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The Song of Solomon is an allegory.

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It's about the love that Jesus Christ has

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for His bride, His church.

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That's us.

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There are some today who claim

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it's nothing more than a love

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a man has for a woman,

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but as Spurgeon and
Robert Murray McCheyne argued,

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those guys are not even saved.

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You know, this has become so beautiful.

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In chapter 2 verse 2,

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this is how God sees you, believer.

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"As the lily among thorns,

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so is my love among the daughters."

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As one beautiful lily among thorns,

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that is how Jesus looks at you.

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That is how God looks at the person

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who trusts in His Son.

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And then in verse 3,

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"As the apple tree

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among the trees of the wood,

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so is my beloved among the sons.

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I sat down under his shadow,

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and with great delight

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and his fruit was sweet to my taste."

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The picture here

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is you're walking through the woods

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on a hot day.

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It's sweaty, it's not a fine climate,

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it's stuffy.

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And you walk under a tree,

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and you get that refreshing shade.

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That is what it is like when you come

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into Jesus Christ.

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When you stop working;

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when you come under His tree

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of His salvation; the shade of Christ

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and His finished work on that cross.

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And we can taste His fruit.

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We can eat of Christ and know Him.

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But let me ask you this.

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You see, I can show you

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a photograph of an apple tree

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on a hot day.

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You're walking through the woods.

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You're so hot and sweaty.

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You're really burdened.

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And I can say,

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hey, look at this photograph

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of this apple tree over there

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with all the shade.

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That's no good.

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It's not going to shade you,

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just showing you a picture of it.

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It's no good just hearing these truths.

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And I could say,

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look at that tree over there

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from a distance.

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Look at the shade under there.

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It's no use me telling you these things

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if you do not go and sit under its shade.

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And taste of its fruit.

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It's no use you hearing these truths

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time and time again,

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precept upon precept,

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line upon line,

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if you don't go to Christ.

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You always stand back.

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You must feed upon Him.

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Now, if we go on.

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Verse 4

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"He brought me to the banqueting house,

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and His banner over me was love."

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I mean look at this.

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Jesus Christ brings us to Him.

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To eat with us, to dine with us,

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to know Him.

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And His banner over us is love.

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His desire is towards me, it says,

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in this book.

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All Christ's thoughts towards
you, the believer,

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are good.

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Everything He puts in your life

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is because He loves you.

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The other week when I was at

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Brother Leiter's church,

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I nearly preached on this text.

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"He brought me to the banqueting house

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and His banner over me was love."

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And I just stood there for half an hour

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or forty minutes,

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and all I could say was,

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He brought me to His banqueting house,

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and His banner over me was love.

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And I decided not to 
preach the sermon on it

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in the end, because

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the whole sermon, I'd have

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probably just repeated it.

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You know, He brought me to His

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banqueting house,

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and His banner over me was love.

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He brought me to His banqueting house,

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and His banner over me was love.

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And then verse 8, look at this,

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this is one of my favorite texts

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in all the Bible.

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"The voice of my beloved,

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behold."

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When the Bible says "behold,"

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it's wise to underline that truth.

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What is the Holy Spirit

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through the inspired spokesman 
here showing you?

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He's saying hold on to this.

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Hold on to this with your

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eyes and mind and your heart.

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Make sure you see this.

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"The voice of my beloved,

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behold, he cometh leaping

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upon the mountains,

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skipping upon the hills."

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If you're lost today,

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you want to come to Christ?

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He's not there with arms folded,

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waiting, with an angry look.

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If you rise up to follow Him,

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behold, He cometh leaping across

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the mountains to you.

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The idea is Christ running over the hills

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skipping with His arms wide open to you.

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If you're a believer struggling,

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and you have a coldness now of Christ;

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you've lost that freshness.

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What do you normally try to do?

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You try and work yourself back

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into His presence, don't you?

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Well, I must stay a little 
bit out of His favor

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a bit longer because I've sinned.

