THE

Moreover, we can easily find the occasion of the establishment of the church: Luke 6:12-16 “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.” I Corinthians 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles...” In other words, they became the nucleus, or the charter members, of the church.

The church was a local, visible body, and was established with the possibility and power of reproduction, power to become other churches like unto itself in conformity to God’s law of the universe: that everything should bring forth after its kind.

Jesus is declared to be The Head over the church, which is His body: Ephesians 1:22-23 “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church...” Ephesians 5:23 “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the saviour of the body.” Ephesians 4:15 “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Colossians 2:19 “And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.”

The word that is translated “church” occurs one-hundred-thirteen times in the New Testament; and, although it is not possible for us to examine them one by one, here, we can say, that in practically all of these occurrences, the word definitely applies to a local, visible, body of baptized believers. These are a very few instances in which the matter might be considered debatable:

In Hebrews 12:22-24, there are set forth certain provisions of grace, as in contrast with the terrors of the law: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new coven-ant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

Notice the difference in “the general assembly,” which is all of the saved, and “church of the firstborn,” which is evidently the Institution of the New Testament Church in heaven as The Bride.

Another passage of scripture in reference to the church, and considered by many to be debatable is that already mentioned, in the latter part of the 5^th chapter of Ephesians. We shall come back to a closer examination of this scripture a little farther on. However, we can say positively, that, even here, the inspired writer was speaking directly to a local, visible church. I find no evidences in the Bible of a universal, invisible church.

Not only do we find “the church” to be a local, visible, body of baptized believers, in the teachings of scripture; but we find, that the “body” of Christ also indicates the local, visible church organization. Yet, there are many people who want to make the “body” mean the same as the “kingdom.” I have heard more than one preacher, or teacher, speak about when the last soul would be saved who would complete the body of Christ, as though all of the saved of the ages, and the body of Christ, were one and the same.

As I have definitely taken the position, that the church is a local, visible organization, so I must also take the position that the “body” likewise refers to the same, in most, if not all, of the instances used. Eighteen times in the 12^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians alone, we find the word, “body,” and in every occurrence, it refers to the activity and function of a local church. If it were possible here, I would like to make a detailed study of these things; but this is a little aside from the main purpose of this volume. I am merely trying to make my position clear, as to these matters, so that the reader may not be confused as to what is being said later on.

More important to our purpose in this work is the term, “Bride” or “Bride of Christ.” This will be used many times, and in making a study of The Song of Solomon, we must understand what it means.

According to scripture, just who is The Bride of Christ? There are many who teach that all saved people are of the Bride. Such teaching I believe to be erroneous; therefore I must oppose it. I must affirm that The Bride of Christ will be made up of the aggregation of all truly New Testament Churches, gathered unto Him when we shall meet Him in the air at the time of the first resurrection, and the rapture. Rather, I should add, that it will be the saved of the true churches; we know that there may be unsaved people, whose names are on the rolls of New Testament churches here on earth, but those unsaved ones will not be with the Lord in glory. Only the saved will be there.

I believe that true Baptist Churches are unequivocally New Testament Churches. This does not mean that we believe that only Baptists are saved; all who are in Christ are saved, regardless of what so-called church they may be affiliated with, or whether with any church. From a brief look at several selections of scripture, it becomes obvious that all saved people are not, can not, be a part of the Bride. There will be others present at the marriage supper of the Lamb who are not of the bride; there are “guests” and “friends” of the Bridegroom.

In the 22^nd chapter of Matthew, verses 1-13, Jesus spake a parable, in which He likened the kingdom of heaven unto a king which made a marriage for his son. It is plain to see in this parable, that the son represents Jesus Christ, and the occasion is the marriage supper of Jesus, the Bridegroom, and His Bride, the church. It will be noted that many guests were brought into the feast, and each one was required to be dressed in a wedding garment, or such as was appropriate to the occasion. The King was there; the Bridegroom was there; the Bride was there; and the Guests were there.

Another parable is given in Matthew, chapter 25, verses 1-13; this is the parable of the ten virgins, waiting for the Bridegroom. The five wise ones, who were most certainly saved people, were ready when the Bridegroom came, and they went in with him to the marriage. Every saved soul will be with Jesus in glory, but only those who make up the true churches of New Testament order brought together in one in that great day, will be His Bride.

John, in making plain the fact that he was not the Christ, but only the friend of the Bridegroom, (the church was not established, as yet) declared: John 3:29 “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

Again, in Revelation the 19^th chapter, verses 7-9, the marriage of the Lamb is announced with joy, and it is said, verse 9 “...Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb...”

We have here the Bridegroom, the Bride, and “they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Each local, visible, individual, true New Testament church is a body of Christ, and may rightly be designated “The Body of Christ” in that particular locality. Further-more, inasmuch as Jesus’ relationship to the true local, visible church is the same as His relationship to the aggregation of the true churches – the Bride – in a sense, it can be said of each true individual church, that it is the bride of Christ in that place, for all of them together will ultimately make up the Bride. The individual true churches constitute God’s voice of true witness in the world, today; hence we hear Him say in Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come...”

Again Jesus’ relationship of marriage to the individual church is indicated in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, II Corinthians 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.”

From these brief statements it can be seen that Jesus holds the same relationship, love, kindness, and concern, to His individual churches here on earth, as He will to the aggregation of them as the Bride in glory.

In Ephesians 5:22-32, we have one of the most beautiful selections of scripture, concerning Jesus and His church, to be found in the Bible: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 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. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 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. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

We note certain facts in the foregoing scripture:

1. These things were addressed to a local church.

2. The church is Christ’s body.

3. Christ is the Head of the body.

4. He loved the church, and gave Himself for it; He is the saviour of the body.

5. His relation to the church is that of marriage – husband and wife.

6. He is now espoused to the church; the consummation of marriage is yet future.

7. He sanctified the church (set it apart for His own use). It is now in an unclean world, but has the water of the word for cleansing from the pollutions thereof.

8. He will one day present the church (churches making up the Bride) to Himself without blemish.

How our hearts rejoice in anticipation of His return for His chosen Bride, and for them who will be guests at the wedding feast. All of the saved of the ages past will be there, from Adam to the end of the age. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, together with all of the patriarchs of old, also the Apostles, and our loved ones gone before, will attend that great supper. And the Bride, as the very Queen of Heaven, will sit in the place of honor next to Jesus. All of the saved will be there; but all will not be a part of the Bride; all will not be permitted to share her honor. Only those saved ones who have honored and obeyed the Lord Jesus Christ in being scripturally baptized, and becoming a member of a true New Testament Church. Thank God for salvation! But I want more than that; I want to be a part of the Bride, by being a part of a true New Testament Church.

To say that all saved people make up the Bride of Christ is to say that one church is as good as another, and that is not true. Jesus established only one kind of church; and in order to claim New Testament authority, a church must be like the one which He established, in organization, in government, in doctrine, in practice, et cetera, et cetera. To have Jesus is to be saved; but to obey is to be happy and blessed of Him. I Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” But notice that the preceding verse says, “...But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” Romans 7:4 Yes, we are: “...dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

We are married to Jesus, and in the scriptural realm there is no divorce. What does marriage mean? It means to love one another; it means to leave all others to cleave to one another. I means to build, and share a home together, to bear children, and to rear a family. It means to “...bring forth fruit unto God.”

It was stated earlier in this chapter, that the church is a New Testament Institution; that it was established by the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, during the days of His public ministry here upon earth; that it was a local, visible, body of baptized believers; and that love, marriage, and the home, are used in the Bible to show the relationship of Christ and His church. However, like all other great truths, or doctrine, of the New Testament, God gives us types and pictures of the church, and of Jesus’ relationship to her, in the Old Testament. Brief reference to a few such pictures will be sufficient introduction to the study of the Song of Solomon, which is made up of such beautiful types.

In the very beginning of human history God established the institution of marriage, and of the home, which centuries later he used to picture the relationship of Jesus and His church.

According to Genesis 2:21-24, God took a rib from Adam and made it a woman to be a companion and helpmeet for him. It is a beautiful thought that, instead of making a woman from the dust of the ground, as He made Adam, He made the woman from a part of Adam’s body; thus her very life, her very being, was of Adam. No closer relationship could ever be known. As He said in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

In the 23^rd chapter of Genesis we are told of the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. She was “the mother of Israel,” so to speak; and, after her death, Israel’s tent was empty; there was sorrow and mourning. There must also have been sorrow in the heart of God when the Jews, typified by Sarah, rejected the revelations of grace in Jesus Christ the Son of God. However, in Genesis 24 we see Abraham sending out his faithful old servant (who is a type of the Holy Spirit) in search of a bride for his son, Isaac. Beautiful Rebekah is chosen, and goes back with the old servant to become Isaac’s bride. Genesis 24:67 “And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”

In connection with this event the reader will do well to study once more Ephesians 5:22-32. Rebekah becomes another true type of the church, the Bride of Jesus.

In Genesis we also have the account of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, and of his rise to power and honor in Egypt; then in Genesis 42:45 we see him taking a Gentile bride. No real student of the scripture doubts that Joseph is a type of Jesus, whose own people (the Jews) sold Him to His death, or that Asenath is a type of the church.

Moses, a Jew, took a Gentile bride in the land of Midian: Exodus 2:21, thus giving us another type of Jesus and His Bride.

Among all of the Old Testament types of Jesus and His Bride, one of the most beautiful is the story of Boaz and Ruth, as told in the Book of Ruth: The time it takes to read the Book of Ruth will be time happily and profitably spent just here. We have Ruth, the woman of Moab, turning her back upon her own land and people, with their false religions, and, in company with Naomi, turning to the land and the God of the Jews. There, wise old Naomi, who is a type of the Holy Spirit, engineers the affair of the courtship and marriage of Boaz and Ruth – Boaz being a type of Christ, and Ruth a type of Christ’s Church.

In the chapters that follow, we shall be studying the most wonderful, and comprehensive of all the Old Testament types of the Church, the Bride of Christ, as found through The Song of Solomon.

In the preceding pages, I have been trying to prepare the reader for the studies that follow, and I would emphasize once more the meaning of our use of the titles, “The Church,” and “The Bride.” One might use the term, “the home, or “the family,” and, in using them, “mean any home, or family,” or simply the home, or family as an institution. We can speak of “The Church” as an Institution, and we can use the term as indicating any local body. In studying The Song of Solomon, as we see the Bridegroom and the Bride - Jesus and the Church - in their love-life to each other, we may think of the relation of the church to Him in the sense of a local, visible body, or in the sense of the completed Bride. A difference will be, that, here on earth, the local churches are all imperfect, having spots and blemishes, because they dwell in the midst of a polluted world; but when all of them together, making up the Bride of Christ, are presented to Him in glory, they will be pure and spotless, as declared in Ephesians 5:26-27. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 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.”

It is my profound conviction that all truly saved people, who will earnestly study the truth discussed, or outlined in the following pages, and study with unbiased minds and hearts, will come to love and appreciate the institution which Jesus established as never before.

Oh, may each saved person seek immediately to find a true local New Testament Church, and become a member.

CHAPTER TWO

“THE SONG OF SONGS”

Song of Solomon 1:1-17

Song of Solomon 1:1-17 “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.”

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful and strange piece of literature. It challenges us as perhaps no other part of the Old Testament. That it has for us a special message, and a divine purpose, surely no one can deny; and, to him who has a spiritual mind, who loves the Lord, and who has a hunger to know His truth, this study will bring thrills and blessings.

Speaking of Solomon, I Kings 4:32 “And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.” When we consider that God preserved this one, separate and apart, on the sacred page, we must conclude that it has a very significant place in his inspired revelations. Jesus often taught by analogy. He often took common objects best known to men, things they could understand, and used these things in teaching great spiritual truths. Some of the most marvelous things He ever taught were set forth under the pictures of human relations and associations. “The Courtship of Jesus,” may be deemed a strange title for a book, but when we consider the love and relationship of Jesus to His church as revealed in the Bible, there is no irreverence here.

This is truly the “Song of Songs,” and only the unspiritual mind could mock, or look with lustful attitude upon the beautiful and sacred truths herein portrayed. This is a love story – the most beautiful love story in the world.

Throughout The Song of Solomon the principal characters seen are a man and a woman in love with one another, and that love is clean and holy. They are separated as in actual presence, but out across the intervening time and space their hearts reach toward each other in loneliness and longing. Their separation only intensifies their love; and their consolation lies in their joyous anticipation of that glad day sometime when they shall meet in the sweet consummation of their marriage. As their hearts reach out to one another, and are filled with bright images of love, they exchange compliments and expressions of endearment, and speak of that happy occasion for which they wait.

Some say that this is but the account of a love experience of Solomon with some beautiful woman – perhaps, one of the many love affairs of his life. We do know from the scriptures that such was one of his weaknesses, such turned away his heart: I Kings 11:1,3 "But king Solomon loved many strange women...And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.”

If this is but a love story of Solomon and some woman – which I seriously doubt – we do know that King Solomon in the glory of his kingdom, is a type of Christ, and the teachings of this book can consistently be types of the relation and love life of Christ and His church. Thus true love, courtship, and marriage, are elevated to a high plane. Today, these sacred things have been dragged down into the filth and mire of human lusts. Marriage has become a joke, and divorce is the “smart” thing. Is there any wonder, therefore, that the church is treated so lightly, and counted so unimportant, not only by the world, but also by many who claim to be saved? I do not hesitate to affirm that the wrath of Almighty God is upon men today for the way they have belittled the sacredness of love, marriage, and the home; this being true, how much more shall His wrath be upon those who so sin against His sacred Bride.

Every fundamental teaching concerning the love and relationship of Christ and His church found in the New Testament can also be found in The Song of Solomon. And, I repeat, if the reader really wants to know the truth, and will study these things without bias, or prejudice, I believe that his soul will be thrilled, as mine has been, and he shall praise Him who shed His blood that we might have eternal life.

In the perusal of this great love story, we shall find that it is not a narrative unfolded in unbroken sequence, or consecutive order. It does not necessarily begin with a minor point and develop in an orderly arrangement of events as would normally be true. Rather, we shall find a series of pictures, or types, each one revealing some special truth concerning the love, relation, and expectation of the Bride and Bridegroom. We shall see the beauty of the Bride as the Bridegroom sees her through the eyes of love; and we shall see the beauty of the Bridegroom, and what he means to the heart of the Bride, as she looks to him with adoration and quickened heartbeat.

Ah, yes, this is the love story of Jesus. Yes, this is the “Song of Songs,” a song of love, a song of divine protection, a song of tenderness and pure affection, a song of homebuilding, a song of courtship, love and marriage. Jesus woos her whom He has chosen forever; He endeavors to arouse in her a deeper love, a greater faith. There is nothing more beautiful in life than this. The pure love of a man and a woman to one another is a wonderful thing. Courtship and marriage is of God. And there is the home which follows: A real home, though it be a humble one, built upon pure love and appreciation, is the sweetest thing on this earth.

My thoughts go back across the years to the time of my own love and courtship of a true, sweet girl. I remember the day of our marriage, and the great joy I felt in knowing that she was my wife. What pride and satisfaction I had in the knowledge that my deep feeling of love and admiration was reciprocated. She was not perfect, neither was I; but our love and understanding made it possible for us to bear with each other’s failures, and to overlook each other’s faults. And how can I ever forget what happiness we had as we began our “house-keeping” together: We had only one poorly furnished room upstairs, but it was a little heaven on earth to us; there we cooked and ate and slept; there we fellow shipped and prayed; there we shared life together. It was a lowly place, but real love was there, and that made up for all the rest. There our firstborn came, and was no sooner known and loved, than he was taken away from us, to draw our hearts more eagerly toward heaven. There in that little room we wept together, as we tasted the first bitterness of bereavement; but because our love was strong and true it became a means of grace to help stay both our broken hearts in that, and other dark hours which came through the years.

So, likewise, that bond of mutual love, that unity of spirit, of Jesus and His church, gives her the faith and strength and courage to carry on in a world of conflict. She is not perfect; yet He loves her, and because He loves her, because she is dear to His heart, He bears with her imperfections, and patiently awaits that glad day. Ephesians 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.”

Now, my friends, with our hearts prepared to begin the study of The Song of Solomon upon a basis of such human experiences, from a viewpoint so simple and comprehensible, yet so wonderful, let us approach the text of the scriptures. I do not propose to give “an interpretation” of each verse found in the text; neither do I mean to be unduly “dogmatic” in the thoughts offered for consideration. I rather intend, by the help of God, to set forth what I see, and what I sincerely believe to be the truth.

Most of The Song of Solomon is composed of the statements, or speeches, of either the Bride, or the Bride-groom, and usually it will be easily observed as to which of the two is speaking; if there is any question, a careful study of the context will clarify the matter. We shall also find that most of these speeches consist of expressions of love, or declaration of what the lover means to the one who speaks. The beauties, graces, and virtues of each are extolled by the other.

There will be parts of this text about which little, or no comment will be made. There are two reasons for this: One is, that some things will be found which are so obscure that an effort to explain would only result in greater confusion; the other is, that to attempt a detailed study, and explanation of every part of the Book, The Song of Solomon, would run into such a voluminous manuscript it would be unsuitable for such a volume as this. I do not hesitate to say, furthermore, that there are some parts of The Song of Solomon which I have never, as yet, been able to comprehend to the complete satisfaction of my own mind. Verse 1 “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.”

This opening statement indicates that Solomon was the one inspired of God to write this beautiful message. Considering Solomon’s call of God, his great wisdom, etc., (I Kings 3:5-13) we can understand why this is so. This first verse also indicates that, among all of the songs, this one stands out as having very special significance.

In verses 2-7 it is the Bride who speaks: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.” Verses 2-3.

The words of the Bride in these two verses bring four things particularly to our attention. – Four significant things concerning the Bridegroom (Jesus).

1. His kisses: A kiss is due to be a demonstration, or expression of pure, sincere, unsullied love – a token of affection. To use it promiscuously is a sin. The Bible speaks of the “holy kiss” of salute, Romans 16:16; and the kiss of betrayal, as that of Judas Iscariot in the Garden of Gethsemane. Kisses upon the lips (“the kisses of his mouth”) are only for the purest intimacy: as those who are betrothed, or the Bride and the Bridegroom. The love between Jesus and His church should be the most intimate of all love.

2. His love: “Thy love is better than wine.” Oh, love of Jesus! Who can write of it? Who is able to search out its unfathomable depths? Even when we try to probe its wonders, we find that it is like a great ocean; we become lost in its infinite bosom.

Speaking of his heart’s desire and prayer for the spiritual growth of the Ephesian Church, Paul said in Ephesians 3:17-19 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge...”

Volumes and volumes might well be written about His love; but such verses of scripture as John 3:16, and Ephesians 5:25, tell the story as fully as it can be told in words of human speech.

“Thy love is better than wine,” she said: The sweet fire of wine may stimulate the body, and send a warm glow through one’s physical being, or temporarily drive the thoughts of care from the troubled mind; but the love of Jesus, who is the object of His church’s supreme devotion, warms, stimulates, and fills her soul with lasting joy.

3. His Name: “Thy name is an ointment poured forth.” Ointment is used to soothe, to heal, to mollify, and for sweet fragrance; the Name of Jesus is all of that to His church. His Name on her lips, and in her heart, brings comfort in her loneliness, peace and assurance in her conflicts, and healing when her heart is broken. Just to whisper his Name, “Jesus” in the stillness of the midnight brings courage for the conflicts of tomorrow; and to whisper that Name in prayer is to unlock the door to the throne-room of heaven. As the song writer said,

“Jesus, oh how sweet the Name,

Jesus, everyday the same;

Jesus, let all saints proclaim

His worthy praise for ever.”

Our Lord bears many titles in the Bible, but above them all stands this, JESUS. Jesus is the name given Him of the Father before He was born. In Luke 1:31, the angel told Mary, “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS.” That is the name that He bore among men; it told the purpose of His coming into the world. The name means “saviour,” and that is what He came to be.

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Philippians 2:9-11 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The beauty, attraction, and influence, which the church may have before the world will primarily be determined by the place she gives that Name in her ministry. Yes, as she waits for His return, she holds that Name sacred in her heart.

4. The Virgins: “...therefore do the virgins love thee.”

The “virgins” are mentioned twice in the Song of Solomon: here in verse 3, and in Chapter 6, verse 8. In examining numerous places in the Bible where virgins are spoken of in a more, or less, figurative sense, we find that they indicate purity of character – those undefiled. Of course, there may be some exceptions to this rule.

In the 25^th chapter of Matthew, verses 1-13, we have the Parable of The Ten Virgins, awaiting the Bride-groom. We see that five of them, being called wise, and having oil in their vessels with their lamps, represent saved people; while the five foolish ones, having no oil, represent unsaved people. However, the very fact that they all had everything in common, except the oil, would seem to indicate that the foolish ones represent those who are morally clean (as Nicodemus, John 3), or who are depending on their own good works (as the Rich Young Ruler, Mark 10:17-22), or who have some “religion” which they think is sufficient to get them by.

Revelation 14:1 John speaking: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” (these being the Jews saved out of the great tribulation.) Verses 4-5 “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

From these, and other references, we must take the position that the virgins in the Song of Solomon are possibly saved individuals, having pure spiritual life, but not a part of the Bride. The reference in S. Of S. 6:8 seems to bear this out, for there it speaks of “virgins without number,” and they are clearly not of the bride.

“The virgins love thee” we are told; and we can well understand that all saved people, whether in a true church, or not, have the love of Christ in their hearts. Then verse 4 of chapter one follows on to confirm, for we read, “...the upright love thee.” Verse 4, “Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.”

Note the appeal of the Bride in this verse: “draw me,” and “we will run after thee.” Here is a suggestion that the Bride is not able to stir up, not arouse herself to run after the Bridegroom. She has no will of her own, it is lost in His perfect will; she can only run after Him as He may, by the exercise of His will, or the drawing power of His great love, incite within her the desire to follow. Certainly this is the teaching of the scriptures: we can not lift up ourselves, but He can lift us up; we cannot revive our spirituality, for revival must come from God. The Prophet Jeremiah cried in Lamentations 5:21 “Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.”

David recognized the fact that God Himself must draw one before that one could turn unto God, or feel the surge of revival in his soul. Psalm 85:6 “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”

Then in a time of spiritual declension, the Prophet Habakkuk, realizing that God’s people could do nothing without being moved by God’s power, cried out Habakkuk 3:2 “O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Jeremiah 31:18 “...turn thou me, and I shall be turned...”

Not only are we saved by the grace of God, but we are dependent on that grace for the continuation of faithful and obedient service.

The statement; “...the king hath brought me into his chambers...” seems to be anticipative of that happy occasion yet to be, when they shall know the consummation of their marriage.

Revelation 19:7-9 “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. 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. 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.”

Now in verses 5 and 6 of this first chapter, we see a spirit of deep humility manifested in the words of the Bride: She seems to feel her unworthiness; seeing herself in her imperfections, and touched by the pollutions of the world around her, she stands amazed that He could love her so. “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”

It is as though she were saying, “I am black and ugly, surely there is no beauty or attraction in me to win the love and affection of One so wonderful as Jesus. I am all sun-burned, because my mother’s children have been angry with me; they hated me, and made life as hard for me as they could; they made me look after their vineyards, and I was subjected continually to the sun and all the exposure that would blight my outward appearance.”

She would hide her face in a deep sense of her nothingness before the face of her Beloved. She forgets that He looks not on the outward appearance, but upon the heart. Perhaps the greatest beauty He sees is that of her character within. And in marked contrast to her sense of her own ugliness, as she sees herself, is His view of her as expressed in verse 15 of this same chapter: “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair...”

It has already been stated, that there are numerous passages and terms in the Song of Solomon which seem quite obscure, and in our studies, we may not be able to clarify them everyone to our complete satisfaction; however, we need not be discouraged because of this, for it only proves its greatness, and challenges us afresh to study it again and again. Among these terms and expressions we find, as in the fifth verse of this chapter, “...daughters of Jerusalem...” In addition to this verse, they are mentioned in the following places throughout the book: 3:5; 3:10; 3:11; 5:8 and 8:4. A careful study of these passages will, no doubt, indicate to the reader that the daughters of Jerusalem, or Zion, are the Jews.

There are two instances in the book where simply “daughters” are mentioned: 2:2 and 6:9. Where “daughters of Jerusalem” refer to the Jews, the “daughters” I would take to refer to other institutions, and other churches so-called, many of which try to usurp the position, power, and honor that can only belong to truly New Testament Churches.

I call attention to the Bride’s words in verse 6: “...my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards...”

These, unquestionably, are of the Gentile world, for they have the same mother as the Bride, and she is a Gentile Bride. Her mother’s children are evidently those leaders, or institutions, or organizations of men, which have ever been, and will continue to be, opponents and critics of the true churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. They have attempted to push His churches out, and take their place, or else to belittle them and their divinely appointed purpose in the world. “...they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”

These worldly agencies do their best to side-track the true churches of the Lord Jesus Christ from their sacred service of a spiritual ministry in a lost world, to secular worldly channels of education, sociology, physical culture, politics, government, entertainment, and benevolence. The ministry of the church is spiritual; it is making Christ known to a lost world, and teaching the things of Christ to those who are saved.

Verse 7: “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?”

The Bride seeks the presence of her Beloved; without that all else is vain. In Revelation 1:12-13, John saw Jesus in the midst of the churches. That is the place He desires to dwell, that is where He should be most easily found, with His flock.

Mention is made here of the flocks of his “companions:” These “companions” are also mentioned in chapter 8, verse 13. We may well see in them other great leaders among men – great Philosophers, Scientists, Teachers, Philanthropists, Religionists, etc., above all of whom Jesus stands out, separate, and alone.

The Bride seeks Him, and His, for why should she turn aside by the flocks of His companions? Why should the church turn aside to other things than her Christ-given commission? She knows her place, her sacred task, for the charge He gave her was plain and simple: Matthew 16:19; 28:18-20; John 20:19-23. She humbly confesses her failure in this responsibility in verse 6, “...but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” Oh, that the Baptist churches throughout the world today would make sincere confession of the same failure of which we are all guilty, and would turn back to the fundamentals again.

Now, the Bridegroom speaks in answer to the inquiry of the Bride, verse 8: “If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.”

Note here, that, though the Bride be full of imperfections and impurities, though she sees herself as black and uncouth, yet still to the Bridegroom she is the “fairest among women.” In other words, the church of Jesus stands out among all of the institutions of the world separate and distinct, the only institution claimed by divine ownership. Jesus said of her alone, “My church.”

Furthermore, in verse 8, Jesus directs the Bride to follow “the footsteps of the flock,” if she would find where He feeds, and gives rest. See verse 7. Inasmuch as the Bride and the flock seem to be distinctively different here, it is to be assumed that the flock refers to all of the saved on earth, His sheep.

Psalm 95:7 “For he is our God: and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand...”

Psalm 100:3 “...we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

It would be well to read John 10:1-29. There we can see that the “sheepfold” is not the church, but rather the kingdom of God. There are many “lost sheep” in the world: Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way...” Matthew 10:6 “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Luke 15:3-7 “And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.” The reading of these scriptures will help to clarify the matter. If nothing more, it is my sincere hope that the reader may be provoked to more earnest searching of the scriptures. Time and space just here will not permit us to follow out many of these rich veins of truth, as we would so much like to do.

The business of the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ here in the world is primarily seeking the lost (making disciples), and, after they are brought to Jesus, and are baptized, to teach them and give them spiritual care. Matthew 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Not only is it the church’s duty to make disciples, but, also to endeavor to search out all saved people and lead them to the truth.

We believe that true Baptist Churches are the real churches of Jesus Christ; we furthermore believe that they alone are the divinely appointed custodians of the truth, and, that if the whole truth is given to the world, Baptists will have to do it. We believe that the doctrine of the Baptist faith is the doctrine of the New Testament – the same as those held and propagated by the church that Jesus Himself established. However, we honor the moral right of all people to oppose us in this doctrine, if they so desire.

In verse 8 of our text the Bridegroom instructs the Bride to follow the footsteps of the flock, and “...feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.” The kids are the young and tender ones of the flock. They are new in the kingdom of God. They are like little children: they have to be cared for, fed, and protected, for they are unable to look after themselves. The wild beasts are on every side; they continually lurk along the path, hoping to kill and devour the helpless ones. The church must look after them and show them the way.

We are reminded of that occasion, as told in John 21:12-17, that wonderful morning, when Jesus sat down to breakfast on the seashore with Peter and some of the other disciples. When they had dined, Jesus questioned Peter as to how much he loved Him, pressing the question upon him three times until He got the answer that He sought. Twice He said to Peter, “Feed my sheep,” and once, “Feed my lambs.” In other words, the church’s love to Jesus will be proved by her faithfulness in caring for them for whom Jesus died. If they are not properly fed, if they are undernourished, they cannot grow; and, on the other hand, if they are fed, she will have to do it.

The Bridegroom continues His speech to the Bride: verses 9-12: “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.”

As already stated, it is necessary that we pass briefly over some parts of The Song of Solomon, and make our comments few: partly because of the obscurity of some verses, and partly because some verses are not as important to our study as others. Such is the case here.

The Bride is compared to chariot-horses in the army of the king. This suggests the important place that the church fills in the great warfare of our Lord against all the evil forces of Satan in this world. We shall find other places in The Song of Solomon where the comparisons, or pictures of the Bride, are as unusual and outstanding as this. The church is not due to be a “sissy,” but a mighty courageous force against evil.

The beauty of the Bride’s cheeks and neck is pointed out in verse 10. The “rows of jewels” and “chains of gold” indicate the riches of grace, or the divine gifts bestowed upon her. Jewels, in a general sense, represent God’s glory, while gold symbolizes deity, or divine righteousness. The chains of gold about her neck declare that her righteousness is of God, and not of self. We might further add that gold and silver mentioned in verse 11 mean divine righteousness and redemption. In scripture silver is nearly always associated with the thought of redemption. In all of the construction of the tabernacle, and in the tabernacle worship, this can be seen, and in many other places in the Bible. Also Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver.

In verse 12 we see the king at His table, and we smell the wonderful fragrance of His spikenard. There can be no question as to the identity of the king, it is Jesus; He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is presented to us as such in many places in the Bible. Here He “sitteth at His table.” This suggests that He is engaged in the administration of His present affairs. We know that He is at the right hand of God, engaged in His intercessory priesthood, (Mark 16:19, Revelation 3:21, etc.); and we know that He is our Advocate.

The spikenard, which sends forth such a fragrance, is a fine perfume, which was highly prized by the ancients. This fragrance emanating from the King-Bridegroom in glory is the very sweetness and influence of Jesus’ life, and character, permeating our very being. Though He is in heaven, at the right hand of God; yet He is here with us. We are ever conscious of His blessed presence.

In the great Messianic 45^th Psalm, verse 8, we read of him: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.”

Again the Bride speaks in verses 13-14 of this first chapter of our text, saying, “A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.”

Only the base, distorted, and unspiritual mind will here find anything that could be considered as vulgar, or impure. It but portrays a deep and pure intimacy anticipated by the Bride and her Beloved. Such marital desire and intimacy are ordained of God; and the very fact that God used these things to show the relation of Christ and His church, elevates them, when properly used, to a high and holy plane.

When the Bride likens her Beloved to a “bundle of myrrh,” she is but endeavoring to express something of the fragrance, sweetness, and beauty which He brings into her life. Myrrh is an aromatic gum resin, obtained from the tree Commiphora abyssinica, which is found in Africa and Arabia. The ancients highly valued myrrh as an ingredient of perfume and incense; it was also used as an unguent. The myrrh mentioned here was probably a mixture of pure myrrh and labdanum. Without doubt, it was highly treasured, and considered very meaningful, for it was among the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus at His birth in Bethlehem. Matthew 2:11. This is but a beautiful way of expressing what Jesus means to His church.

She also declares that He is unto her as “a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.”

En-gedi means; “the fountain of happiness”; and camphire, or henna, is an Old World tropical shrub which produced beautiful, fragrant, white flowers. Hence, to His church, Jesus is beauty, satisfying pleasure, and lasting happiness. Everything beautiful and worthwhile in life comes to us through Jesus.

It is the Bridegroom who speaks again in verse 15; “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.”

He sees His love, the church, – as the world can never see her here – in all of her beauty and purity yet to be. Jesus can see beneath the external pollution and impurities with which she is stained and marred in her contact with a world of sin. In the love-visions of His heart, He sees her as she will one day be in reality, when He presents her to Himself, Ephesians 5:27 “...a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

He speaks of her “doves’ eyes”: The dove is a symbol of harmlessness, peace, and mourning innocence. Her eyes are soft; they are eyes of love and tenderness. What a fitting comparison this is; what a beautiful and touching manner of expressing one’s affection for a loved one.

It is the Bride who speaks in verses 16 and 17. To the Bridegroom’s words in verse 15, she replies, “Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.”

