Realizing Spiritual Reality

Knowledge of Spiritual Reality

Book of 1 John Chapter 3:1-10

Last week we had a lesson on Apostasy so today we see more of the truth.

What is reality? Reality is the truth. It is fact. It is real as compared to false!

What is it to be spiritual? Spiritual things are things taught to us by the Holy Spirit as compared to natural things, things that are taught to us by the world.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Only the child of God can know the reality of the Holy Spirit and the Spiritual truths in the Word of God.

What is the greatest truth of the Bible? The Bible is God's love letter to those who love Him!

The Bible is God's instruction manual on how to live in this world until it’s time for us to go home!

The truth is, if God loves us then, He must be very near to us and a loving God is not some deity who does not care about His creations.

What is the truth of our loving God? God does not do bad things even though He is accused of everything that happens that is bad and seldom gets the credit for the good things!

God is always available to help those who love Him in return!

We will never experience the true love of God unless we return to Him the love that He deserves!

*****1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

What a privilege it is to be called the children of God even if we are His adopted children. Those who are adopted know they have been chosen!

As a child of God, we know that our Father is the most powerful, the Supreme Majesty of this cosmos we call creation.

Not an accident as so many boasts of, but a calculated creation that operates according to the law of God and overseen by His Holy Angels!

Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

You know what? Even in these things God is no respecter of persons!

There is only one thing we can do to become a child of God and this to believe the things He has caused to happen for our salvation.

We must have faith in the truth of the Word of God!

We know because we were once a part of them that the natural man has chosen to go their own way without God.

It is their belief that God will restrain them from seeking their own way and this is true! To be a child of God is to be an obedient child!

They do not realize, or they don't care that the benefits of being a child of God, far outweigh the loses that come by being a child of this world!

The world cannot understand believers because the world never understood the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I do not profess to know everything about my Savior, but I am certain that one day soon He will return to take me home if the end of my days does not come first, where some Angels will carry me home to Heaven to be with my Savior!

*****1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It should be very clear to us, that we are already the adopted children of God. Being a child of God is not in our future because it has already happened! God has just not picked us up yet!

It is not "that we shall be", we are already in the family of God if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!

When we give our life to Jesus, we are accepted into the family of God!

We should say this over and over again until it sinks in!

We have no idea what a glorified body will look like!

We have no idea what perfection does for our soul!

We do know that when we meet Jesus in the clouds, we will be conformed to the exact image of Him!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Will we be equals of the Lord? No this will never happen. We will never be gods! We will be like Jesus Christ in perfection!

We should remember, Jesus still had nail scared hands and feet and His side still showed the marks of a spear.

Most all these things go past our ability to understand, but this flesh we now have will no longer exist as it does today!

Our new body will not be corruptible!

Our new body will be a Spiritual body!

Our new body will be a heavenly body!

Our new body will be eternal!

Our new body will never age!

Flesh and blood will never be allowed in heaven!

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Today we rest in the promises of God and our hope is always in the Lord!

1Th_2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

If you cannot love the Lord Jesus Christ, you can never get to Heaven!

*****1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

What are we to be doing? You see God wants a people who are just like Him!

This is why Jesus is to be our example in everything!

God wants us to be pure.

God wants us to be holy.

God wants us to be righteous.

These are the reasons Jesus paid the price for our salvation!

It is His purity, His holiness and His righteousness and especially His love, that we are to strive for today!

Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

We will never be pure until we are working the hardest to keep from sin even if it is impossible!

God blesses effort, He does not bless failure!

*****1Jn 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

The "law" in this passage would represent all the Word of God. Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the law of God, "all the Scriptures" and He is the only One who could do this.

The fact remains that any transgression of the law, the laws that Jesus kept, then would be sin!

Any violation of the law of God means a rejection of the authority of our Most High God!

Most of us do not see sin the way God sees sin.

We will say we made a mistake.
We will say we came up short.
We will say we had a momentary brain flaw.
We will say we made a bad decisiuon.
We will say we became irrational.
We will say it is just a social thing.

Sin is a far more serious thing to God!

Sin is a transgression of His law!

It is sin that caused Him to leave His throne room and come to this earth to die!

Sin is choosing to ignore our Supreme God!
Sin is living your way instead of living like God has commanded!
Sin is disobedience, not doing what God has but doing what God says not to do!
Sin is ignoring God and neglecting His Word!
Sin is an outright rebellion to a Holy God!
Sin is denying God and denying His remedy.