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So I don't deserve to be put

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straight back into His presence.

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Like you really deserve to be

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in His presence in the first place,

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based on your own efforts.

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But this is what Christ says.

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Behold, He comes running to us.

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Leaping to us.

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This is salvation.

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Jesus told the parable 
of the prodigal son.

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If you say I will arise,

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I will go to my Father,

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I will be as one of the hired servants.

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Again, God doesn't stand there.

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It says when he saw 
him a great way off,

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he ran to him.

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That is what He does to you.

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It says in Isaiah,

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as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

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so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

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How much does Jesus Christ long

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for the day, believer,

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when you will be with Him?

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As the bridegroom 
rejoices over the bride...

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The picture there is the bridegroom

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is waiting for the wedding.

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He longs for that day when his bride

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will be truly his and 
they will have that first kiss.

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And belong.

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When God thinks of the day

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that you will come to Him,

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that is how He thinks, believer.

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That is how much He loves you

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and desires You to come to Him.

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And then verse 10,

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"My beloved spake and said unto me,

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'rise up, my love, my fair one,

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and come away.'"

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I think it says, "my darling,"

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in the New American Standard.

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This is how intimate Jesus loves you.

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One of the signs of conversion is praying.

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Not just corporate prayer,

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but wanting to be alone with God.

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And look how much Jesus Christ

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longs for you to be alone with Him.

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He says, 'rise up, my love, my fair one,

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and come away.'

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Come to Me. 
Come to Me.

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Come away with Me.

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And look, verse 11,

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"For lo, the winter is past

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and the rain is over and gone,

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the flowers appear on the earth,

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and the time of singing,

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the birds come."

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The picture here is that life has come.

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And you know that.

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You know when you have your dry seasons,

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you go to Christ,

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and what happens?

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You are flooded with life.

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He that believeth on Me,

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out of his heart will flow trickles

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of living water.

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That's not what it says is it?

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Will flow rivers of living water.

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We go over to chapter 4:7.

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"Thou art all fair, my love,

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there is no spot in thee."

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Christ sees you, believer, as perfect.

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If you're lost this morning,

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do you not long for 
God to see you as this?

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Well, you must come to Christ.

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From the moment you do,

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this is how God will see you.

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There is no spot in you.

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Perfect.

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Verse 9

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"Thou has ravished my heart,

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my sister, my spouse."

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I think in the New American Standard

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it says "my heart beats faster."

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"Thou has ravished my heart

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with one of thine eyes.

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With one look of thine eyes.

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With one chain of thy neck."

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When you pray to God,

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when you spend time alone with God,

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the heart of God beats faster.

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You ravish His heart.

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You know, when I first got saved,

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I heard a song with this.

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Using this verse,

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"Thou has ravished my heart."

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And I used to get it the wrong way around.

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I used to think this 
was us speaking to God.

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Because I used to think,

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well, surely God can't love us this much.

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As if we could love God more

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than He loves us.

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Some of these texts here are

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just unbelievable.

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I mean, it says, in Zephaniah 3:17.

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In fact, quickly turn there,

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and we'll finish up.

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I want you to see it in the text

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in case anyone hasn't.

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Ok, Zephaniah 3:17 says,

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"The Lord thy God in the 
midst of thee is mighty.

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He will save."

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Notice that.

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"He will rejoice over thee with joy."

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He's talking about you, believer.

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God will rejoice over you with joy.

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"He will rest in His love..."

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and look at this,

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unbelievable.

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"He will joy over thee with singing."

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Did you know God sings about you?

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I read this text - 
the first time I noticed that,

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I read it several times

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because again, I was thinking,

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this is just too much.

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This is too much. Surely.

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You know like those times we

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sing about God and we're lifted up.

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We're just lifted up in praise to God,

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and we rejoice as we're singing about Him.

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That's how He sings about us.

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Because He's not look 
at our righteousness.

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You know, God's in heaven today.

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This is what this text is saying.

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And He's singing from heaven.