The Bridegroom has just said, “You are beautiful, and tender and innocent.”

She replies, “You are beautiful, and very pleasant.”

There are three things more here which are worthy of mention. She calls attention to their bed, the beams of their house, and the rafters.

The bed is a place of rest. It is a place where we may find comfort and much-needed relaxation after the heat and wearisome toils of the day; it is a place where we can shut the world out and be alone with Jesus, in sweet meditations of the night. There is scarcely anything more refreshing to a tired body and mind than a comfortable bed. The bed mentioned here is “green,” which suggests that it is fresh and fragrant. Some of the deepest stirrings of my soul, some of the most intimate moments, have been on my bed at night. Many sermons, later used of God, have been gotten there.

Then there is sleep, sweet sleep: a provision of God’s marvelous grace, a safety-valve for our, often over-taxed, bodies and minds. No matter how long and hard the day, no matter how fierce the conflict, in the secrecy of our bedroom, and upon the softness of our bed, we find comfort.

Psalm 127:2 “...for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

The song writer has so fittingly voiced it;

“There is a place of quiet rest,

Near to the heart of God;

A place where sin cannot molest,

Near to the heart of God.”

One of the world’s greatest preachers, Doctor J. Frank Norris, long since gone on to glory, once said, that the reason he could carry on under such terrific burdens and conflicts was that he could lie down to sleep, and shut the world out until morning.

The thought of love, marriage, and home-making are continued here: The Bride thinks of the home which she and the Bridegroom will share; The beams are cedar, which typifies Jesus. We can find this in many places in the Word of God.

Its sweet fragrance, beauty, and lasting qualities, make it a fitting type. The beams evidently refer to the under-girders, or floor joists which support the house. Fir is also a fine wood, and she says that the rafters of this house are fir. What beautiful thoughts! In this spiritual house of God, Jesus is the foundation of stone, Jesus is the under-girder of cedar, and Jesus is the protective covering of fir.

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Hebrews 3:5-6 “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”

I Peter 2:5 “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

The Bride, in her loneliness, longing, and day-dreaming, finds sweet consolation in the promises of her Beloved that He would prepare her a place:

John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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.”

CHAPTER THREE

A LILY AND AN APPLE TREE

Song of Solomon 2:1-7

“I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 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. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. 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.”

Verse 1 “I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.”

These words seem to stand somewhat alone; they are spoken by the Bridegroom about Himself. That they refer to our Lord Jesus Christ, no one can reasonably deny, for the comparison could not be made of another. Sharon evidently refers to The Plain of Sharon, lying along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in North-West Palestine; while the rose of Sharon would be a rare and beautiful flower characteristic of that plain. The lily of the valleys is a perennial herb native to temperate Eurasia and North America. It is a white, fragrant flower, whose roots contain medicinal glycosides, used in the manufacture of certain medicines. True lilies are valley flowers.

When we consider the characteristics of the rose and the lily, and their basic values, for beauty, fragrance, and healing, then it is very easy to understand how the words of this verse apply to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom. We shall see the further significance of the lily as we go on in the study.

True courtship is a beautiful, and uplifting experience. We might say, that it is communication between a man and a woman who have some sincere mutual interest in each other. It is the inter-change of deep feelings of their hearts, blossoming into a flower of reciprocated and lasting love. It can, and should be, a pure and holy experience. It is too sadly true, that in this loose modern age, old-fashioned love has almost become taboo; but through the Bible, love, courtship, and marriage, are held to be sacred.

When a man and a woman really love each other, they desire to be together; their destinies, at least in desire, become one. In a sense, they live in a world apart. They are more concerned in the wishes and welfare of each other, than of anyone else. When they are separated, they are lonely, even in the midst of a multitude, and their dreams are always of that happy day when they shall meet to part no more. Such are the experiences of Jesus and His church as seen in the pages that follow:

The Bride and the Bridegroom Exchange Compliments of Love – Verses 2-3.

“As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 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.”

In the above verses we note an exchange of loving compliments between the Bride and the Bride-groom. They are separated – she is on earth, He is in heaven – yet their tenderest thoughts are of one another; and as they dream in sweet anticipation of the day of their happy reunion, their hearts formulate strange and beautiful expressions of endearment to each other. Hearts of deep love draw many strange pictures of the objects of their ardor.

We hear the Bridegroom speak first of what His Bride means to Him: “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.”

What a marvelous comparison He makes here, “as the lily among thorns.” What mean these strange words? Ah, it is but Jesus saying, “As the lily among thorns, so is my church among all of the institutions and organizations of the world. The church stands out in the world, by way of comparison, as a lily among thorns. Can you imagine a snow white lily in all of its pure beauty with a bundle of dry crackling thorns set on either side of it, or a spiney thorn-bush growing on either side? “That,” says Jesus, “is a true comparison of the position and character of my church as it stands today in the midst of all of the institutions of the world.” Thorns are good for nothing but to be burned, they have no beauty, they symbolize the refuse of the world; but, on the other hand, the lily symbolizes the very opposite.

Three things are suggested by the lily: truth, purity, and faithfulness. Such should be the church toward Jesus. She should stand as a symbol and a witness of truth, and her robes of purity should be kept untarnished from the filth of the world. No doubt, more than all else, Jesus desires of her loyalty and faithfulness to His love, and to the sacred task to which she has been appointed. The people who compose her are to be a separated people. Is this not a fitting picture? Is it not touching to see Christ’s tender love for her who is the flower of His heart? Some would hold up other institutions, lodges, societies, human organizations, to an equal place of honor and importance with the church; but they cannot even be compared to her for whom Jesus shed His blood, and who, according to His own promise, will one day be presented to Himself without spot, or wrinkle, or blemish in the consummation of eternal marriage.

There is one thing more to observe here: The Lily of the Valley, which is, no doubt, the one referred to here, is truly a valley flower. It is often said that, “in the valley is where the lilies grow.” We can well say that the church of our Lord Jesus Christ is a valley flower. It was in “the valley of the shadow of death:” that she was purchased by the precious blood of Jesus, for He went into the darkest valley death ever had to give her life; and for nineteen centuries she has walked through the valleys of persecution and conflict. She has been despised by the world, yet she has challenged the world as no other. Her robes have often been stained with martyr’s blood, yet in it all she has magnified the blood of Jesus as God’s only remedy for sin. Her only message is Jesus, John 14:6 “...I am the way, the truth, and the life...”She has not been perfect in the world, because those who make up her membership are imperfect human beings; however purity is her ideal, and faithfulness is her intention. The world hates her because she belongs to Jesus; and Satan will fight her to the end, as he has opposed her from the beginning, because she is Christ’s witness of grace in the world. But, praise God, she stands on the promise in Matthew 16:18 "...the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

No, she is not perfect now, but Jesus loves her, and the eyes of true love can overlook many imperfections.

Having heard the Bridegroom’s speech to the Bride, in which His perfect love was couched in such beautiful language, now let us hear her reply; She comes back with an answer, but how pitiably inadequate seem her expressions of love compared to His. One who does not pause to consider and comprehend the true attitude of her heart would almost find amusement in what she says of her Beloved: “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons...”

This seems to be a very poor compliment, but we may be assured that the Bride’s expressed attitude and feeling toward the Bridegroom is far deeper, and more wonderfully significant than it would seem at a glance.

He has spoken of her as, “a lily among thorns.”

The best she can come up with is, “as the apple tree among the trees of the wood.”

Those who would be critical of the apparent inadequacy of this compliment to the Bridegroom should consider well before passing judgment, for there is more here than meets the eye.

Go with me today into the great forest, and let us walk between the massive trunks of the towering oaks; lift up your head and gaze toward their lofty height, or view their far-reaching branches. And as we walk those cloistered aisles remember, that all of the fruit that can ever come from the giant oak is the tiny acorn. So with the wide-spread elms. What fruit, I ask you, did you ever gather from an elm tree? But wait, let us walk on a little farther. Here we come to a small clearing in the forest, and in the midst of it we behold the green branches and heavy foliage of a small apple tree. It casts a solid shadow beneath its heavy-leafed form; and gazing up into its bowers, we behold the luscious, delectable fruit with which we delight ourselves. Ah, now we see the deep significance of her ardent, yet apparently crude, compliments of love. The apple tree bears satisfying fruit; it may not be so imposing in stature as many other trees, or so beautiful to look upon, but it has something to offer that cannot be found elsewhere. When we were bare-footed boys we used to go to the old apple tree with sticks and stones to knock down the fruit, and the stones and sticks under the tree bore testimony to the fruitfulness of the tree.

Here is summed up the fundamental attraction of Jesus to His church. I do not believe that the physical person of Jesus was so unusually attractive or commanding as to draw the special attention of people who might see Him walking amidst the throngs along the street. I have heard speakers speculate at length on the strong and beautiful physique of Jesus, the firmness of His hands, the mold of His chin, and so on; such speculations are but the brain-spun fancies and foolish vagaries of men. The Bible does not indicate that Jesus was so different, or so superb in physical characteristics, that one would have picked Him as a stand-out in the crowd. He was a man among men, and we hear the prophet say of Him in Isaiah 53:1-2; “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” No, the attractiveness of Jesus did not lie in His physical beauty. In the most glorious hour of His earthly appearance – the hour of His death – His features bore all of the hideous marks of sin and brutality. Again we hear the prophet speak of the suffering one at His crucifixion: Isaiah 52:14 “...his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.”

That which has drawn men to Jesus, as the magnet draws the metal, is the eternal spiritual fruit which comes to us through the death, and the life of the man of Galilee. Concerning that fruit of His death, I have heard Him say, John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

Thus spake our Lord, concerning the harvest of spiritual blessings to be borne of His death. How many things press the mind, just here, for utterance. How many things we should like to say, if space permitted, concerning the law of fruit bearing, not only in Him, but in us who are saved by His grace. We must die to live; we must give ourselves a “living sacrifice” if we would bring forth fruit unto God.

Now, in the light of these things, we see how very much Jesus is to His Bride, and how ably she has described Him “among the sons.” He has spoken of her in comparison with “the daughters,” which we identified as the institutions and organizations of the world; while her comparison of Him is with “the sons,” who, no doubt, refers to other great men of the world from whom Jesus stands apart, alone.

In looking through my bookshelves one day, I noticed a book, the title of which caught my eye: “CHRIST AND OTHER MASTERS.” In my heart I said, “Surely, there is something grossly in error here; This seems to put Jesus among the great men of the world, as just another illustrious character, to be given the ordinary honors accorded other world leaders. This must not be, for He stands alone; He is the Son of Man, he is the Son of God. As the poet has said,

“He’s the lily of the valley, the bright & morning star,

He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.”

Somewhere back across the years I found the following great tribute to our Saviour, written by some unknown author; though we do not know to whom we should give the credit here, yet we can give all of the glory to Him who loved us.

THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST

“He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on Divinity. He became Son of man that we might become sons of God. He came from Heaven, where the rivers never freeze, winds never blow, frosts never chill the air, flowers never fade. They never phone for a doctor, for there no one is ever sick. There are no undertakers and no graveyards, for no one ever dies – no one is ever buried.

He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, reared in obscurity; only once crossed the boundary of the land, in childhood. He had no wealth nor influence, and had neither training nor education. His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential.

In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the doctors; in manhood, ruled the course of nature. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet not all the libraries of the country could hold the books that could be written about Him.

He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs than all song writers combined. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has. He never practiced medicine, yet He has healed more broken hearts than the doctors have broken bodies.

He never marshalled an army, drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun, yet no leader ever made more volunteers, who have under His orders, made rebels stack arms or surrender without a shot being fired.

He is the Star of Astronomy, the Rock of Geology, the Lion and the Lamb of Zoology, the Harmonizer of all discords, and the Healer of all diseases. Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on. Herod could not kill Him, Satan could not seduce Him, death could not destroy Him, the grave could not hold Him.

He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant’s gown. He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor. How poor? Ask Mary! Ask the Wise Men! He slept in another’s manger. He cruised the lake in another’s boat. He rode on another’s ass. He was buried in another man’s tomb. All failed, but He never.

The ever perfect One – He is the Chief among ten thousand. He is altogether lovely.”

He is greater than the greatest of scientists, for in their lives and deaths, they give us no eternal life, and no relationship to God.

He is greater than poets, authors, and orators, John 7:46 “...Never man spake like this man.”

He is greater than dictators and rulers, I Timothy 6:15 for He is “...King of kings, and Lord of lords.”

From His suffering, His sorrow, His shame, His supreme sacrifice; out of darkness and death, and the tomb; out of His triumph over death, hell, and the grave, He gives to us the sweet fruit of eternal life, and fellowship with God forever.

The Bride Dreams of the Future

Still further perusing this beautiful simile of the Bride, we hear her say, in the fourth verse: “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”

There is a two-fold significance in this speech: It speaks to us of the daily feast of good things provided for us out of the unwasting fulness of His amazing grace; every day, and hour we are blessed with the fruit of His sacrifice. Psalm 107:9 The Psalmist has said, “For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Jesus is, indeed, the “Bread of Life,” and in Him our spiritual hunger is satisfied each day.

However, there is another import here, one that is prophetic: “He brought me to the banqueting house...” looks forward in happy anticipation to that time, as revealed in the Word of God, when we shall be with Him at the wedding feast. We read of it in Revelation 19:9, and it is set forth in the parable of the marriage of the king’s son, in Matthew 22. It is also suggested in the parable of the ten virgins, Matthew 25, and other places in the scriptures. Ah, yes, beloved, He will bring us to His banqueting house at last. With continuing joy, the Bride sings of His love, “...his banner over me was love.” Let us get the complete picture here. The order is beautiful:

“I sat down under his shadow with great delight.” Not only is there satisfying fruit from this apple tree, but there is spiritual refreshment under the bowers of His mercy; there is blessed repose, and comforting shade from the heat of the noon-day sun. Here we may rest from the weariness of life’s conflict.

“His fruit was sweet to my taste.” This includes all of the good things given us daily in Jesus; it is fellowship, and spiritual blessings.

“He brought me to the banqueting house” – This anticipates the marriage supper of the Lamb. John speaking in Revelation 19:6-9, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters...Let us be glad and rejoice...for the marriage of the Lamb is come...Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb...”

Brother, I expect to be at that banquet table. Will you be there? Sometimes, we used to sing,

“Lo, the table is spread, and the feast is waiting there;

Hear his loving voice calling still.”

Today the Holy spirit is calling you to the marriage of Christ, the Bridegroom, and His church, His Bride. The invitation is universal.

Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

“His banner over me was love” – The meaning of that banner under which we rest, can best be summed up in the one word that expresses His very being: “Love.” It is wonderful to know that we abide under the wings of His love.

Psalm 91:1-4 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Inspired, no doubt, by such wonderful words from the Blessed Book, William O. Cushing was moved to write the words of that great song, “UNDER HIS WINGS.”

“Under his wings I am safely abiding;

Through the night deepens and tempests are wild,

Still I can trust him; I know he will keep me;

He has redeemed me and I am his child.

“Under his wings, what a refuge in sorrow!

How the heart yearningly turns to its rest!

Often when earth has no balm for my healing,

There I find comfort and there I am blest.

“Under his wings, O what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide ‘til life’s trials are o’er;

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;

Resting in Jesus I’m safe evermore.”

The Bride Continues Her Meditations

Verses 5-6 “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.”

In verse 5 above the Bride voices her loneliness, and heartsickness in the absence of her Beloved: “I am sick of love,” does not mean that she is tired of His love; but rather that her love is so deep, so great, so intense, and the need of that love for His presence so acute, that her very heart is sick. There is no sickness like heart-sickness; there is no loneliness like that of being separated from the ones we love the most; there is no longing like the heart yearning for the dearest loved one; and there is no waiting that so tries the patience of one’s soul like the waiting for the return of one so dear, and for such a glad occasion as a wedding day. So His church, the Bride, waits anxiously, and impatiently for the fulfillment of His sweet promise, “I will come again.”

But as the Bride, in heartache and longing, awaits the return of her Beloved, she prays for Him to give her strength and comfort in His long absence. “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples...”

To “stay” means “to stop from falling, to prop, to hold up.” It also means “to sustain,” and “to satisfy.”

“Flagons” are wine-bottles; and wine is a type of Jesus’ precious blood. In other words, the wine which typifies His blood, actually represents God’s amazing grace.

So, with these facts before us, we can now understand the real substance of the Bride’s prayer: For the ordeal of waiting, and for the prosecution of her ministry, as she waits, it is as the church praying unto Him.