God is a perfect God and He only accepts perfection!

If God allowed any imperfection into the New Heaven then it would be imperfect.

Sin is imperfection!

Sin had to have a perfect remedy!

*****1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

We see that word manifested in the Bible and it means that the way to take away our sins has been plainly shown to us!

Why did the Lord come to this earth? To take away our sins!

We had a great need for deliverance and the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver us!

Until the Lord Jesus came to this earth the first time there was no means available for deliverance from sin and reconciliation with God!

Of all who walk upon the face of this earth not one was ever free of sin. In Jesus there was no sin!

If we are in Jesus, then we are also sin free!

Rom_13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Jesus did not have to come to this world to see how things were coming along with His creation. He could see everything from Heaven!

There was only one reason He had to come, and to do this He had to be born like men and then be put to death for our sins. He had no sin himself!

In order for any of us to make it to the glory world, then we had to be made like Christ, that is we had to be made free from sin!

This is something that we all must know and understand and believe!

Jesus always existed but He had to become visible to the human eye. He had to leave the Spirit world and enter into the physical world!

There was only one reason He would do such a thing, and this is because God loves us, and God wants us to join Him in eternity in His Spiritual world!

To show we love our God then we need to turn from our sin and turn toward the sinless Son of God!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

It is now, before the Lord returns for the second time that we must accept these truths!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

In reality the world is running out of time till the day of the wrath of God, toward all those who reject His Son!

*****1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Most all the world and many in the Church reject this statement. (Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not)

Today many in the church have no problem believing we must not sin, but when it comes to those who believe that God makes mistakes and some girls are in a man's body and some guys are in a lady's body and this is not sin, are fools.

God does not make mistakes!

If you are in a boy's body, then you are a boy!

If you are in a girl's body, then you are a girl!

These things are reality and to do different is abiding in sin, just like abiding in any other sin!

It is obvious that none of us are perfect and we can only be perfect in if we abide in Jesus Christ!

This is the only proof of deliverance!

To love the Lord Jesus Christ is to be obedient to all the Word of God, rightly divided.

Rightly divided means God wrote about sin and the sinner.

Rightly divided means God wrote how to be saved and teaches us about His Savior.

We cannot truly say we know Christ and reject the Word of God!

To do differently is to be deceived and many deceivers have entered the church today leading many souls to Hell!

We have to do more than profess Christ we must accept all of Christ!

We have to do more than be baptized!

We have to do more than join some church!

We have to do more than attend some church regularly!

We have to do more than fellowship with Christians!

We have to do more that read the Bible!

We have to do more than pray, for without Christ that prayer will never be heard!

When we live according to the world's temporary pleasures and seek more and more of the world’s temporary comforts and temporary possessions, and still believe that God will receive us, we live in a deceived frame of mind and are still bound for Hell!

We must deny ourselves of our lust and desires, to be acceptable to God!

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

To mortify is to go ahead and place the deeds of our sinful flesh in a casket and bury them to be clean from them forever!

We must walk away from our old lifestyle, which by the way is to repent, which is not taught much in the church today!

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

To be righteous is to do all things the right way and the right way is according to the written Word of God, rightly divided!

God does not ever do anything that goes against His own written words!

It is only in the Lord where we can have righteousness!

Isa 45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

The object of being like Christ is to have no sin to keep us out of Heaven!

Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Unless we have faith in the Lord and have picked up our cross to follow Him, we will never be filled with the Holy Spirit who will dictate our lives until the Lord takes us home!

Hint: Without the Holy Spirit you will never understand the truth of the Bible nor be able to teach others the truth of God!

The Bible is a "Spiritual Book" which the world will never understand!

You will never be acceptable to God, until you know right from wrong and live right or live righteous! Righteous according to what God says is right!

For those who reject this truth God has these words:

*****1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

All those who think it is acceptable to hold on to their sin and be acceptable to a Holy God, who are of the Devil!

It cannot be much plainer than these words written here!

Jesus Christ is a Deliverer! If you have not been delivered, then you have not accepted the truth of Jesus Christ!

Every place you see the Devil you will see death!

Satan was the very first sinner and he will never repent. Everyone who rejects the work of Christ Jesus belong to Satan and they are bound for Satan's death!

Remember Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire were created for the Lucifer (the Devil, Satan, the Deceiver) and for all Luciferians!

Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil!

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

What is the reality of sin?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;

What is the reality of Jesus Christ?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".

There is no battle of good and evil because all the world is evil, and no one is good enough to get to Heaven!

The Devil is a real person, much more than just our fallen nature, much more than just than just our sinful actions!

The Devil has brought death all these years, but Jesus Christ is our substitute for death!

Satan, the Devil, no longer has the power to cause us to be separated from God, we can now make this choice ourselves because of the work of Jesus Christ!

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

All we need do is to open up the doors of our heart and let the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ enter in and cleanse us from all sin!

Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

This is what being "Born Again" is all about!

*****1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

What is the result of being "Born Again"? We have an Advocate who pleads His own righteousness in our favor every day that we remain upon this earth if we ask forgiveness for the errors that we still commit.

Spiritually speaking as the children of God, we must remain in Christ who cannot sin!

What is the truth?

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When we have faith in the works of Jesus Christ for our salvation, He gives us the power to become sons just like He is the Son of the Father!

When we come from the flesh, we will be like the flesh.

When we come by the Lord Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be like our Savior, spiritual, holy and heavenly a complete blood bought child of God!

God the Holy Spirit is the author of all the Word of God!

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the author of our salvation!

This is the seed that must be planted in our hearts and allowed to grow as it is watered by the Holy Spirit!

Jesus cannot sin and those who are in Christ cannot sin!

So to live in sin, is contrary to the nature of Christ!

Sin is the greatest of all evil!

Holiness is the highest of all good!

So how can we be made free from sin? We must be "Born of God"!!!!!!!

We must have the seed of the new of the New Birth!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

We must have the seed of the New Creature!

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

We must have the seed of the New Man!

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We must put on the New Man!

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

We now have a divine nature!

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This is what the Holy Spirit will do when He is allowed to do His work within us!

*****1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

In other words, do we truly love God like we say we do?

Do we really share the love God has given to us with "all" those we come in contact with?

Do we wear the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We should see that there are only two groups of people in this world!

There are the children of the Devil.

There are the children of God.

These two groups encompass all the people of our world.

So which nature are we going show?

God is love!

God is Holy!

God is righteous!

God is pure!

God is perfect!

Now we cannot be God, but we certainly should be showing these same qualities as best we can!

Jesus said we can wrap all these qualifications up in one and that one is "Love"!

1Co_13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

The key we are to store in our heart is: "whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God".

This is our goal for learning today, and tomorrow, and the next day and every day until we go home to be with the Lord!

This is Spiritual Reality!

Amen

Let's Pray!

Celebrating God's Love

Celebrating God's Gift Of Love

Song of Solomon 1-8


Again today we see more of the Holy Ghost inspired writings of Solomon.

The difference in these Scriptures is the fact that Solomon wrote this Book of the Song of Solomon, while he was still young and maybe even before he became King of Israel.

We know that the Book of Ecclesiastes was written after Solomon had gotten old and had experienced the sin of the humanistic world before returning to the wisdom of the Lord.

Solomon wrote many songs:

1Ki 4:32  And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

But it seems that this was Solomon's most loved song.

Modern day Bible Scholars may declare that this Book of the Bible was written by someone else, but all the evidence still leads us to Solomon.

In fact modern day Bible scholars are rejecting much of the Scriptures, but that does not make them right, and in all cases they are wrong.

The reign of Solomon was between 971 and 931 BC so we can be sure that we can date the writing of this Book near those years if not 970 BC.

This Song of Solomon was written to the Jewish nation where Solomon ruled.

This Song of Solomon shows us that the true love of Solomon's life was a Shulamite.

Most all of us will agree, that there is nothing wrong about a Book of the Bible that depicts the beauties of courtship and marital love.

After all the family was the first thing that God established:

Gen 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Gen 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

God created the means of a perfect marriage, to be the union of one man and one woman with enough love to last until death parted them.

We should also not be fooled, in typology this account in the Song of Solomon must be considered as a "type" of the love that Christ has for the Church, the "Bride Of Christ"!

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  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.

Solomon will display this "type" of love for his first wife Naamah who was the mother to Solomon's only son Rehoboam.

Many disagree as to who this Shulamite was. but most all the evidence will lead us to Naamah.

It seems certain to most that the bride that Solomon loved the most was Naamah.

2Ch 12:13  So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

Notice Rehoboam began to rule when he was 41 years old and we know that Solomon reigned for 40 years.

2Ch 9:30  And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

Rehoboam was born before Solomon became King.

In actuality, the name Shulamite is the feminine, where Solomon is the masculine.

In other words, both names are derived from the name "Shalem" which means "peace".

There is great beauty in "Shalem" as it relates to Jesus Christ and His Church.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the "peace" that He brings to the Church!

We must also remember Shalem or Salem is the name of Jerusalem and the Church was born in Jerusalem!

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Melchizedek is said to have been king of Salem, which is "king of peace".

Heb 7:2  To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Heb 7:3  Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

In typology, it is the Church who are the true Shulamites!

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

So keeping all these things in mind, let's begin with Chapter 2 and verse 1.

*****Son 2:1  I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

These terms are often applied to Jesus Christ but in actuality it is the bride who is speaking in this Scripture.

In effect, this bride has humbled herself to be like two common wild flowers.

She considers herself unworthy in comparison to the King!

In the first chapter she had compared her King to a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi.

Son 1:14  My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

These were beautiful aromatic plants.

Son 4:13  Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
Son 4:14  Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
Son 4:15  A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

BUT, She considered herself as no more than weeds that simply flowered.

"Sharon" was only a swampy plain south of Mount Carmel that produced heavy vegetation and wild flowers.

In that day of Solomon, the "lily of the valley" was not a flower as we think of now, it was just a common wild flower.

This young maiden was saying, "I may be pretty but I am nothing special as such my king deserves".

She considered herself to be just an average everyday wild flower!

Thank goodness for the love of God, who loved us while we were still sinners and we are all certainly unworthy of His love!

For God is the picture of Love in, His Son Jesus Christ!

1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1Jn 4:9  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.
1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

We know how this bride of Solomon saw herself but now we will how this King saw his bride.

*****Son 2:2  As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

If she was just an everyday wild flower, she was assured by Solomon that the rest of the world were just a field thorns.

In fact, if she was just a lily, Solomon considered the rest of the women in his kingdom to be not flowers at all, but only thorns and weeds of no value.

As far as Solomon was concerned, there was not another like her in all the world!

Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

We can be sure this new wife rejoiced with her King.

*****Son 2:3  As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

There are may trees in the forest and they all have their uses, but if you are hungry you will have to find an orchard.

But if you are in the middle of the forest and you happen to find an apple tree, then you can find the refreshment that is needed to be satisfied.

What we see is, that as far as these two lovers are concerned, they have compared each other to the rest of the world and no one else comes close to how they feel for each other!

Just as the thorns referred to all the other women to Solomon.

Those trees referred to all the other men to this Shulamite.

This is the feeling every couple should have before they wed!

In typology we know that the world is no friend to the Church.

Psa 17:8  Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9  From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

The truth is, that there is no other part of the body that is so wondrously created and so well guarded as the eye and we all realize the importance of our eye sight.

So God guards His Church as tenderly and as well, as we guard the pupil of our eyes and as He would His own eye!

The Church is that important to Our God, The Lord Jesus Christ!

Most people do not think too much of a shadow, until that are hot and trying to find a cool place.

AND, We all never seem to think of Christ, until we have a certain need but Christ always says, "come and I will forgive you".

BUT, Our Lord is not a God that we can just place on a shelf and take Him down as we need Him!

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

And the truth is, that the greatness and the goodness of the true "tree of life" will not only protect each sinner but He will also preserve the sinner throughout eternity!

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Of course this is the city of the New Jerusalem!

AND, The "tree of life" is always sweet to the taste!

And now we will see that this Shulamite, as she tries to describe to her friends how wonderful her future Husband truly is.

*****Son 2:4  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Son 2:5  Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
Son 2:6  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

We see that her husband had a special banquet where she, the bride was the honored guest.

This special banquet was to celebrate his engagement to his darling bride and to present her as the "bride" of the King.

We understand "a banner" as flag on a flag pole showing ownership and protection.

This bride considers Solomon's banner to be his great love for her!

As a humble bride, her fear is overcome by the presence of her King!

"Flagons" are "raisin cakes". These were known throughout Israel because they were considered to be aphrodisiac.

"Apples" were also shared by lovers and were thought to have aphrodisiac properties.

Remember this how the bride is describing this thing to her other female friends.

All these things, the King's praise, the King's public display of his love, and his eternal protection, had only made her to desire him even more.

She was certainly "love sick" as she described his left hand under her head and his right hand in an embrace of her.

She was seeking for her husband to revive her as she was dreaming and fantasizing about her wedding night, when she would totally belong to her husband.

The Apostle John describes the Lord when he first saw him in the Revelation of Christ:

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

And Isaiah writes these things:

Isa 54:5  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Isa 54:6  For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

The Apostle Peter put it like this:

1Pe 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

And of course the Church knows these things as the marriage supper of the Lamb:

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

And now this bride of Solomon has become very serious and very possessive:

*****Son 2:7  I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

This young bride seemed to be was stressing to all her friends that even with all these desires, she was going to save herself until the marriage.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

2Co 11:1  Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as "a chaste virgin" to Christ.

This young Shulamite bride, cautioned all her friends to flee temptation as she had done.

A "roe" would be a "Gazelle".

A "hind" would be a doe, a "female Deer".

We know that both of these animals are very fast animals.

And her friends should flee temptation, as fast as they could.

God says:

2Ti 2:22  Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

This "soon to be bride" was excited about her wedding night because it would be a new, first time experience with this husband she had committed her love to.

We should remember most women are seeking protection, intimacy, and public displays and expressions of affection from their husbands.

Eph 5:33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Because this is the way the Jesus Christ loves His Church:

Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

We can see that one way to end divorce, is to begin and continue in a marriage according to the Word of God!

Most men need their wife to respect him and then admire him for his stance on the Word of God!

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Pro 31:11  The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

No doubt Solomon and his new bride had cultivated their love through a long dating relationship because they had grown to know each other so very well.

*****Son 2:8  The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
Son 2:9  My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

When a couple spends some time dating, they are able to determine if there is something more between them than just a physical attraction.

In verse 8 we see a young bride going back in her thoughts to the scenes of her home life, when her future husband would come calling as she intently listened for his arrival.

We also know there are many things we may forget in life, but the one thing that will always remain with us, is that period time when we first experienced our Savior and our salvation!

We see as she describes herself inside the home, while her future husband is outside the wall and maybe she sees him approaching from her window.

As Solomon approached, he may have cried out to her, as again she pictured herself as a shy gazelle and he as a young but powerful stag.

*****Son 2:10  My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Son 2:11  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

As Solomon approached the home of his beloved, she heard his call and rushed to be prepared to leave with him.

Our lesson is we of the church should remain in an instant notice to be prepared the calling of our Lord.

1Th 4:16  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:
1Th 4:17  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.

It will then be time to go home.

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

And just like at the  end of Winter we maybe worn out by the dreariness of it, but at the first signs of Spring we have the joy of new life.

The Spring reminds us of our resurrected Christ.

*****Son 2:12  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
Son 2:13  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

The flowers begin to bloom.

The birds are singing.

The turtle dove has returned to mark the arrival of spring.

The figs are beginning to ripen.

The vines are in full blossom.

The wonderful smell of Spring is everywhere!

And Jesus cries out "Come My Love What Are You Waiting For"!

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

The truth is, the Lord loves the sight of His people.

The Lord delights in our songs and prayers to Him.

God does not like secret Christians!

The Lord loves, and must have, a close and personal relationship with each of us!

*****Son 2:14  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

A dove was the only bird that could be offered in sacrifice.

It was the dove that was the sign of world peace to Noah.

It is the white dove that is the sign of purity.

David when he was distressed wished he had the wings of a dove so he could fly away from his toubles.

It was the dove that was the symbol for the Holy Spirit and proof to John the Baptist that the Lord Jesus was truly the Lamb of God!

And there truly exist a dove whose feathers, all except the wings, are literally as yellow as gold!

1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

All these things should bring us encouragement as the Lord's return draws so very near!

For sweet is the voice of Jesus and His countenance is beautiful for He is Perfect!

1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

Anything that is not perfect will be lost in perfectness, when we have at last attained to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Eph 3:14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We will remain with the foolish when we reject the Lord, but if we bow before Jesus now and accept His salvation plan, we will one day soon be perfect with Him and we will be at home!

Questions?

Let's Pray!