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Brandon loves Me, this I know.

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Laura loves Me, this I know.

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James loves Me, this I know.

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I can't put all your names in there.

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00:12:14,087 --> 00:12:17,062
But insert yourself if you're a believer.

277
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For My Jesus tells Me so.

278
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Little ones to Him belong.

279
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They are weak, but I am strong.

280
00:12:27,946 --> 00:12:30,827
In fact, just one more text,

281
00:12:30,827 --> 00:12:32,088
and then we're done.

282
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If we go to Genesis 2.

283
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I want to just leave you 
with one last thought.

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Basically all of the Scripture

285
00:12:56,864 --> 00:12:59,427
is about the person of Jesus Christ.

286
00:12:59,427 --> 00:13:01,761
These are they which speak of Me, He said.

287
00:13:01,761 --> 00:13:03,058
It's all about Him.

288
00:13:03,058 --> 00:13:05,458
Now, I did a full sermon on this chapter

289
00:13:05,458 --> 00:13:07,337
at Kirksville last week.

290
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You can pick it up on the Internet.

291
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You see the Sabbath here.

292
00:13:11,410 --> 00:13:12,661
What's that a picture of?

293
00:13:12,661 --> 00:13:15,335
It's a picture of the rest of salvation

294
00:13:15,335 --> 00:13:16,331
in Jesus Christ.

295
00:13:16,331 --> 00:13:18,312
And there's one after another.

296
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The water in the ground here

297
00:13:19,712 --> 00:13:21,869
is a picture of Jesus watering our hearts.

298
00:13:21,869 --> 00:13:24,929
And of course, verse 18,

299
00:13:24,929 --> 00:13:26,310
"And the Lord God said,

300
00:13:26,310 --> 00:13:29,346
'it is not good that 
man should be alone.'"

301
00:13:29,346 --> 00:13:31,057
What's that a picture of?

302
00:13:31,057 --> 00:13:33,444
Ultimately, the second Man.

303
00:13:33,444 --> 00:13:36,528
Jesus Christ on the cross.

304
00:13:36,528 --> 00:13:39,257
He has been in the bosom of God the Father

305
00:13:39,257 --> 00:13:41,085
for all eternity.

306
00:13:41,085 --> 00:13:44,730
It is not good that He be alone.

307
00:13:44,730 --> 00:13:49,685
But look at this.

308
00:13:49,685 --> 00:13:52,230
Verse 22.

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00:13:52,230 --> 00:13:54,165
"And the rib which the Lord God

310
00:13:54,165 --> 00:13:55,238
had taken from the man

311
00:13:55,238 --> 00:13:57,183
made He a woman,

312
00:13:57,183 --> 00:13:59,395
and brought her unto the man."

313
00:13:59,395 --> 00:14:01,557
Now, notice, all that the 
Father giveth Me,

314
00:14:01,557 --> 00:14:03,806
will come to Me.

315
00:14:03,806 --> 00:14:06,000
God brings the woman to the man.

316
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,255
What's this a picture of?

317
00:14:07,255 --> 00:14:09,223
Ultimately, the second Adam, Jesus Christ

318
00:14:09,223 --> 00:14:15,865
and His bride is the woman, which is us.

319
00:14:15,865 --> 00:14:19,220
"And Adam said, 'this 
is now bone of my bone

320
00:14:19,220 --> 00:14:21,322
and flesh of my flesh.

321
00:14:21,322 --> 00:14:23,019
She shall be called woman,

322
00:14:23,019 --> 00:14:27,961
because she was taken out of man.'"

323
00:14:27,961 --> 00:14:30,586
Again, this ultimately 
is a picture of Christ.

324
00:14:30,586 --> 00:14:31,891
It's all about Christ.

325
00:14:31,891 --> 00:14:34,504
This is how God sees the believer.

326
00:14:34,504 --> 00:14:37,080
He says this is now bone of My bone

327
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:38,382
and flesh of My flesh.

328
00:14:38,382 --> 00:14:40,461
You are of Me.

329
00:14:40,461 --> 00:14:42,859
And look at this, verse 24.

330
00:14:42,859 --> 00:14:44,322
"Therefore shall a man leave

331
00:14:44,322 --> 00:14:46,192
his father and his mother

332
00:14:46,192 --> 00:14:48,878
and shall cleave unto his wife

333
00:14:48,878 --> 00:14:52,005
and they shall become one flesh."

334
00:14:52,005 --> 00:14:55,833
What's this a picture of?

335
00:14:55,833 --> 00:14:57,587
God the Father

336
00:14:57,587 --> 00:15:00,372
Jesus leaving the Father in Heaven.

337
00:15:00,372 --> 00:15:03,069
Coming to His wife - that's us.

338
00:15:03,069 --> 00:15:05,158
And He cleaves to us.

339
00:15:05,158 --> 00:15:09,285
We become one flesh.

340
00:15:09,285 --> 00:15:10,498
Some of you are thinking

341
00:15:10,498 --> 00:15:12,767
you're allegorizing too much.

342
00:15:12,767 --> 00:15:14,695
But let me show you how Paul

343
00:15:14,695 --> 00:15:16,607
interpreted this verse.

344
00:15:16,607 --> 00:15:18,162
You don't have to turn there,

345
00:15:18,162 --> 00:15:32,104
but I'll turn quickly to 
Ephesians 5:31-32.

346
00:15:37,414 --> 00:15:40,010
Paul quotes it, he says,

347
00:15:40,010 --> 00:15:42,154
"For this cause, shall a man leave

348
00:15:42,154 --> 00:15:43,789
his father and mother,

349
00:15:43,789 --> 00:15:46,068
and shall be joined unto his wife,

350
00:15:46,068 --> 00:15:49,037
and they too shall become one flesh."

351
00:15:49,037 --> 00:15:51,354
What's Paul's interpretation 
of this verse?

352
00:15:51,354 --> 00:15:53,479
"This is a great mystery.

353
00:15:53,479 --> 00:15:57,913
But I speak concerning 
Christ and the church."

354
00:15:57,913 --> 00:16:00,260
It's all about Christ.

355
00:16:00,260 --> 00:16:02,081
You see, so often in Genesis,

356
00:16:02,081 --> 00:16:05,303
it's turned into so much of

357
00:16:05,303 --> 00:16:08,142
a dispute over creation, evolution,

358
00:16:08,142 --> 00:16:09,165
and things like that.

359
00:16:09,165 --> 00:16:10,919
It's turned into an academic paper,

360
00:16:10,919 --> 00:16:12,789
and we miss Christ in there.

361
00:16:12,789 --> 00:16:15,727
Or there are many great sermons

362
00:16:15,727 --> 00:16:17,614
preached on marriage from this verse,

363
00:16:17,614 --> 00:16:19,450
and there's nothing wrong with that,

364
00:16:19,450 --> 00:16:22,011
but Christ is what you must 
look for in Scripture.

365
00:16:22,011 --> 00:16:25,361
Because, as the disciples were on the

366
00:16:25,361 --> 00:16:28,096
Emmaus Road,

367
00:16:28,096 --> 00:16:31,351
why did their hearts burn within them?

368
00:16:31,351 --> 00:16:33,257
Because Christ was telling them

369
00:16:33,257 --> 00:16:34,290
from the Scriptures, about

370
00:16:34,290 --> 00:16:36,970
not eschatology or Calvinism,

371
00:16:36,970 --> 00:16:37,899
good things,

372
00:16:37,899 --> 00:16:40,430
but about Himself.

373
00:16:40,430 --> 00:16:45,037
Now just this last verse in Genesis 2.

374
00:16:45,037 --> 00:16:46,694
"And they were both naked,

375
00:16:46,694 --> 00:16:48,146
the man and his wife,

376
00:16:48,146 --> 00:16:50,398
and were not ashamed."