“Oh, dear Lord, I am weary and weak; I am sick, and need Thy help. Please hold me up, keep me from falling; sustain me by Thy grace, satisfy me with Thy love. Keep me by Thy power, for Thou art my security. My hope is in Thy precious blood. Dear Lord, the days and the nights are so long, and the world is so unkind. I want to be faithful; I try to be patient; but I grow so homesick for heaven, so lonely for Thy presence. Until Thou dost come to me, I shall rely upon the wine of Thy grace – it is sufficient; and I shall find comfort in the “apples” of Thy love. In the daytime I shall go forth to do Thy work, because I love Thee; and in the loneliness of the midnight Thou shalt fill my dreams.”

We may consider verse 6 more, or less, anticipative: “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.”

Knowing that the Bride and Bridegroom are separated – He in heaven, she on earth – we can see that the above words may well indicate what she sees in the dreams of her heart. It is a sweet dream of His embrace. She is reclining; while He bends over her, holding His left hand under her head, and embracing her with His right hand. The whole scene is one of deepest tenderness, and certainly sacred. Of course, Jesus’ spiritual presence is with His churches here on earth always; but He is in heaven at the right hand of God. As our Great High Priest He has gone into the Holy of Holies, and we are waiting for Him to finish His ministrations there, that He may return for us. As we wait, it is only natural that our hearts should be filled with dreams of Him.

In verse 7, we hear the Bride make an earnest appeal to certain ones on earth: “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.”

Because of the fact that, in our study of the next chapter in verse 5, we find the very same statement made by the Bride as in the above verse, we shall defer any comment until we get to that point. It is a very significant passage of scripture, and one that we shall take time to study; however the explanation will be more appropriate there than at this point.

CHAPTER FOUR

“THE FIG TREE PUTTETH FORTH

HER LEAVES”

The Song of Solomon 2:8-17

The Bridegroom Seeks To Arouse In The Heart

Of The Bride An Eagerness For His Return

Beginning with verse 8, and running to the end of this chapter, a series of very beautiful truths unfold. Remember, the Bride is on earth, and the Bridegroom is in heaven. Now she hears His voice speaking to her across time and space. He is inciting her to greater eagerness for His return, and for their wedding day: 2:8-14 “The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 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. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 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; 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. 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.”

The Bride here visualizes her beloved as a roe, or a young hart leaping and skipping upon the hills – in other words, young, strong, and happy, and very eager as He thinks of her. The roe and hart are red deer – the roe is possibly the female, and the hart, or hind, is the stag. Though separated, yet there is sweet communion between her and her beloved. He speaks to her, and she can hear His voice. Thank God, there is communion between Jesus and His church: He speaks to us through the inspired scriptures; and He speaks to our hearts in the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. The world cannot understand, because the world does not have the Spirit, and spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

Not only does she hear His voice, but with the eye of faith she sees Him with partial, or limited vision. She is here behind a wall of mortality of sinful flesh; He is yonder beyond this veil of tears in “a land that is fairer than day.” “...he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.” Jesus is in one world, we are in another; but I am so glad that God has made windows in the wall that separates heaven and earth, and we can see Him at those windows. The Bible is a great window, and so is prayer. We are not able to see Him in all of His glory, for He is as one behind a lattice. We know that He is there, we can only see Him in part, we can hear His voice: and our soul is thrilled with desire to see Him face to face.

I Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly: but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

I John 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 is truly as the poet said,

“And when by his grace, I shall look on his face, Oh that will be glory, be glory for me.”

So the Bride waits with eager heart here in the world, hoping for the day when she can see Him face to face. We often talk of the eagerness of God’s people for the return of Jesus, but we seem to forget that His heart is also filled with longing and desire to come for us. No doubt, our Lord wants to be with us, who are the blood-bought trophies of His grace, more than we can ever want to be with Him.

Now with this picture before us – of the Bride, as a stranger in a strange world, waiting for her Beloved, and the Bridegroom longing for the day when He shall have a place prepared, to which He may carry her to be with Him forever – we are somewhat prepared to listen to His tender coaxing, as He whispers down the pathless skies. “...Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” He endeavors to keep her mind fixed upon the thought of His return. The attitude of God’s people toward the doctrine of the return of Jesus pretty much governs their attitude toward everything else.

The Bridegroom is here, comforting, consoling, and encouraging the waiting Bride, by reminding her that it will not be long; everything indicates the nearness of that glad day. She must be patient, though eager, in waiting, and find joy in His unfailing promises. Oh, how long it seems to her, since He has gone away, now more than nineteen hundred years have passed. She has gone through flame and flood, through turmoil and tempest, through blood and tears, yet, in it all, she has rested in the assurance of His words, John 14:3 “And if I go...I will come again, and receive you unto myself...” I Thessalonians 4:18 “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Surely, every truly regenerated soul awaits the return of our Saviour with eager anticipation.” Hebrews 9:28 “...and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

In these verses 11-14 we hear the Bridegroom wooing the heart of His love. He paints a bright picture, of hope soon to be realized, of joys soon to be shared. He calls her attention to the fact that the rigors of winter with its ravaging blasts will soon be past; the rain will soon be over and gone. The flowers are beginning to spring up from the warm bosom of the earth, the birds are beginning to fill the air with song, the voice of the turtle is heard in the land, the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell, and the fig trees have begun to put forth their new crop of fruit.

What does it all mean? Why, beloved, it means that springtime is near; and springtime speaks of resurrection time. There comes to my memory the words of one of the early poets: I cannot now remember his name; yet I do know that I had to memorize the poem when I was a lad in high school. These lines bear upon the same beautiful sentiment of springtime and resurrection:

Springtime is a time when all the world bursts forth into new life. It is the time of love and marriage, truly, a time of mating. It symbolizes the resurrection. Every bursting clod, every tender shoot of new grass, every delicate, fragrant blossom, every bud and green leaf, every little bird building a nest, every bee buzzing hastily from flower to flower, every gentle zephyr that kisses our cheek in springtime, cries out the glorious message of Christ’s return, and the “First Resurrection.”

It is said here, that “...the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”

I remember an occasion many years ago, when I was speaking to a congregation along this line. I asked the question publicly, “Does the turtle have a voice, and if so, what kind of voice is it?”

A man in the congregation spoke up and said, that the voice of the turtle is a hissing sound, something like the blowing of an old goose, as we have often seen them do in the spring “setting” season.

Then I remembered that ofttimes as a boy, while rambling through the swamps in the spring of the year, in the time when turtles were mating, I had often heard them, when I came near, make that hissing, blowing sound.

What a perfect picture all of this scene presents: what an indication to the Bride that her beloved will soon be returning for a wedding in the spring. Down through the infinite spaces of heaven He whispers to her, that she may be getting ready, and be on her watch. How the people of God should be alert today; how they should be busy at the sacred task, realizing that what we do, we must do quickly, for time is running out. The signs of His coming are on every hand. Even as I write these words, I am pressed with a deep feeling of urgency, a feeling that I must hurry and be done, and get this message out while it can still do good.

Jesus told His disciples, Matthew 24:32-33 “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”

The Bride is making ready for the wedding day; and her attendants, who are The Word of God, and the Holy Spirit, are dressing her up in garments pure and fine, that when the Bridegroom comes for her, she may appear most beautiful to Him without blemish and without spot. Her heart is all aflutter, and with diligence, she watches, while she listens to hear the first faint sound of His chariot wheels returning down the highways of glory.

In this intervening time, between His going away and His return, the Bridegroom hungers for the sound of her voice, and for the sight of her dear face. He invites her to come and commune with Him in prayer.

Let us note verse 14. He calls her a tender name: “O my dove...” The dove speaks of mourning innocence; it is likewise a symbol of peace. What a fitting simile! The very ministry of the churches of Jesus Christ is a ministry of peace. They are to carry the message of the gospel of Calvary to all the world, that men may be at peace with God through Jesus Christ, and that the peace of God may fill their hearts. Surely His peace fills the heart of His Bride.

I hear the Master say in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Again he says, John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.”

Let us observe something else: As He speaks in endearing terms to His love, His church, He also makes clear just where he is positional, “In the clefts of the rock.” That is where the Bride of Christ positionally is found, hidden in the wounded side of Jesus. He gave Himself for her; she was purchased with His own precious blood on Calvary. He is the “Rock of Ages.” The words of that great old song by Augustus M. Toplady which we used to sing in the days of yore so aptly express the blessed truth of our hope:

“Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide

myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood, from thy

wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin, the double cure, save from

wrath and make me pure.”

Back in the 33^rd chapter of Exodus, verses 18-23, Old Moses, that great leader of Israel, a man very close to God, besought the Almighty to show to him His glory, but God denied him his request.

Verses 20-23 “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

No doubt these words became the inspiration to Fannie J. Crosby for that great song:

“A wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord,

a wonderful Saviour to me;

He hideth my soul in the clefts of the rock,

and rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the clefts of the rock

that shadowed a dry thirsty land;

He hideth my life in the depth of his love,

and covers me there with his hand.”

Being thus hidden in Christ, we can appreciate the words of Paul in Colossians 3:3, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Not only so, but through this blessed relationship, we have the privilege of prayer. The Bridegroom desires communion with the one He loves. He says to her, verse 14 “...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.”

Thus He calls her to prayer. Stairs speak of a way of access; and by virtue of our position in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have access to the throne of God. We have the privilege of daily communion with the Lord. Not only is it a privilege, but a sacred duty as well. Paul said in Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

We usually think of prayer as a means of obtaining something we need, or want, from God; but one of the greatest values in prayer lies in the fact that it becomes a medium of sweet fellowship with our Lord. He desires it; and we, too, if we be truly “born again,” find it an indispensable means of grace for our peace of mind.

Jesus wants to hear the voice of His Bride in prayer, and to see her face on the stairs rising heavenward. He longs for her close companionship. He wants His church to be a praying church, let her not disappoint Him; He finds glory in that, let her not rob Him of the glory due His name. To Him, her voice is sweet, and her countenance is comely.

Colossians 3:1-2 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

THE LITTLE FOXES

Verse 15; “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”

In the preceding verse, the call of Jesus to His church has been a call to prayer, and fellowship, and close communion. Now in verse 15, the suggestion that the little foxes spoil the vines, etc., brings to the church a very tender, and timely warning. Here we may find a key to the tragic condition of coldness and powerlessness of so many churches; here may be the cause for so much broken fellowship with Christ.

It is said that the “vines have tender grapes.” When the grapes are young and tender, then the new vines and green leaves are also tender, and are choice morsels for the young foxes to feed upon. The danger here is not that of the grown foxes who will later feed upon the full-grown, ripe grapes; but it is a grave danger of the baby foxes, who can slip in under the gate, or fence, and feed on the tender vines. No one would give a thought to them; they are so small, they could do no harm, we think, or they would go unnoticed altogether. They are too small to do damage to the crop at harvest time, but the unnoticed feeding of many little foxes on the new vines and tender grapes will tell all too late at the end.

The little sins and faults and failures, not the big ones, in the church are the ones that hurt the most. The big ones are obvious; we rise up against them, and stop them before they do their worst. But the little sins that go unnoticed, the so-called “respectable” sins, are the ones that sap away the spirituality of the church, and keep us in a state of broken fellowship with God. These sins, such as malice, envy, covetousness, neglect of prayer, neglect of Bible reading, dishonesty with God, neglect to attend services, et cetera, et cetera, are the ones that gradually rob us of the joy of salvation, and render us backslidden and useless in God’s service.

Oh, how many times we have seen promising young Christians start out in the membership of a church, and seem to be filled with burning zeal for the Lord, their love was deep, their hearts seemed afire with interest; but before we could scarcely realize what was taking place, they have drifted away, and seem to care no more. We try to find an answer, or a cause, but apparently there is none. This did not happen all in a day, but gradually, and unnoticed, the “little foxes” spoiled the fruitage of the life.

Jesus is warning His church: Look out for the little foxes; don’t let them come between us.”

Most of us have known of instances where a man would be called away to war, or for some other purpose, and, upon returning home after a long absence, would find that the one he loved, the woman dearest to his heart, had proved untrue in going after whoredoms. Results: The heart of a trusting loved one was broken in disappointment. Oh, let us not break the heart of our beloved Lord by our faithlessness. Let us be true to Him who loves us with the greatest love the world has ever known. Let us live and serve in such a manner that we shall not be ashamed to meet Him at His coming.

The Bride speaks in verse 16, “My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.”

In verse 2 of this 2^nd chapter, the Bridegroom spoke of His Bride as, “a lily among thorns.” Now, in this 16^th verse she pictures Him as feeding “among the lilies.” This is Jesus in the midst of the churches. Of John’s vision, while on the Isle of Patmos, he says in Revelation 1:12-13,”And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candle-sticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.”

He was seeing Jesus in the midst of the churches, for the 20^th verse of that same chapter explains that the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. The place that Jesus wants most to be is in the midst of his churches. Many other wonderful things press the mind for utterance just here, but we are forced to go on to other things. Last of all in this chapter, we shall listen in as the Bride and Bridegroom make a date.

They Fix a Rendezvous In Glory.

The Bride speaks in verse 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.”

“Bether” means: “separation.” The thought here seems to be the Bride’s reluctant acceptance of the necessary separation from her beloved, until that glad day somewhere in the indefinite future, when comes “the daybreak, and the shadows flee away.”

Now in chapter 4, verse 6, we find an almost identical expression, this time from the Bridegroom: “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.”

The Bride has told Him to go, and be like a young deer on the mountain of separation; while He has declared that He will be gone to the mountain of myrrh and frankincense.

Myrrh and frankincense were among the gifts which the wise men brought to Jesus at His birth in Bethlehem. Myrrh, as has already been stated in this study, is an aromatic gum resin obtained from a tree found in Africa and Arabia. It was used in perfume and incense, also as an unguent, and possibly in embalming fluid. Frankincense was also a very fragrant resin, which gave off a pungent aroma in burning; it was also used in embalming. In stating that He will get Him to the mountain of myrrh and frankincense, the Bridegroom, perhaps, refers to the Holy of Holies in heaven, where He is now with the Father. He is in glory; she is in a world of separation.

How wonderful the picture presented here! It is the picture of true lovers, torn apart for a season, but agreeing upon a time and place where they shall meet again. As to the time, to them, it is indefinite. No one knows but the Father. Mark 13:32. To them, it is simply when “...the day break, and the shadows flee away...”

Thank God, I have a date with Jesus! I hear the song of birds, and the voice of turtles; I see the green figs putting forth, and the tender grapes, while the soft breezes of heaven kiss my cheeks. Springtime is here, and Jesus is coming soon.

“Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine.”

We need to “strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. We need to get our heads among the clouds, our hopes heavenward; We need to face the sunrise, and forget the shadows, for

“The toils of the road will mean nothing,

When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.”

“Until the day break, and the shadows flee away.”

Ah, these words refresh the hungry heart of the Bride with the hope of the morning that will surely come, in whose sky there will be no cloud to cast a shadow across her path, and whose sun shall not go down.

Over yonder on the sea one gloomy night, according to John, chapter 21, verse 4 Peter and John and some other disciples toiled all night fruitlessly with their nets, “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore...”

And, beloved, they sat down to breakfast prepared by our Lord’s own dear hands – a blessed picture of the fellowship that will be ours when we shall sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

As Jesus and His Bride commune with each other across the silent skies, they find joy and comfort in that common expectancy. She, out of the deep recesses of her lonely heart, whispers, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away;” while in that still small voice, she hers His tender reply, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away.”

Beloved, now the shadows are about us, but the day will dawn soon. The question is, “Watchman, what of the night?” And the watchman replies, “The morning cometh.”

Oh, friend, I want you to see these soul-stirring truths: I want you to see the Bride of Jesus waiting eagerly, longingly, hopefully, for her Lord’s return. I think I can see her as she rushes here and there, hastily making things ready. Now and then she runs to the window to see if He is coming, or opens the door to listen for the sound of His returning chariot wheels; and when she lies upon her bed, weary from her labors, at the close of the day, she is comforted with the thought, that perhaps His call will awake her at the midnight hour. She has heard His message from glory, in which He bade her to rise up and be ready to come away.

Oh, yes, He loves that virgin with an eternal love. She is pledged to Him, and He to her. He has gone to prepare a place – a home – to which He will take her some happy day. She will be so glad when He returns, and the wedding day has dawned; then He will carry her to the mansions prepared, where she will be the queen of His habitation.

This, my friend, is the hope of the people of God, who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is the hope of a home coming with Jesus, the hope of being present at the wedding in the skies.

One of the most wonderful times in a man’s life is when he takes his new bride into the little home which he has prepared for her with his own hand. Every hammer blow has been made with love; every board, every shingle, and every stone has been laid in the purest affection of his heart.

Can I ever forget the day, which has been mentioned before, when my bride and I began housekeeping together. We had just one little room, but it was a wonderful place, for in that room was love.

Our honeymoon home in this world may be just a cottage in the woods, a cabin on the hill, or even a little shack down the lane, but, where love abides, it is enough. But thanks be unto God, it is neither a cabin, nor a shack, that He is fitting up for His Bride on the shores of eternal morning. It is a mansion. The song-writer expressed it in the following words:

“He is fitting up my mansion which eternally shall stand,

For my stay shall not be transient

in that holy, happy land.

There is rest for the weary, there is rest for the weary,

There is rest for the weary, there is rest for you;

On the other side of Jordan, in the sweet fields of Eden,

There is rest for the weary, there is rest for you.”

When the day breaks, and the shadows are gone, we shall meet again; and it will not be on these rugged shores of sin and sorrow, but among the clouds with Jesus. Surely, it will not be long.

Dear reader, are you waiting for Him, are you listening, and longing for His return? He is coming again. It is my “blessed hope.” What about you? Do you rest by faith under the outstretched wing of His saving grace?

Yes, thank God! I have a date with Jesus. And He will not fail to come for me.

THE SOUND OF HIS FEET

“In the crimson of the morning,

In the whiteness of the noon,

In the amber glory of the day’s retreat,

In the midnight robed in darkness,

Or the gleaming of the moon,

I listen for the coming of his feet.

“Down the minister aisles of splendor,

From betwixt the cherubim,

Through the wandering throng,

With movements strong and sweet,

Sounds his victory tread approaching,

With movements far and dim–

The music of the coming of his feet.

“Sandaled not with sheen of silver,

Girdled not with woven gold,

Weighted not with shimmering gems and odors sweet;

But white-winged and shod with glory,

In the Tabor light of old–

The glory of the coming of his feet.

“He is coming, O my spirit,

With his everlasting peace,

With his blessedness immortal and complete;

He is coming, O my spirit,

And his coming brings release.

I am panting for the coming of his feet.”

(Author Unknown)

CHAPTER FIVE

THE BRIDE SEARCHES FOR HER BELOVED

Song of Solomon 3:1-5

“By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 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.”

Some very vital things regarding the church and her ministry are brought to our attention in these verses. For the sake of emphasis, I would like to repeat a statement made earlier in this study: In the main, the array of facts set forth in these studies, concerning Christ and His Bride, the church, are also true – or should be – of Jesus and every local, visible New Testament body. I would also repeat, that no truly saved individual can study these things with an open and unbiased heart, without emerging from such study with a greater love and appreciation for the New Testament church than ever before, and with a greater desire to be faithful to the sacred task given to that church.

Let us first see:

The Bride At Ease On Her Bed.

She desires the nearness of Him whom her soul loveth, but lolling in ease and lethargy on her bed while there is work unfinished, which He has bidden her do, she cannot know His presence, nor feel His power. “By night on my bed I sought him–I sought him, but I found him not.”

As long as a church reclines in ease upon the couch of idleness, undisturbed, and unburdened for souls, it is impossible for that church to experience the power and presence of the Lord to any great degree.

In the preceding chapter, we have observed how Christ looked upon His church with great tenderness and love, we have heard Him speak to her in the most endearing terms and with compliments. We have also heard her, out of the sincerity of her heart, return those compliments, and magnify His beauty and attraction, in the earnest avowal of her love. With the eye of faith, she could see Him through the lattice, or looking forth at the windows; She could hear His still, small voice whispering to her heart, calling her to the place of prayer. She has read, and reread His love letters in the Holy Word, and has become reconciled to His necessary absence for a while.

However, the waiting grows long and wearisome, and little by little, she has succumbed to her weariness, she has drifted into a condition of lethargy. She does not mean to be indifferent, but she has relaxed, when she needs to be alert. She is becoming lazy. It is so nice to lie in idleness and ease upon her couch, and dream of her beloved; but to her consternation, she becomes aware of the fact that strangely, somehow, He seems so far away. He used to be so near, and His presence was so real, but, try as she may, she cannot find Him upon her bed. He has eluded her.

The true churches of the Lord Jesus Christ love, and look for His appearing: to them it is the “Blessed Hope” for which they live, and serve, and wait. They feel secure in His love, happy in His promises, but they are too often lulled asleep.

The church too often wants the presence and power of Christ without paying the price. She wants the glory without the humiliation. She wants the victory without the conflict. She wants the song without the service and sacrifice.

Let us face the fact: We know that we are in Christ, that we are saved; we know that we are eternally safe and secure in Him; we know that He is coming again, and that He will receive us unto Himself. Nothing can nullify, nor obliterate our living hope. But we are too often content to wrap ourselves in the soft robes of security, lie down on our beds of idleness, and draw over our weary souls the covers of “blessed assurance,” and just take it easy. Then we wonder why our Lord seems so very far away, and our heart no longer throbs with the thrill of His presence and power. Listen, my friend, Jesus is nearest to us when we are faithfully serving Him. Let His churches not betray His sacred trust.

There are many local, visible, churches in the world today, that, though they can boast of divine origin, and are unquestionably orthodox as to the fundamental doctrine of the New Testament, have very little power, or warmth, or spirituality, and, like the barren fig tree, they bear no fruit. They sit down upon the stools of do-nothing, and enjoy their spiritual siestas, and expect God to come down and bathe them in seas of celestial joy, and stir them in continuous old-time revival.

The Prophet Amos drew a picture of them in Amos 6:1-6, as he said, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint them-selves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.”

It is no wonder that a lot of churches today are more like a graveyard than a church, and their services are as cold as the tomb. It is no wonder that they are not spiritual, or happy, and can’t pray a prevailing prayer, and are not accomplishing anything for God.

Too many churches are self-satisfied, like the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-19) who said, verse 17 “...I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing...”

Jesus said to her, verses 17-18 Thou “...knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest by rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.”

Idleness and power do not go together; ease and accomplishment can never be one. We cannot please, nor honor, nor magnify the Lord Jesus Christ without faithful service.

The Bride bears His name, she is His by blood; they are to be “henceforth in interest, and in destiny, as in affection, one.” And to be one with Jesus is to want what He wants, love what He loves, and be faithful to the sacred responsibilities of that relationship. To be saved and secure is not enough. The thing of importance is “faith that worketh by love.”

I have had professing Christians come to me all troubled, and say, “I don’t know what is wrong with me. Why can’t I feel close to the Lord? There was a time when I was happy, and felt the power of God in my life, but now it seems that there is something missing. I can’t get an answer to prayer. What is wrong?”

I will tell you what is wrong: You are lying on the couch doing nothing; your life is fruitless, therefore empty. We are here to bear fruit unto God; but too often we are willing to lie down and take it easy, and let the world go to hell.

The quickest way for a church to die is of inactivity. Faith must do more than well-wishing; real faith is active, forceful, aggressive. If a church does no more than rest in a sweet spirit of complacency, or spend her time telling Jesus how wonderful He is, or how much she loves and trusts Him, then she is not going to be blessed too much with His presence and power. It is great to praise the Lord; but it is greater still to serve Him. He is more concerned with the proof of our love than with the meaningless declaration of it.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

To hear a sermon, without seeing one, imposes very little influence upon the hearer. And for a church to sing her love songs to Jesus while on a bed of idleness is but mockery.

I Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judg-ment must begin at the house of God...”

Many of the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ are in a state of sleepiness today. A spiritual stupor seems to prevail. I am sure that the words of Paul to the Ephesian church so long ago constitute a challenge to our Lord’s churches, as well as to individual believers, today: Ephesians 5:14 “...Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

In the study of chapter two of our text, we have observed that the Bridegroom is seeking to arouse the Bride to a greater eagerness for His return, and to a more earnest watchfulness for the signs of its eminence.

Jesus knew that this lethargy, or “falling away,” among His people would come as the end of the age drew near, and He foretold the same through the writers of the New Testament. In His own great discourse with His disciples, concerning the signs of the times, Matthew 24:12 He says, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

In Paul’s letter to the Roman Church he, too, sounds out the solemn reminder, Romans 13:11-14 “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

The church needs to awake from her dreams, and arise from her couch, and be about her Lord’s business. She is seeking His dear presence and power on her bed of idleness and ease, while the world is on fire, civilization is going to pieces, and precious souls are going down to hell.

We can cry, “Revive us again,” and “Lord, send a revival,” until the end of the age, and, unless we bestir ourselves to get up, and get out for Christ, our sad lament will continue to be: “I sought him, but I found him not.” It is as one has said:

II.

The Bride Now Goes Into The Streets.

Our text verse 2 “I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.”

We have seen the Bride reposing upon her bed, there filled with a deep longing for the presence and power of her Beloved. On her bed she sought Him, but found Him not. Now, a strange restlessness takes hold upon her; sleep goes from her eyes; she feels that she cannot lie there longer: Something must be done without delay. What shall it be?

Well, one common plan of meeting such a situation, one way to combat such a condition of sleepless, restless, nervous disorder, is the use of a sedative. Yes sir, all that a person has to do in this fast moving age, when he cannot sleep at night, is to swallow a couple of high-powered pills, then forget everything in life’s sea of troubles, and float away on a cloud of dreams.

The fact of the case is, this very plan is being used by churches everywhere to overcome their restlessness and dissatisfaction, and to find their sweet repose. They are using the sedatives of the world in an effort to soothe their troubled minds. The churches are not happy just doing nothing, and many of them are too lazy and backslidden to get under the responsibilities of the kingdom work of our dear Lord, so they try to satisfy themselves in the sedation of worldly interests. They try to substitute other things for their real duties, things like Ball Clubs, Bowling Teams, Bingo and Ping-pong Parties, Social Activities, and such like. They wear themselves out in such enterprises as these, then wonder why they can’t reach anyone for Christ, and why there seems to be so little joy in “Christian Service.”

I would to God that the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ would become restless today. Oh, that they might become so wretched, and miserable, and unhappy in their chasing of fantasies, that they might awake to spiritual realities. May the Holy Spirit so stir the churches with a sense of shame, and so arouse them in a soul-stirring revival, that they may get off of beds of idleness, and go forth to witness for Jesus in the highways and hedges.

The Bride leaves her bed, she goes out and begins to seek her beloved in the highways, in the hedges, in the hills, in the valleys, in the streets, in the shops, in the slums, in the humble homes of poverty, and everywhere. She talks of Him to everyone she meets along the way.

This, my friend, is the Lord’s plan for the ministry of His church, In the Parable of the Marriage of the King’s Son which Jesus gave in Matthew, chapter 22, we read in verses 8-10: “Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” See also Luke 14:16-24.

We know that salvation is of the Lord, Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith...” We know that the church is no saving agency, it has no power to save any one; but Jesus commissioned her to go and preach the gospel to all the world, and she cannot neglect that sacred task and hope to be spiritual and happy. To the church He gave “the keys of the Kingdom of heaven” (The Word and The Holy Spirit), and made it plain that He was depending on her. If the job is not done by the New Testament Churches, it will not be done at all. But it will be done.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, in Romans 1:14-16 he declared, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Christ’s church is His witness through the gospel, and if she would know the joy of His presence and power, she must be faithful to that responsibility.

It is true that the devil doesn’t want the gospel of Calvary preached to a lost world; and he is against every true church, tooth and toenail, which is faithfully engaged in the business of witnessing. He has always been. Acts records the persecutions of the Apostolic church, how they were brought before the Sanhedrin, and commanded not to preach any more in Jesus’ name or be beaten and thrown in prison.

Their answers were always such as, Acts 5:29 “...We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:32 “...we are his witnesses of these things...” Acts 4:20:”For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Acts 5:42 "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

They believed in a living Saviour. Acts 4:33 "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”

In the 15^th chapter of Luke, verses 3-7, we have the beautiful parable of the lost sheep: “And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having and hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

Beloved, this is the God-given ministry of the church, first to go afield after the lost, even though it be into the wilderness, into the mountains, or in the blackness of midnight. That is when she is closest to Jesus; that is when she can rejoice in the fulness of His presence and power. The missionary, soul-winning church is the happy, and influential one.

The Bride is now hastening through the lanes and streets of the city, and into the broad ways seeking Him, but to no avail.

“I sought him, but I found him not.”

Oh, let us see, that the key to the situation is this: she is seeking Him, not preaching Him. That is the trouble: she is more concerned with satisfying her own loneliness and heart-hunger for His presence, than in telling other people about Him. She does not seem to realize that, to truly love Jesus, is to also love precious souls for whom He shed His blood; to prove our love most to Him is to do His will.

Why do we want the presence and power of Christ in our lives, anyway? Is it purely for the sense of our own satisfaction–that we may take pride in the fact that we are close to the Lord and spiritual? Is it so that we may be able to boast of our power with God in prayer, or of our faith? I can recall an occasion many years ago, when I heard a preacher boast of how much faith he had. He said, that when any man had more faith in God than he, that man had to be bigger than he. I say to you, my friend, I cannot boast of my faith in God; I am ashamed that it is so little.

But back to the question: why do we want God’s power upon our lives? What are we going to do with it?

Well, I am going to church every Sunday, and sit in the “Amen corner”; I am going to nod my assent when the preacher makes a good point, and shout, “amen” when he really bears down on the Old Book.

I tell you, if you want spiritual power, just to sit and enjoy salvation, then you will not get spiritual power. If you want spiritual power just so you can pop your heels together, and shout, “Hallelujah, Glory to God,” then you will not get spiritual power. We need power for a purpose, and that purpose is to be able to go out and win souls to Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in old-time, heartfelt religion; and I believe in old-time shouting of His praise, when it is real and sincere. I have heard both my Mother and my Grandmother, who are long since gone on to glory, praise the Lord aloud many times, and their daily lives, and faithful service, backed up their praise. It had influence. I can never forget when, as a thirteen year-old boy, I stood dripping wet on the bank of the creek, where I had just been buried in baptism – a long line of candidates stood there – and my mother and grandmother put their arms around me and praised God for the salvation, and baptism, of the “baby boy.”

Yes, that is wonderful, and I would to God that more of us were that close to the Lord today. However, in my experience, I have seen a lot of people who could shout all over the hill, and you would think that they were about ready to take off to the Elysian shores, yet they never made any great effort to lead some lost soul to Christ. They never spoke to a sinner on the road to hell. Frankly, I don’t have much time, nor respect for that kind of spirituality. It is not worth the time it takes to tell about it. What do you want with influence? What do you want with the presence and power of God in your life, if it is not to get out in the sticks, in the hills, in the shops, on the streets and give the gospel to someone that they may know the way of salvation?

III.

Two Things Take Place When The Bride Goes

Into The Street.

Verse 3: “The watchmen that go about the city found me...”

1. The first thing that takes place when the Bride arises from her couch, puts on her garments, and goes out into the streets, is that the watchmen find her. But who are these watchmen?

We find them mentioned once more in the Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 7. From the study of that passage along with this reference, we must conclude that the watchmen are those who represent governmental authorities and powers. City watchmen would ordinarily be officers of law, and here they would seem to represent the whole system of world powers. The church has ever been persecuted by these powers through the centuries, especially when she has stood uncompromising in her witness to the truth. Church history bears this out. Also, when the church has gone forth in the faithful prosecution of her gospel ministry, even though her robes have been often stained with martyr’s blood, she has dispelled spiritual darkness, and brought in the light of Christ. Superstition and idolatry have given way to truth and hope.

There is yet another possible aspect to consider here: As the “daughters of Jerusalem” represent the Jews and Judaism, so we can consistently take the position that “the watchmen” may well indicate the “rulers of the Jews,” the Sanhedrin. This is definitely in accord with the New Testament history of the apostolic church. When that church went forth in a bold ministry before these powers, she was persecuted unbelievable; however, the presence and power of the Lord was upon them.

Acts 4:29-33 Quoting verses 31,33 “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness...And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”

2. The second event that took place, after the Bride went into the streets, was that when she began to witness to the watchmen she soon found her beloved.

“The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth...”

In other words, when the Bride arose from her bed, went out into the streets, began to talk about the Bridegroom to everyone she met, then she soon found the joy of His presence and power in her ministry. Notice how she questioned everyone she met: “Have you seen my beloved? Do you know him?”

