Sermon #32 Series: Song Of Solomon

Title: Come, My Beloved!

Text: Song of Solomon 8:14

Readings: Office: Larry Criss Auditorium: James Jordan

Subject: The Believer’s Desire For Christ’s Second Advent

Date: Sunday Evening - February 21, 1999

Tape # V-13b

Introduction:

Song of Songs 8:14 "Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices."

The Song of Solomon is an allegorical song which describes the love of Christ for his people and the love of all believing hearts for the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s last word to his church in this Song of Love was that he might often hear her voice - “Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.”

But the last verse of the song comes from the heart of his Bride upon the earth. It expresses the intense desire of every believing heart in this world and the great longing of God’s church, that the Lord Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven, should return again. This last verse of the song is a prayer for our Savior’s glorious second advent - “Make haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”

Come, My Beloved! “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” You promised, when you went away to prepare a place for us, that you would come and receive us unto yourself, that we may forever dwell in Your presence. Our hearts are filled with hope. We look for You. We wait for You. We long for You. Even now we pray, Come, My Beloved.

Is your heart in tune with this desire? Do you long for the Lord’s glorious advent? Do you desire his speedy return? Are you looking for his appearing? I am afraid that far too often we accept the doctrine of the second coming in our heads, but have no real desire for it in our hearts. Tonight, I want to do what I can to stir up that blessed hope that is within us. If God the Holy Spirit will speak through me, I want to arouse in each of us an earnest desire for and anticipation of our Lord’s second advent.

Proposition: We who believe should live everyday upon the tiptoe of faith, anticipating of our Lord’s second coming.

We look for no signs. We set no dates. But we are to look for Christ, as it were, upon the very tiptoe of expectant faith.

Divisions:

1. Jesus Christ is the beloved object of believing hearts.

2. The Lord Jesus Christ is to be seen upon the mountains.

3. Every believing heart should desire and anticipate the coming of Christ.

THE BELOVED

I. First, I call your attention to the fact that - JESUS CHRIST IS THE BELOVED OBJECT OF BELIEVING HEARTS.

Notice the title which his church gives him here - “My Beloved.”

True religion has many sides. True religion is practical. True religion is doctrinal. And true religion is personal. But it matters not how practical, doctrinal, and personal your religion is, if your religion does not produce in you a genuine love for Christ your religion is not true. All of God’s people love Christ. We do not love him as we should. We do not love him as we would. And we do not love him as we shall. But we do love the Son of God. He is the Beloved of our hearts (1 Cor. 16:22; 1 Pet. 2:7).

1 Corinthians 16:22 "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."

1 Peter 2:7 "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,"

This is the true testimony of all believers - “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

We do not love him as we should. Our love for Christ is not in anyway worthy of his love for us; but we do love him.

A. He loved us before we loved him (Jer. 31:3).

Jeremiah 31:3 "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

B. He loves us infinitely better than we love him (1 John 3:16; 4:9-10).

1 John 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

1 John 4:9-10 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

C. And his love for us is the cause of our love for him.

D. But if we are true believers we do truly love the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. We love him experimentally.

2. We love him sincerely.

3. We love him supremely.

4. We love him growingly.

5. We love him, because of who he is - “The Lord Jesus Christ.”

6. We love him, because of what he has done.

Where there is true faith in the heart, there is genuine, sincere, increasing love for the Lord Jesus Christ (Lk. 14:25-27, 33).

Luke 14:25-27 "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."

Luke 14:33 "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine,

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,

I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;

I’ll sing as I’m casting the crown from my brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

E. Believers are people whose lives are ruled, governed and motivated by the love of Christ (2 Cor. 5:14).

This is the test of true faith. By this you may determine whether or not the grace of God is in your heart - Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? Is Christ your “Beloved”?

(Illustration: Robert Hall - If a man truly loves Christ.

THE MOUNTAINS

II. Secondly, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS TO BE SEEN UPON THE MOUNTAINS.

“Make haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”

What does this mean? She is calling for him to come from the place where he now is, “the mountains of spices.” As we have gone through the Song of Solomon, we have seen four references to mountains.

A. The Mountains of Bether - “Divisions” (2:17).

Song of Songs 2:17 "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."

There was standing between us and our God three great mountains of divisions which separated us from God. We could never cross over them to God, but our divine Savior crossed over them and reconciled us to God. Christ our Mediator has leveled these mountains of division.

1. The Righteousness Of God.

2. The Justice Of God.

3. Our Sins.

B. The Mountains of Leopards (4:8).

Song of Songs 4:8 "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards."

Christ the Conqueror has overcome these.

1. Death

2. Hell

3. Satan

C. The Mountains of Myrrh - “Bitterness” and “Fragrance” - Mt. Calvary (4:6).

Song of Songs 4:6 "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense."

This refers to the bitterness which our Lord endured as our Substitute - In the Garden - On the Cross - In the Tomb.

1. The Imputation Of Sin To Him.

2. Being Forsaken By His Father.

3. The Terrible Wrath Of God.

4. Bitterness to Him, but What Fragrance to Our Father and To Us!

D. The Mountains of Spices (8:14).

The mountains of spices are those mountains of heaven itself, where our Redeemer dwells today. He sits as King upon his holy hill in Mt. Zion.

What are these spices?

1. The Merits Of Christ.

2. The Intercession Of Christ.

3. The Praises Of The Redeemed.

THE PRAYER

III. Thirdly, EVERY BELIEVING HEART SHOULD DESIRE AND ANTICIPATE THE COMING OF CHRIST - “Make haste, my Beloved” (Tit. 2:11-14; 2 Pet. 3:11-14).

Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

2 Peter 3:11-14 "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."

Why should we be so anxious for the speedy return of Christ? Why should we so eagerly anticipate the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ?

A. This is the result of true love.

A loving wife longs for the return of her husband who has been so long away from her.

B. When our Savior comes, He will bring an end to all the conflict we now endure.

C. When our Lord comes, there will be a great resurrection (Job 19:25-27; 1 Thess. 4:13-17).

Job 19:25-27 "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

D. When King Jesus appears in his glory, He will create all things new.

E. When our great God and Savior comes in power and in great glory, He will sit upon the Great White Throne of Judgment.

· His is a throne of sovereign power.

· His is a white throne of absolute purity and judgment.

· It will be a great day indeed when the great King of Glory sits upon the Throne of Judgment. In that day, He will put all things in order and show all things in their true light.

1. He will clear his own elect of all charges and accusations.

2. He will show the honor of his name in all that he has done.

3. He will display the glory of his grace in his people.

4. He will tread upon the necks of all his enemies.

5. He will be glorious!

Application:

1. “Behold, He cometh!”

2. “Every eye shall see him.”

3. What will become of you when you see the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory?