our knowledge, but to
know Christ, to love Christ, to see what He's saying. We feed
on His Word. We're under the apple tree and
we're feasting on the apples of His grace, the apples of gold. on the silver platters. That's
our Lord's precious word. Make this effectual to our hearts
tonight. Make it precious to each other. Make him precious.
To you that believe he's precious. May everyone here be able to
say genuinely, sincerely from the heart, my beloved is mine. And he's all I need. And I'm
his. In his name we pray, amen.