Yes, my friend, without a doubt, when the churches of Jesus Christ get revived enough to go afield, and begin to really talk of Jesus everywhere they will find that He is very near; likewise, then, will the world sit up and take notice that our faith is a reality, and our profession more than an empty gesture.

Not only so, but our assurance is also increased, our doubts dispelled, and our joy made abundant, in faithful witnessing. Saved people get “down in the dumps” sometimes, and fall into doubts about their salvation. It may be that sin has gotten into their lives, as in the case of David, when he took Uriah’s wife, and had Uriah killed in the battle (II Samuel chapter 11). We see the resulting spiritual condition of his life in his great prayer of confession in the 51^st Psalm. In verse 12, we hear him cry, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

The following verse, then indicates the real reason for the joy of salvation, or the fulness of Christ’s presence in one’s life, that is, for soul-winning.

Verse 13, “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

I remember a woman, who was a member of the church where I was pastor many years ago, who was always falling into doubts. She would get to thinking that maybe she was not saved after all, and sometimes she would become so upset that she became a burden to her family. I had tried to help her to dispel her doubts and fears in most every way I could think of, but I seemed to be at my wits end. I had prayed with her, and read the Scriptures, but had been unable to get her straightened out; though I had reason to believe that she had been saved for many years.

Finally, one day she called me, and asked that I come out to her home to talk with her. As I drove out, I asked the Lord to give me some way to help her get settled as to whether or not she was really saved. The following test came to my mind:

I told this woman, “Let me give you a test: You say that you do not know whether you are saved, or not. Are you willing to try out something to determine once and for all if you are saved?”

“Yes,” she avowed, “I am willing to do anything to find out for sure.”

“All right,” I said, “I will tell you what to do. You start out this very day, with a determination that you are going to witness for Christ, that you are going to win a soul. Don’t lose, or neglect an opportunity to talk to people about their soul salvation. You earnestly try, and before you have gone far, if you are not saved you will know it; and if you are truly a child of God, your heart will be singing praises in blessed assurance.”

She agreed to put the matter to this test, and, as far as I ever knew, that was the last of her doubts.

What I would say is, that when we go forth with a surrendered life, and magnify the name of our dear Lord everywhere, we shall not want for His blessed nearness, nor lack His power upon us.

“Yes,” the Bride declared, “I found my Beloved, not on my couch of idleness and comfort, but when I went out to testify of his saving grace.”

IV.

The Bride Brings Her Beloved Into

Her Mother’s House.

Verse 4: “...I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.”

The Bride, now having found her beloved, after such a time of loneliness and longing, determines that she will not let Him go again. She will not make the same mistake again. She will hold on to Him now.

The whole scene in the preceding verses reminds us of numerous local church situations we have known. We have seen local churches drift along in a state of complacency for a long time, doing little but marking time; then a spirit of revival began to work in their midst, and soon they were marching forth victoriously in the Spirit and power of God, winning souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are some wonderful truths set forth in this 4^th verse. The Bride has found her Beloved; she now holds on to Him, and declares, “I would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.”

What have we in these words? Why, beloved, her mother’s house can be no other than the Gentile world. It is true that the Apostles, who were set first in the church of Jesus as charter members, were Jews. That, however, does not alter the fact that the church of The Lord Jesus Christ is, in this church age, a Gentile church, and will be ultimately presented to Him a Gentile Bride.

In the marriage of Jesus and His church, we have the union of Jew and Gentile.

Now, we know that the mother of Jesus, the Bridegroom, – nationally speaking – was Israel. Such a picture is given us in the 12^th chapter of Revelation. There the great wonder appears in heaven:

Revelation 12:1-2,5 “...a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered... And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”

This shows Israel bringing forth Jesus, in fulfilment of prophecy, and His being caught up to heaven in escape from the destructive intent of the dragon (Satan).

In Isaiah 66:7 we read, “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.”

From the above scriptures, we see that there are evidently two “travails” of Israel: One, the travail in the Jewish world prior to the birth of Jesus. These birth-pangs were minor in scope, and intensity. The other travail is in the Great Tribulation, out of which will come the Spiritual Birth (Salvation) of the remnant of the Jewish Nation. (See Zechariah 12:10-13:9). The scriptures that bear out these truths are so numerous, that it is impossible to examine them here.

We would reiterate that as Israel is the mother of Jesus, so the mother of the Bride must be the Gentile world. And in the marriage of Jesus and His church, we have the union of Jew and Gentile.

In writing to the Ephesian Church, which was a Gentile body, Paul spake of Jew and Gentile being made one in Christ.

Ephesians 2:14-18 “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

If time and space permitted us to examine verses 11-13, and 19-22, also chapter 3: verses 1-10, and other scriptures, these facts would be very clear.

The Bride, having found her Beloved, is deter-mined that she will never let Him go until she has brought Him into her mother’s house. This must ever be the purpose to which the church of our Lord Jesus Christ is dedicated, to give Jesus to the Gentile World. Certainly, as far as the love of God is concerned, Romans 10:12-13 “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” However, we know that this is the day of grace unto the Gentiles, and, although any Jew who will by faith accept Jesus as a Saviour will be saved, yet it is the time of Israel’s blindness. (Read Romans, chapters 9 and 11).

The Bride’s avowed purpose is to bring her Beloved into her mother’s house, which is the Gentile world; so it is the sacred task given to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to carry His glorious gospel to all the world. No more worthy purpose can be found.

Going back to the fact, that the Bride could not find her Beloved, as she rested upon her couch, we would then reemphasize the conditions under which she ultimately found Him nearest to her, that is, when she went forth into the streets to talk of Him to others. Let, therefore, the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ take heed to this great lesson, and dedicate themselves to the fundamental purpose of worldwide missions, and evangelism, and let them prosecute this program with all of the love and fervor of their souls. Then there shall be no lack of His blessed presence and power.

A charge To The Daughters of Jerusalem

Verse 5 “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.”

In a previous chapter we have explained that “the daughters of Jerusalem,” refer to the Jews. This will be seen in other places as we go along. Also we have pointed out that the “roes, and hinds of the field,” are of the red deer. Just why this expression, which is a common one in the Song of Solomon, is so used we cannot say.

It will be noted that chapter 2, verse 7, is identical with the above verse 5 in this chapter. In our previous studies, in the second chapter of our text, we purposely passed over verse 7. I should like to make some comment on these identical verses just here.

We observe, with interest, that both in the 2^nd chapter, and in the 3^rd, the context preceding the verses in question deals with a common thought: In chapter 2, verse 6, the Bride anticipatively sees herself in the loving embrace of the Bridegroom; He holds her tenderly, and she is most overwhelmed in the ecstasy of His love. This is her time, and her’s alone; hence she cautions the daughters of Jerusalem to stir not up, nor awake her love until He please – that is, to make no overtures toward Him yet.

Likewise, we note in chapter 3, verse 4, that the Bride has just gone out from her bedchamber into the streets, and has found her Beloved. Now she holds Him, and brings Him into her mother’s house – the Gentiles – and she again admonishes the daughters of Jerusalem to stir not up, nor awake Him, till He please. I repeat: this is her time and her’s alone. This is the time of the Gentiles. The Jews can not stir up, nor awake Him until He is ready. God is sovereign, and His work of grace to the Jews will only be in His own time.

At the end of Jesus’ scathing denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, in the 23^rd chapter of Matthew, He cried out to them brokenheartedly, Matthew 24:37-39, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

When Jesus stood on trial before Pilate, the Roman Governor, in the presence of the rulers of the Jews, he asked them what he should do with Jesus.

Their unanimous reply was, Matthew 27:23 “...Let him be crucified.”

When Pilot washed his hands in water, declaring his own innocence from the blood of Jesus, Matthew 27:25 “Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”

The Jews turned Jesus down flat, and God committed themselves, as a nation, to spiritual blindness, “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” We again refer our readers to Romans, chapters 9 and 11.

Romans 11:25 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

So the Jews as a nation will go on in their blindness and unbelief (with the exception of a scattered remnant through the years, and the 144,000 to be saved during the tribulation, according to Revelation 7) until Jesus comes down the pathless skies in glory, as in Revelation 19:11-16, and Zechariah 12:10 “...they shall look upon me whom they have pierced...” then, Zechariah 13:1 “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” All of the Jews living in that day shall be saved.

Romans 11:26-29 “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

The church is the virgin Bride of Jesus; Israel is the adulterous wife of Jehovah. This is the church age, this is the Bride’s day; and the daughters of Jerusalem will have to wait for the favors of Jesus until such a time as He, in His infinite wisdom, is pleased to extend His grace.

Matthew 23:37 Jesus talking to the Jews, “...how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

Jesus is our Great High Priest. According to Leviticus 21:13, the High Priest could take none other than a virgin as His wife. “And he shall take a wife in her virginity.” The New Testament Church is that virgin, and she, only is the Bride of Jesus.

CHAPTER SIX

THE BRIDEGROOM-KING

Song of Solomon 3:6-11

“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.”

In these verses we see the Bridegroom as King. The scriptures which portray Jesus as King, both in the Old and New Testaments, are so numerous that it would not be expedient for us to engage in the examination of all of them here. We do know that the kingly character of Jesus is set forth in many types in the Old Testament. Among such types King Solomon is an outstanding one.

As King David of old is a marvelous type of Jesus, with special emphasis upon the fact that he is a great conqueror, and that His is an enduring throne; so Solomon fittingly typifies Jesus as to the glory of His kingdom. No king of olden times had quite such a glorious and resplendent kingdom, and certainly there was none with such great wisdom.

In I Kings the third chapter, we have the account of the Lord’s appearance to Solomon in Gibeon, at which time he gave him the choice of anything he might desire. Solomon’s request for wisdom and understanding to rule God’s people was pleasing to the Lord:

I Kings 3:11-13 “And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.”

The fourth chapter of First Kings is also largely given to a description of the magnitude of Solomon’s operation as king. And II Chronicles the 9^th chapter tells of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to find out for herself the truth about Solomon’s great wisdom, and the glory of his house and kingdom.

Verses 3-6 “And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half on the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.”

When Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for seeking a sign, and calling up the Ninevites, who had repented at the preaching of Jonas, as witnesses against them, he also referred to this visit of the queen of Sheba in the same manner:

Matthew 12:42 “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

Thus he indicates that Solomon in his wisdom and in the glory of his kingdom is a type of Jesus as king; and we know that the reality, or fulfillment of the type, always far surpasses the type itself.

The message of our scripture text in this chapter of our study, we shall divide into five parts:

The Bridegroom-King’s Glory In

Overcoming Temptation

Verse 6, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

Here the Bride sees her Beloved coming up out of the wilderness in all of the full glory of victory. He is indeed a conquering king, for He is fresh back from one of the greatest victories ever won, and one of the most significant.

Even the most casual Bible reader should have no difficulty in understanding this scene: It is Jesus our Beloved, our Saviour, the Champion of our cause, the Winner of our conflicts, the Overcomer of our temptations, coming back from the wilderness, whither he was led of the Spirit to be tempted, and from which temptation He now emerges triumphant.

In the Fourth Chapter of Luke we have the full account of the event of our Lord’s temptation: Jesus had returned from the experience of His baptism, at the hands of John the Baptist, in the River Jordan; verses 1-2 “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.” There were forty days of fasting; and, though we can hardly conceive of the fact, He was subjected to such temptations of the devil as to literally comprehend all of the temptations that can ever come to man.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the felling of our infirmities: but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

It was necessary that Jesus, as a man, should prove Himself superior to Satan in every point where sin might make a bid against us, for our victory is only in Him. A careful examination of Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus will reveal that the three-fold onslaught of the devil against Jesus, as described there, covers the whole scope of sin’s appeal to a human life: There was the appeal to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

The Holy Spirit, through John, tells us in I John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

We shall never be able to realize, while in this mortal frame, just how much Jesus endured for us. Indeed, He is an all-sufficient Saviour.

We would emphasize another point, just here. In His temptation, Jesus beat down the devil with the Word of God; and, in so doing, He established a precedent for us to follow: The sword of the Spirit is our most effective weapon against the power of Satan. It is senseless of us to argue, or to reason with him; he will overcome us every time when we do; but when we draw the “Sword of the Spirit,” we find James 4:7 true, indeed, “...Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Further pursuing the study of Luke the 4^th chapter, we find in the 14^th verse that, “...Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee...” Verse 16, “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

The scripture which He read was from the 61^st chapter of Isaiah: we read Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Our purpose in calling all of these matters to the attention of the Reader is to show the clear meaning of our lesson text.

In the New Testament Scriptures which we have been considering – that is, in Luke’s Gospel – we see the power of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus – in fact, all that he ever did was done in the Spirit. He has shown himself a sufficient Saviour, one who has all power, one who is a conqueror, one who is able to do for us the things mentioned in Luke 4:18. Therefore we are not afraid to trust Him; He is worthy of our greatest, most implicit faith, and our loyalty to the end.

In our scripture text, the Bride sees Him coming out of the wilderness with the Spirit and power of God upon Him, just as He came back to the synagogue in Nazareth. She described His appearance, “Like pillars of smoke.-” Many times in the Bible we find God’s presence in Spirit and power manifested as smoke.

When Israel was led out of Egyptian bondage, and into the wilderness, on their journey toward the promised land, the Lord went before them by day as a pillar of cloud, and by night as a pillar of fire. Exodus 14:19-24.

In the days of tabernacle worship, when God wished to manifest His presence in a special way, on special occasions, the tabernacle was filled with a cloud. Numbers 16:42.

When God called Moses upon Mt. Sinai to talk with him, smoke and fire covered the mountain. God’s presence was thus manifested. Exodus 19:18.

When Solomon dedicated the magnificent temple which he had built for God, making great offerings unto the Lord, and praying on his knees before all Israel, the fire came down from heaven, and “...the glory of the LORD filled the house.” II Chronicles 7:1.

In Isaiah’s marvelous vision of the glory of the Lord, when God cleansed him, and called him into special service, he beheld that “...the house was filled with smoke.” Isaiah 6:4.

All of these, and other instances in the scriptures, show the manifestation of the shekinah glory of God as a smoke. So we can understand the significance of the appearance of Jesus to the Bride, coming “...out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke...”

She also says, that He is “...perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?”

Now, the myrrh and frankincense, and powders of the merchant, are components used in the sweet incense, and ointments which were used in the anointing of the priests, and offered on the altar of incense. Exodus chapter 30, also Exodus 37:29, also Leviticus 8:10-12, etc.

The sweet fragrance, or aroma of the ointment upon the head and garments of the priests was a sweet savour unto God, as was the fragrant smoke that came up from the altar of incense. It meant acceptability before God. Now Jesus is our great High Priest. And as the Bride sees Him coming out of the wilderness with the smoke of the divine presence about Him, and the sweet odours of the anointing oils emanating from His garments, it is Jesus coming back from His victory in temptation, in all of the acceptability of His holy and righteous character before God. Jesus, Redeemer, Saviour, Great High Priest, Bridegroom, and King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

II.

The Bridegroom-King’s Bed

Verse 7 “Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s...”

Very little need be said, just here, about the King’s bed. In our discussion of the 1^st chapter and 16^th verse of our text we gave some attention to the bed, as mentioned in that verse.

There we laid stress upon the fact that the bed offers a place of rest from the weariness of toil. In His infinite mercy, God has given us a time and place of repose, when we are tired and in need of refreshment. Divine wisdom has made provision for the oft needed renewal of the Bride’s strength. All of her ministry is not a ministry of wearisome toil; but there are times of blessed escape into privacy of the bed-chamber.

Furthermore, we must not overlook the fact that this love story of Jesus, and His Church, is set forth in a true picture of human relationship such as we know here in this world. However, in viewing this relationship, we must take cognizance of the truth also that the union of Jesus and His church is purely spiritual, holy and undefiled. It is a union of heavenly nature, not to be confused with the sexual relations such as are given only to mortality.

The sexual order which God ordained for mankind is not, in itself, unholy, when kept where God put it, and observed as God intended it. Marriage is of divine origin, given for the promotion of human happiness, and for the protection of the social order; hence Paul tells us in Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

So pure and holy is the love-life, and marriage relationship of Jesus and His church, that He often addresses her as, “My sister, my spouse,” thus elevating their relationship to a plane as pure as that of brother and sister. In chapters four and five we shall find this expression used a number of times.

“Behold his bed...” It is the King’s bed. And the Bride speaks in happy anticipation of the day when their spiritual marriage shall be spiritually consummated there. Only the mind of the ascetic, or the lustful, will see evil here.

III.

The Bridegroom-King’s Honor Guard

Verses 7-8, “Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.”