377
00:16:50,398 --> 00:16:52,432
Now this verse meant nothing to me

378
00:16:52,432 --> 00:16:53,840
for so long.

379
00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:55,480
I didn't get it all.

380
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,314
"And they were both naked,

381
00:16:58,314 --> 00:16:59,701
the man and his wife,

382
00:16:59,701 --> 00:17:00,934
and were not ashamed."

383
00:17:00,934 --> 00:17:02,593
What's this all about?

384
00:17:02,593 --> 00:17:04,728
But you see, it was before I realized

385
00:17:04,728 --> 00:17:08,001
everything is about Christ.

386
00:17:08,001 --> 00:17:11,059
Who is the man here a picture of?

387
00:17:11,059 --> 00:17:12,844
Christ.

388
00:17:12,844 --> 00:17:15,649
Who's his wife here a picture of?

389
00:17:15,649 --> 00:17:17,291
Us, the believers.

390
00:17:17,291 --> 00:17:19,765
And they were both naked,

391
00:17:19,765 --> 00:17:22,061
the man and his wife,

392
00:17:22,061 --> 00:17:23,608
Christ and His bride,

393
00:17:23,608 --> 00:17:26,459
and were not ashamed.

394
00:17:26,459 --> 00:17:30,719
All my sin.

395
00:17:30,719 --> 00:17:33,575
Every wicked thought I have ever had

396
00:17:33,575 --> 00:17:39,597
is naked and open before God.

397
00:17:39,597 --> 00:17:44,450
And He is not ashamed

398
00:17:44,450 --> 00:17:46,509
to dwell with me?

399
00:17:46,509 --> 00:17:54,932
And I am not ashamed to be with Him.

400
00:17:54,932 --> 00:18:01,304
So, we'll close in prayer.

401
00:18:04,404 --> 00:18:07,697
Father,

402
00:18:07,697 --> 00:18:11,072
we thank You, Lord, for Your love.

403
00:18:11,072 --> 00:18:20,425
Oh Lord, I pray You 
would take these words,

404
00:18:20,425 --> 00:18:23,305
and use them, Lord, for Your saints.

405
00:18:23,305 --> 00:18:26,802
Just to be elevated in the love of You.

406
00:18:26,802 --> 00:18:28,133
For anyone struggling,

407
00:18:28,133 --> 00:18:30,565
for anyone who does not know You, Lord,

408
00:18:30,565 --> 00:18:32,874
I pray, Lord, they would see now,

409
00:18:32,874 --> 00:18:34,585
behold, You cometh leaping across

410
00:18:34,585 --> 00:18:36,658
the mountains.

411
00:18:36,658 --> 00:18:38,107
They would see that You are

412
00:18:38,107 --> 00:18:39,326
altogether lovely.

413
00:18:39,326 --> 00:18:43,001
You have paid it all on that cross.

414
00:18:43,001 --> 00:18:46,846
Oh, regenerate Your people

415
00:18:46,846 --> 00:18:50,590
by Your Spirit.

416
00:18:50,590 --> 00:18:53,172
You are in this place, Lord.

417
00:18:53,172 --> 00:18:56,340
And I know it, Father.

418
00:18:56,340 --> 00:18:57,668
I know it, Lord.

419
00:18:57,668 --> 00:19:01,170
We pray, Lord,

420
00:19:01,170 --> 00:19:02,683
that You would reveal Yourself

421
00:19:02,683 --> 00:19:07,183
to people now.

422
00:19:07,183 --> 00:19:09,190
You who is mighty to save,

423
00:19:09,190 --> 00:19:10,895
as we just read there in Zephaniah,

424
00:19:10,895 --> 00:19:12,060
Father,

425
00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:16,209
we pray that You would save.

426
00:19:16,209 --> 00:19:17,693
We praise You,

427
00:19:17,693 --> 00:19:18,868
in Jesus' name,

428
00:19:18,868 --> 00:19:21,368
Amen.