Who are these that have the privilege of being the personal attendants of the King? To whom does He give the special privilege of occupying a place in the intimacy of His bedchamber and around His bed? These, my friend, constitute the King’s honor guard. These are they who have the courage, the boldness, the faith, and the loyalty to gird on the sword of God’s eternal truth and stand by Jesus in the great conflict.

Will you, or reader, be one of these valiant soldiers in the honor guard of Jesus?

David was a type of Jesus as King. And in the 22^nd chapter of I Samuel we read of how he, being forced to flee from Saul, escaped into the wilderness and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. There a minimum force of four hundred men – soldiers, that is – gathered about him, and stood by him in his estrangement.

Again in II Samuel, chapter 23, we find a long list of names of “mighty men” who had stood by David in his times of exile and trial. Surely, these were dear to his heart, because they had been tried, and had proven their loyalty to him.

How one appreciates those who stand by faithfully in the times of great need! We think of Jesus coming to the Garden of Gethsemane that dark lonely night of His betrayal: Three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John, go with Him into the Garden; and as He begins to be sorrowful and very heavy, Matthew 26:38 “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”

According to Matthew’s continued account, we see Jesus go a little farther and fall upon His face to pray, while His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. How much it must have meant to Him in the hour of His agony to have someone standing faithfully by; yet when He returned from prayer, He found them, whom He had trusted, fast asleep.

Peter especially, had so boasted of how he would be loyal to Jesus unto death. Now Jesus rebukes them tenderly, and sadly, Matthew 26:40 “And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?”

What must have been one of the saddest and most tragic moments in the life of Jesus is recorded in Matthew 26:56. There Judas Iscariot has led the blood-thirsty mob to Jesus, and they have laid hands upon Him. Impulsive Peter, who had physical courage, but who was a spiritual and moral coward, drew his sword to fight, but Jesus rebuked him, and told him to put away his sword. “...Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” There is no lack of men of physical courage; but Jesus wants men who have the faith and spiritual courage to stand with Him, to suffer with Him, to share His shame and dishonor before the world.

When we look again upon the scene of Calvary, in that awful time of our Lord’s ignominious death, we see one lone disciple who has gone all the way. Old faithful John stood by the cross.

On, what a challenge we face today, a challenge to become a part of the Honor Guard of Jesus. We are soldiers of Jesus Christ, but in II Timothy chapter 2, Paul tells us how to be a “good soldier.”

In the 8^th verse of our text we are told that the King’s valiant men “...all hold swords, being expert in war; every man hath his sword upon his thigh...”

Now, it is no secret that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and that the good soldier of Jesus Christ knows how to use that sword. Paul admonishes Timothy, II Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

The King’s valiant men here not only are “expert in war,” but they are in a state of constant readiness, “Every man hath his sword upon his thigh.”

In Ephesians 6:11-17, Paul urges us to the preparation of a real warrior in the conflict. We are admonished to, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

He then tells us why this is so necessary, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Continuing the discourse, he describes the armour of the soldier: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt 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.”

We are commanded to be in a state of readiness always: readiness to witness, and readiness for His return. I Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

Matthew 24:44 Jesus speaking, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

In our text we are also given a reason why the King’s valiant men must stand ever in readiness, with their swords upon their thighs: “because of fear in the night.” We must be on the alert.

The enemies of truth are legion; the dangers are on every hand. The cohorts of Satan are out to sabotage the churches, the ministry, and the cause and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that the time is short. There is fear, distrust, and treason on every hand. Oh, how we need to stand by Jesus, our King, with unflinching courage, and unshaken faith.

Let us come into the inner circle; let us prove our worthiness and loyalty in service; let us prove our courage in combat; let us strive for a place in the Honor Guard of Jesus.

IV.

The Bridegroom-King’s Chariot

Verses 9-10 “King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.”

We have already emphasized the fact the King Solomon is a type of King Jesus; therefore as we view King Solomon’s chariot in the above verses of our text, we find that the message changes to a little different line, and very fittingly so: Jesus, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords is rather shown here, under the type of Solomon, more specifically in the role of “King of the Jews.” That fact is brought out in the references to “the daughters of Jerusalem,” and “daughters of Zion.”

We have already discussed the identity of “the daughters of Jerusalem,” having found them to represent the Jews, or, more especially, Judaism as a system of religion. Although the charter members of the church which Jesus established were all men, and although the membership of that body, and of the bodies which subsequently came out of it were later composed of both men and women, Jesus chose to refer to His church in the feminine gender, or, in other words, to picture her as a woman, who is ultimately to become His spiritual bride.

Inasmuch as a woman in scripture seems to be used as a representation of a religious system, or organization, we can easily comprehend the significance of “the daughters of Jerusalem.”

We are told in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 23, verses 27-28, “And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.”

According to a harmony of the four Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, after Jesus was crucified, Pilate wrote a title in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, and put it on the cross: “THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

The Jews were not pleased with this, and besought Pilate to change it. He refused to do so, John 19:22 “Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.”

No doubt, the Divine purpose was verified in the displaying of this inscription, for Jesus is, indeed, the King of the Jews. We have already said, that He is a King in fulfillment of God’s promises of old; He is a King by birth; and He will be a King by conquest when He comes to earth again. So, as the Bride sees Him in this part of our text, she recognizes Him in His relation to, and in His purpose for, the Jews. He is not only the Bridegroom – King of the church, and the King of the Jews, but He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Now we come to the consideration of King Solomon’s Chariot:

A chariot was a two-wheeled vehicle commonly used in days of old, both in war, and in common travel. It was pulled by horses, and in wartime use, it usually carried two men; one a driver, and the other to handle the bow, or the spear.

As the wealthier people of today may drive the finest, most luxurious automobiles, so in days of old, the kings and nobility would have the finest chariots. King Solomon’s chariot described here was evidently the best. However, we see this as but a type of King Jesus and His chariot of salvation. See Habakkuk 3:8.

There are five things revealed about this chariot in verses 9 and 10:

1. It is made “of the wood of Lebanon.” This was, of course, the wood of the famed “cedars of Lebanon.” Concerning these cedars of Lebanon, The Universal Standard Encyclopedia has the following to say,

The cedar wood itself, in its typical or symbolic significance, represents the humanity of Jesus, for its characteristics mainly were beauty, fragrance, resistance to parasites and diseases, and great durability. It was used in cleansing ordinances in The Old Testament, especially in the ordinance of the red heifer. See Numbers 19:1-10. Here the cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet were used together: the cedar wood representing Jesus’ humanity, the scarlet His blood, and the hyssop faith.

The cedar wood was also used in the cleansing of leprosy. See Leviticus 14^th chapter. There also it was used with hyssop and scarlet. We know that leprosy is one of the most perfect types of sin; therefore, the use of cedar wood in the cleansing of leprosy bears out its type of Jesus the man who is God’s remedy for sin. Our text certainly indicates the offer of this remedy to the Jews, which offer was rejected long ago, when Jesus presented Himself to the Jews, and was turned down cold. John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” However, when He shall come again, they will receive Him.

2. In the description of the King’s chariot we find that its pillars were of silver. It is no secret to Bible students that silver typifies redemption: The boards of the tabernacle rested upon sockets of silver, Exodus 26:19. The tabernacle throughout, the place where God met His people, typified Jesus Christ and His work; therefore, we can see how the type holds true when we remember that the whole tabernacle rested upon silver – the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

The fillets and hooks that upheld the linen hangings of the tabernacle were also of silver, Exodus 27:17, for it is by virtue of the redemptive work of Jesus that we have access to God.

The price of ransom for the people, as prescribed in Exodus 30:12-15, was also silver: “When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.”

In Isaiah 1:22, where God, through the prophet, is upbraiding the Jews for permitting their service and worship to degenerate to mere formality without spiritual meaning, He says, “Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.”

The truth of redemption had become as refuse; and they were trying to mix the water of human merit with the wine of God’s pure grace.

Jesus our Saviour was sold unto death for thirty pieces of silver; it was the price of redemption – rather, the price of the Redeemer. The Prophet Zechariah, fore-telling of this said in chapter eleven, verses 12-13: “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” Another reference in the New Testament which is the fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy is in Matthew 26:14-15, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went into the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.”

This blood-money could not satisfy Judas; no soul can ever be satisfied with the guilt of Jesus’ blood upon it. Judas tried to undo what he had done, but it was too late.

Matthew 27:3-6 “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.”

This silver for which our Lord was sold was used to buy the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Matthew 27:9-10, “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.”

From these scriptures we can see the symbolism of the silver in the King’s chariot of Salvation.

3. We note further the Bride’s description of the chariot: the bottom thereof was of gold.

As silver stands for redemption, so gold represents Deity, or divine holiness and righteousness. We go back to the tabernacle again, and we find the uses of gold so numerous that it is quite impossible here to study them one by one. We shall, however, examine two or three of the more outstanding instances;

Take first the ark of the covenant, Exodus 25:10-15: It was made of shittim wood (which was a type of Christ’s humanity), and was overlaid with gold within and without. Upon it was a crown of gold, and four gold rings at the corners; also the staves by which it was to be carried were made of shittim wood and overlaid with gold. In all of this we see both the humanity of Jesus, and His deity.

Then notice the cherubims of gold on the mercy seat: Exodus 25:18-20 “And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.”

We cannot take space to reproduce all of these scriptures, nor to make a study of all of these types; but we do urge the reader to take time to read and study them all. It is one of the richest, and most rewarding studies in God’s Word, and it is my sincere hope that someday I shall be able to devote a whole volume to the same. Suffice to say here, that we see the throne of a holy God, which, under the outstretched wings of the cherubims, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, becomes a throne of mercy. God offers to meet us at the ark of the testimony. And here we see Jesus human and divine.

We could go on and on in the study of these uses of gold: The table of shewbread was overlaid with gold – it is Jesus the bread of life; and inside the tabernacle was the golden candlestick, which is Jesus the light of the world. The whole 25^th chapter of Exodus should be read. Every curtain, color, socket, board, and material in the tabernacle system typified some part of the person and work of Jesus in redemption, as did every sacrifice. In all of this the gold portrays His divine character.

4. The covering of the King’s chariot was of purple. Surely no one will doubt that purple is indicative of royalty; It speaks of Jesus’ kingliness. Purple is the apparel of kings. We shall cite just a few instances in the Bible which will bear this out:

In Exodus 25:3-7, we have a list of the various materials and articles to be taken of the people in God’s offering, and each of them bears a typical meaning in relation to the person and work of Jesus in redemption. The gold is deity, the silver is redemption, the brass is judgment, the blue means heavenly, the scarlet represents Jesus’ blood, the linen is His righteousness, et cetera, et cetera. Among all of these, the purple can only represent His royalty, or kingliness.

Again in Exodus 26:1, the purple is found in the ten curtains of the tabernacle, along with the blue, the scarlet, the linen, the cherubims, etc. While in Exodus 28:1-3, we find a beautiful picture of the symbolic meaning of these things in the garments made for Aaron, the High Priest. Certainly Aaron was a type of Jesus who is our Great High Priest.

In the 4^th chapter of Numbers, where God is giving instructions concerning the Kohathites, how they shall handle certain articles of the tabernacle service, verse 13 tells us that they are to take the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it, upon which certain vessels of the altar shall be placed. In this we see Jesus, the King of Kings, shown by the purple, and Jesus the sacrifice, made to be sin for us, shown by the altar and its vessels, brought into one great plan of redemption. Oh, what condescension! Oh, what marvelous grace!

In Judges 8:26, where Gideon gathers the spoils of the Midianites, among the things taken is listed “purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian.” Thus again we see that purple is the raiment of kings.

In II Chronicles 3:14, where Solomon is building and equipping the magnificent temple of the Lord, he wove purple into the veil of the temple, along with the other typical colors and materials. This is the same kind of veil that “was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” the moment that Jesus died upon the cross of Calvary. See Matthew 27:50-51.

When Mordecai revealed the plot against the life of King Ahasuerus, in the days of Esther, and was later honored by the king, Esther 8:15, “And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.”

From the foregoing, and other scriptures which we might look into, we feel justified in saying, that the covering of purple, which the Bride saw on the King’s chariot, speaks of Jesus as King, indeed.

5. And now comes the most wonderful thing of all about the King’s chariot: it was “paved with love for, the daughters of Jerusalem.” This does not mean to suggest that there is any lack of love for the Gentile world; for we have John 3:16 to settle that question once and for all. However, as has already been stated, in these scenes the Bride beholds her Beloved especially in His love for the Jews, and in His desire to save them.

John 1:11, Jesus “...came unto his own, (country) and his own (people) received him not.” But He loved them with eternal love, and His heart was broken when they rejected Him.

In Matthew 23:37-39, we hear Him cry, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

Here Jesus lays the responsibility squarely upon them. He said, “I would have..., but ye would not.”

We see the King’s love for “the daughters of Jerusalem” manifested in a special way again on the occasion of His entry into Jerusalem riding upon the foal of an ass. On His descent from the Mount of Olives, the disciples were praising Him as “the King that cometh in the name of the Lord;” but the Pharisees met Him with cold rebuff, reflecting the official attitude of the Jews.

Luke 19:41-42 “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

Yes, the chariot of our Lord’s salvation is paved with love, thank God!

And His love shall not have been in vain. God’s purpose for the Jews shall not fail. Romans 11:2 “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew...”

Romans 11:23 “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.”

One day Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, shall come down the pathless sky in the revelation of His glory (as in John 19:37), and “…They shall look on him whom they pierced.” and receive Him as their Messiah-Saviour.

Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”

The Bridegroom-King’s Crown

Our text, verse 11: “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.”

The Bride earnestly appeals to “the daughters of Zion;” she is enthusiastic in her praise of the King; she would exalt Him before the eyes of the world. She is especially concerned that His own people, whom He loves with an eternal love, should come to Him, and love Him.

“Come,” she is saying to them, “Oh, come, and look upon Him. You have never beheld anyone like Him; you have never seen such a marvelous king as He. And look at that crown upon His head. He is a King, and He has a crown.”

What is that crown? Now, we are speaking of Him in His redemption character. We have looked upon the elaborate beauty of His chariot of salvation – but this crown, it draws our attention, it captures our interest.

She says, “Come and see this crown on His head; it is the crown wherewith His mother crowned Him in the day when He became espoused, or engaged, to me.”

This is not a crown, or diadem, as upon His head when we see Him coming down the skies in the revelation of His glory, as recorded in the 19^th chapter of Revelation. There He comes to overthrow the beast and the false prophet, and their enemies.

This is not the crown that He shall wear as judge of the nations, when in Matthew 25:31-32 “...he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.”

This is not the crown of His millennial reign, when He shall reign over the whole earth in one righteous kingdom, Jerusalem being the capital city of the whole world. Isaiah 32:1; Micah 4:1-7 and 5:2. Also Zechariah 14:9, etc.

No, this is another crown. His mother crowned Him, or had Him crowned, with this crown in the day of His espousals – that is, the day that He became engaged, or betrothed unto the Bride. This was the day that grace and salvation were bestowed upon her; this was the day that she was purchased with His own blood.

His mother was Israel. And the only crown that she had anything to do with placing upon His brow was the crown of thorns. She was responsible for it. When Pilate sought to set Jesus free, the Jews cried for His blood, and demanded that He be put to death. They would have killed Him, but they were under the authority of Rome; so they delivered Him to the Romans, and demanded that He should die; therefore, at the instigation of the Jews, Jesus was beaten, abused, and crowned with thorns. Oh, it is true, the guilt of Jesus’ blood is upon the soul of every lost sinner in the world, both Jew and Gentile; however, the stain is upon Mother Israel in a special way.

Matthew 27:27-29 “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocking him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!”

John 19:1-6 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests there-fore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him...”

Yes, His Mother Israel was responsible for the thorn-crown on His brow. And, although the thorns pricked His flesh, and the blood ran down to drip upon the ground, yet this crown of thorns was the crown of His greatest glory.

There was glory in His marvelous virgin birth, in Bethlehem. The wise men came with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, to honor Him, Matthew 2:11. The angels told the shepherds the good news on the Judean hills, Luke 2:8-12. Verses 13-14, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

There was glory at His baptism, Matthew 3:13,16-17. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him...And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

There was glory in His merciful ministrations among men, as He traveled over the hills of Judea, or by the shore of Galilee, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, lifting up the fallen, giving hope to the hopeless, teaching and preaching as never man spake before.

There was glory in His resurrection, when the angel came down from heaven, and the stone was rolled away; and Jesus came forth triumphant over death, hell and the grave. The glad news went out that “He is not here: for he is risen.” And, thank God, we know that today we serve a living Saviour.

There is glory in heaven now, where Jesus is at the right hand of the throne of God. He has gone into the Holy of Holies to carry the blood of the sacrifice, to make the atonement for sin. There He is our Great High Priest; there He is our Advocate; there He is our Intercessor; and there He represents our cause before the Eternal Father.

There will be glory when He comes again down the pathless sky, for His own blood-bought Bride. The trump of God shall sound, and the bodies of those who have died in Christ shall come forth from the graves; the living saints shall be changed from mortal to immortality, and, together with the risen ones, shall be caught up to meet the returning Bridegroom in the air. “...and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Yes, there was great glory in all of these things. Howbeit, the greatest glory of Christ in all eternity was in the hour of His ignominious death on the cross of Calvary. The crown that He wore there was His glory crown.

Paul, in Hebrews 2:9, speaks of it thus:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for (by) the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

That hour of His agony, that hour, when He bowed His head and said, “It is finished,” that hour when He plunged into the abyss of death’s darkness, thank God, that was the hour of the supreme glory of Jesus Christ, my Saviour. For in that hour He was winning eternal salvation for you and me. The way to his glory was through His suffering.

The hour of His death on Calvary was the hour of His supreme glory, because it was then, and there that He wrought His greatest work; there He purchased salvation for a lost world.

In our text, the Bride declares that this glory crown was put upon His head, “in the day of the gladness of his heart.” Though this was the time of His greatest sorrow and suffering; yet it was a time of joy, as well. We read of this in Hebrews 12:2: “...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Even in the midst of our Lord’s most crucial suffering, He saw the multitudes whom He would save; even while His life’s blood ran down upon the ground, He foresaw the innumerable company of those precious souls, whose sins would be cleansed in the crimson flood, and whose robes would be washed whiter than snow. This was His joy; this was the gladness of His heart.

So the Bride sees her Bridegroom-King in His chariot of salvation; She calls to the Jews to come, behold Him crucified – crowned with thorns – and in beholding Him by faith, to be saved forever. Because she loves Jesus, she also loves them for whom He died, and she longs for their salvation.

Oh, may every lost soul who reads these lines heed the invitation in Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE BRIDE

Song of Solomon 4:1-7

“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair, thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”

For a long time in my studies of The Song of Solomon I passed over this part of the text as being of no especial importance. However, the thought came to me with force, one day, that, if this is the word of God in reality – and we know that it is–, then every chapter, every verse, every statement, yea, every word is important. It all has God’s message for us. There are no irrelevant and unnecessary things found here. God did not give, preserve, and safeguard these sixty-six books of the Bible for the propagation of foolishness.

I then began to apply myself to the prayerful study of these scriptures, that I might find what truths God intended to convey here, and I found that they are wonderful, they challenge us with their beauty and spiritual meaning. After all, the message here is quite simple, when we really look for it.

One primary reason that we do not get more thrill, and spiritual elevation in our reading of the Bible is that we do just that, we merely read, skimming the surface of God’s word, we pick up a few of the more simple things, like a man doing strip mining, who gets the more inferior coal near the top of the ground. To get the real treasure, and to find the real glory and beauty of truth, we must dig, and dig, and dig, deep into the things of God.

I am well aware of the fact that many people will not accept the things I teach here; some will say that they are far-fetched, or imaginary. There will be others of unspiritual mind, who will try to find vulgarity and evil in these studies.

By far the most astounding and unspiritual attitude that I have ever found anywhere, I must say, was that of a deacon in a Baptist Church. As we stood in front of the church one Sunday morning before service, he was telling about his Bible reading that week. He said, “You know, I have been trying to read the Song of Solomon, and I’ll tell you, that is some mess.”

My friend, how any saved man could think thus about one of the most beautiful, and important messages in God’s Word, I cannot understand.

Of course, there will be some who will pay little, or no attention at all to these scriptures, and what they may mean, either because they are too backslidden to care, or because they are mentally and spiritually too lazy to try to find out the truth. As for me, I will say, that the interpretations, or explanations offered here are perfectly satisfying to my own heart and mind. My heart has been thrilled as the Holy Spirit has led me in these studies.

As we begin this study of the seven wonders of the church, which is Jesus’ Bride, I should like to re-emphasize the fact that, though these truths apply to the Bride, which is the aggregation of all of the true New Testament Churches, they may well apply, also, to any, and every true local body of Christ in the world. What the Bridegroom says in this text about all of the wonderful characteristics of the Bride, He should also be able to say about any true local church. I pray God that He can.

The Bridegroom begins His complimentary speech in our text with the statement, Verse 1, “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair...”

We have already found that statement spoken by the Bridegroom of His Bride back in the first chapter of The Song of Solomon, and the expression will be found in other places as we go on. It is as a man deeply in love with a woman; and he is trying to express just what she means to him, and how beautiful she appears. The eyes of love overlook many blemishes and faults in the loved one.

Jesus sees His own true love, His church, as being “fair” which, as used here, is a term meaning beautiful, graceful, pleasing to look upon. Looking upon His Bride, loving her with perfect love, yearning for her, seeing in her everything that is beautiful, and good, and desirable, He cannot refrain from these lofty, yet tender, descriptions of her fair person. And in these seemingly strange compliments, these word pictures, He gives to us some of the most important truths concerning the church to be found in the Bible.

In saying that she is “fair,” He does not mean that she is perfect here in her earthly abode. The church on earth cannot be perfect any more than her adherents, who are human beings, are perfect. There is much impurity and uncleanness to be found in her now. But her Beloved sees her here in anticipation, as she will be one day, “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing,” He looks ahead to that time when He can say, as in the 7^th verse of this text, “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”

Yes, Jesus, our Lord, knows the impurities that are in His churches on earth. He is more conscious, than are we, of those faults and failures so prevalent in us all; yet He so loves us, that He bears with us patiently, and looks beyond to what He knows we shall be when we meet Him face to face.

In these few verses of our text, we find seven characteristic features of the Bride described by the Bridegroom. They are very simple things, yet oh how pregnant with meaning; how truly characteristic of the church and her ministry. We think of these features as “The Seven Wonders of The Church,” or Bride: It will be observed that features of the Bride discussed in the text are the natural focal points of beauty, and there is logical sequence in the order of their mention.

The Eyes Of The Bride

The Bridegroom speaks first of the Bride’s eyes,

“...thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks...”

This statement, and each of those that follow, opens to us an avenue of thought as to the character and ministry of the church of Jesus Christ here in the world.

Here is suggested the church’s compassionate vision. She has the eyes of a dove. Now, a fellow might think this a crude way to compliment the eyes of his lady-love, but I assure you there is nothing crude, nor ridiculous in this statement of our Lord concerning His Bride’s eyes. The Holy Spirit has set forth these things on the sacred page in a way we can understand. It is all the more comprehensible to us, because it is so intensely human.

Now let us consider: just what can be the significance of the eyes in the study of the character and ministry of the church?

The fact is, one’s eyes go a great way in the revelation of one’s character. We can often look into the eyes of an individual and read much truth about the inward person. It has been said, that “the eyes are the windows of the soul.” It is, indeed, hard for one to so mask the sight of the eyes, as to prevent the reflection of much of the inner self. The eyes reveal the emotions of the heart: in them we may show fear, hatred, consternation, doubt, or love.

Following this line of reasoning, we would say, that the eyes of the church reveal her soul, and determine largely the extent of her spiritual ministry.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish...”

The church, because of her love for the Bride-groom, cannot but look with compassionate vision upon a weary, heart-broken world, steeped in sin, and lost. Oh yes, the eyes tell the story. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:15-16, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Walk circumspectly? That means to walk with your eyes open, looking around you. That means to see the needs of a dying world; that means that the church must not close her eyes to the multitudes who are lost, without God, and without hope in the world. We are to see the fields that are white unto harvest. As Jesus sat by Jacob’s well outside Samaria, after the Samaritan woman had left her waterpot, and gone into the city, He said to His disciples, John 4:35, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

“Use your eyes.” That is what Jesus is saying to the church, today. You have eyes to see. Though they were once blind in sin, they have now been enlightened by the Spirit of God, and are able to behold the true state of an unbelieving world.

Ephesians 1:18 Paul speaks of, “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened...”

To see is to know; to know is to understand; and to understand is to give. Seeing the condition of a sinful world, and understanding the terrible fact, that every soul not saved “by grace, through faith” in Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour is condemned already, and on the road to a devil’s hell, then the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ can surely be no less than missionary. Luke 24:48 “And ye are witnesses of these things.”

If there is one thing the churches need today, it is a love vision of lost souls. A church without a vision is dead, while she lives.

The Bridegroom said to the Bride, “...thou hast doves’ eyes...”

Now the dove is a symbol of mourning innocence, a representation of peace, and purity.

I stood by the window in the springtime, and there came to my ears a mournful melody. It was the call of the mourning dove. Most any day in the spring and summer you may hear, as far distant, the cooing of the dove. It is a soft strange sound that has a melancholy air; it sounds as though the little winged creature is sad and mournful about something. Really, it is a love call to its mate.

As the dove, which stands for purity and innocence, is used to illustrate the character of the church, so ought the church in holiness and innocence of life seek to fulfill that type.

As the dove stands a symbol of peace, so should the ministry and mission of the church in this world be that of peace.

As the dove stands a harbinger of hope (it was a dove that Noah sent out from the ark, who returned to him with an olive leaf in her mouth, indicating that the waters of judgment were abated from off the earth) so shall the church give to the world the only message of hope, which is the message of the glorious gospel of God’s “amazing grace.”

As the dove represents love and mourning tenderness, so ought the church to have broken-hearted concern for sinners.

We might well learn a lesson from Jeremiah, the weeping prophet: Mourning over the ruin of his nation because of their sins, and unable to get them to heed the message that he brought from God, he cried out his soul’s lament,

Jeremiah 9:1 “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”

Jeremiah 13:17 “But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.”

Perhaps more soul-touching than any other part of the prophet’s message in his plaintive cry in Jeremiah 8:20-22, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”

Jesus is saying to the Bride, “You have the tender eyes of a dove. You ought to be able to look out upon the world with its wars, its bloodshed, its sin, its disappointments, its tears, its broken hearts, its lost souls going down to hell with each tick of the clock, and seeing these conditions through eyes of compassionate love, you should give yourself to Christ’s service as never before.

Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

We need a revival of tears, and compassion in our churches today. We have come into such a condition of spiritual frigidity that we can no more weep over the lost and erring. We need more of the spirit of Paul in Romans 9:1-3. “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

Many other things press for utterance here, but we cannot speak them all. As we pass on to other things, we can only pray, and urge the true churches of our Lord Jesus Christ, to endeavor to live true to type, as having the eyes of a mourning dove.

II.

The Bride’s Hair

After the Bridegroom’s comment on the eyes of the Bride, He next turns His attention to her hair. And we would like once again to call attention to the logical sequence in the order in which these natural points of beauty are mentioned. In closely scrutinizing a beautiful woman, it would be quite natural to take notice of her eyes first, then next to give attention to her hair, etc. So in the examination of the Bride’s many features of beauty, we hear the Bridegroom say, “...thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.”

“But,” one may say, “What possible spiritual meaning can we find in such a statement as this?”

Why, my friend, this statement brings to our attention a fact of the utmost importance, particularly as to the relationship of the church to her husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, as He observes the features of the Bride’s beauty, He takes special notice of her long, beautiful, luxurious hair. And in feminine beauty the hair is one of the most essential points. For pleasing appearance in a woman, nothing is more important than a fine head of hair.

If space permitted, and it were necessary to this study, we could examine a number of selections of Scripture in which hair indicates majesty and glory. In Daniel’s vision, Daniel 7:9, “...and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool...”

Then John, when he was on the Isle called Patmos, and saw the glorious vision of the Son of Man, described Him thus in Revelation 1:14, “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;...”

However, there is a far greater significance in this mention of the Bride’s hair, in our text, than these others which we have referred to. He is not speaking here of the glory and majesty of the divine One; but he is speaking of His betrothed, His spouse, His church, whose business here in the world, while awaiting His return for their wedding in the sky, is to faithfully carry out the world-wide mission work of her Beloved.

He admires her long, luxurious, beautiful hair; It represents feminine beauty, and womanliness. But it means much more than this. I will show you what it means as we turn to the word of God: I cannot reproduce all of the scripture references here, but I ask the reader to turn and read I Corinthians 11:1-16.

It will be found in these verses, that the man is the head of the woman, in God’s plan; that she is to be subject to his headship; and that she is to show this subjection by wearing her hair differently to that of the man.

I Corinthians 11:14-15, “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” Verse 5, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head...” (that is, her husband.)

To pray with her head uncovered – that is, to pray without wearing the proper hair, which is plainly declared to be her covering – is to dishonor her head. It is plainly stated that the man is her head.

A point which has been argued and debated much among Bible students is whether or not it is wrong for women to cut their hair. Of course, the question might resolve itself to simply, “How long is long, or how short is short?”

Now, we cannot deny that the scriptures teach that the man is the head of the woman, and that the woman is to be subject to the man. But I think that we are due to study the scriptures with a bit of common sense; and we cannot overlook verse 11 which says, “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.”

This shows plainly that neither one is to abuse the relationship.

Furthermore, that the matter of the length of the woman’s hair is not to be made a point of dissension, or confusion, is plainly evident in verse 16, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”

Personally, I think that the long hair of a woman more naturally shows the true picture of her proper regard for the headship of her husband. Her hair is to be a sign of her humility; it shows a recognition of her place in subjection to the authority of her husband.

In writing of the prayer-life and service of men and women, the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul in I Timothy 2:8-10 “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

Then again, the same truth is set forth in I Peter 3:3-5, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands.”

From the foregoing, and other scriptures we see, that the woman is to recognize, and honor her God-given place as being subject to the man, who is her head; Her attitude should be one of a quiet, meek spirit of humility and modesty. Her long hair, which is given her for a covering; is a sign that she recognizes, and accepts this place. Thank God, for humble, modest, quiet, faithful, women, who can find joy in serving God in the way that He ordained of old.

In the light of these things, the application of the words of our text is too obvious to need extensive comment. The Bridegroom, Jesus, is speaking of His Bride, the church, and He sees her as beautiful, humble, modest, quiet, meek, adorned with the spirit of honor and submission to Him. She honours Jesus as Her Head; and her love for Him constrains her to be faithful to Him in service. (See Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18). The most primary appointment she has is to witness for Him in a world that is lost in sin.

Her hair is described as that of “a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead.” And when we consider that the Bible meaning of “Mount Gilead” is “Hill of Witness,” we can understand the applicability of the simile.

The beauty of the Bride in the eyes of the Bridegroom, is measured largely by her faithfulness to the appointed task. This, to me, is a field of beautiful thought. But we must pass on to the third wonder.

III.

The Bride’s Teeth

Song of Solomon verse 2, “Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.”

Having observed, with deepest admiration and appreciation, the tender loving eyes, and the long beautiful hair of the Bride, the Bridegroom now takes notice to her fine set of even white teeth.

There is nothing that adds more to the attraction of one’s person than a good set of evenly spaced, gleaming white teeth. A smile is so nice when it exposes beautiful teeth; they make for great beauty.

Contrast, if you will, a person with such a fine set of teeth, to the other extreme condition, namely one who has false teeth, or one whose teeth are bad, or even a person having no teeth at all. The difference is not just in the appearance of the individual, but it may well become a question of health. A person who has no teeth, or whose teeth are bad, is certainly not able to masticate his food properly, and is, therefore, denied the enjoyment, and health giving properties of many of the best foods; consequently, his health may become impaired, his strength curtailed, and his growth and development arrested. Good teeth enable the possessor to utilize good food. Such a person can feed on meat, instead of having to remain on a diet of liquids, say milk, etc.

Now, all of this discussion may seem crude and improper in this study of the scriptures; however such is not the case, for we have here a simile that is very fitting, and very true. God gives us a spiritual message. The Bridegroom is making an appraisal of the features of His Bride; it is Jesus speaking of His church, and using very human, down-to-earth terms in which to describe her.

I do not feel that it is altogether necessary to discuss this feature of the Bride at great length; the application will be quite obvious to the reader. However we might sort of summarize the various truths suggested here by the Bride’s teeth: Good teeth speak of

1. Beauty.

2. Health.

3. The ability to take strong nourishment.

4. Proper growth and development, etc.

The point which I want to particularly emphasize here is the part that good teeth play in the health, growth, and strength of an individual, because those teeth make it possible for the individual to feed on strong meat. When I had all of