Song of Solomon - the Journey of Love — Phil Beach Jr.

Prayer for Revelation of God's Love

Credible, unsearchable, unspeakable, unfathomable riches of grace and mercy that you have so freely bestowed upon us. Thank you, Lord, for lavishing us in your love this morning. Thank you for letting us feel a sense of the panting of your own heart toward we who are loved with an everlasting love.

My God, I pray this morning that you would open up the eyes of our heart and enable us to catch a glimpse of your heart. Catch a glimpse of the panting of your heart, Lord. I thank you for your Word. I thank you for the release of your Word.

I thank you, Lord, for the knowledge of your heart that the Holy Spirit so faithfully gives to us, Lord. And I pray that you would overshadow this time, Lord, of sharing your Word and that the Holy Spirit would grant the spirit of revelation into our midst that we might be enabled to see things that we could not normally see and hear things that we could not normally hear and perceive things that we could not normally perceive and that it would affect us, Lord, in a most remarkable way.

We look to you to perform this this morning. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen and Amen and Amen. Praise the Lord. As we were worshiping this morning, please, I want to admonish everyone to listen carefully.

The Song of Solomon as God's Romance Story

For many, many, many weeks, the Lord has been walking me through one of the most delightful and beautiful stories that have ever been written. And some of you ladies, maybe not so much us men, but some of you ladies have a real spot in your heart for romance, don't you?

Romance. You like romance. You like stories about romance, about a lover and the beauty of that fellowship. Well, I want to be able this morning, by the help of God's grace, to share from the Lord's heart this incredible romance story that God has in His heart for you.

That's right, for you this morning. I want to share a little vision that I had as we were worshiping. Listen carefully, okay? Please. This is a healing word. A healing word. This is a healing word. I saw, as it were, back in the days when I was a teenager, and I saw a high school, and I was able to capture the emotion, the excitement of being a teenager in high school.

And I saw, as it were, a huge hall of a high school, and many, many students were in this hall. And they were about their business. Some of them were in their locker going through their books, getting ready for the next class, and other students were just chatting on the side, and some of the girls were with the girls, giggling, and the guys doing guy things.

You know, it was sort of business as normal. And all of a sudden, there seemed to be a quiet hush that came to all of the activity that was going on in the hallway. And everybody looked, and there they were, the class sweethearts.

And there he was, the best looking guy in the whole school. He had his arm around this beautiful little lady that he called his sweetheart. And as I looked, I saw myself weeping. And I said, my, my, my.

And I just beheld as this couple walked through the hallway, and all of the activity silenced as they saw this couple. And I was able to capture the inner thoughts of this beloved woman. I was able to see her heart.

And I perceived as she was... Now, here's the healing word that needs to be brought into our lives, beloved. The healing word. I saw, as it were, inside her heart. And I saw that as she walked amidst all of the people, all of her peers, there wasn't the slightest bit of insecurity in her life.

She did not even take a thought about what anybody was thinking about her. She was so enamored. She was so engrossed in the fact that she was walking side by side with her lover. And the fact that everybody knew, and she knew, that his affection was toward her alone, caused her heart to be completely free from any thoughts of what people might be thinking about her.

And as I watched them walk through the hallway, and all the students sort of hushed up, I saw a heart that was so preoccupied, and so secure, and so at rest, and so at peace, in one fact, one revelation.

This man that I'm walking with absolutely, positively loves me. And then the vision began to fade.

Listen closely, please.

Have you seen, have you gotten the revelation?

Listen, you are that woman in the vision. I am that woman in the vision.

And there is one whose embrace is toward us and around us, whose love is lavishing us with such purity and beauty. And we fail to see the place of rest and comfort that that would bring to us. Jesus wants to reveal to you and I the unspeakable, unsearchable, everlasting love that he has for you.

The root of our fears, the root of our insecurities, the root of many of our problems that we have, stem from an inadequate apprehension of that embrace that we have in, and by, and through Jesus Christ.

You don't see yourself as that woman in the vision. That's the problem. We don't see the intensity of Christ's embrace and love for us. And therefore, we are vulnerable to all manner of insecurities and fears and struggles.

Song of Solomon and the Bride's Intimacy With Christ

I'd like to invite you, if you would, please, to turn your Bibles, put your finger there and open up to the beginning of the greatest spiritual romance story that's ever been written about the Lord Jesus and his bride.

Song of Solomon. Words cannot adequately describe the language and the meaning of the language that is recorded in the Song of Solomon that reveals the incredible love and passion that the Lord Jesus has for his beloved.

We need the Lord to open up the eyes of our heart to see this. We need the Lord to open up the eyes of our heart to understand this. Now, as I had said, this has been something that the Lord has been walking me through for many, many weeks.

And finally, a few nights ago, particularly last night, there was a gentle release in my spirit to begin to share some of the things that the Lord has shared with me. And I believe that the time and the season is right.

And I believe this is a healing word. It is a word that will simply accomplish the purpose for which the Holy Spirit intends it to accomplish. And I'm trusting that we will all be very, very much before the Lord that he might reveal this love to us.

This revelation of love. Beginning, and keep your finger there, I want to, if you would, to turn your Bible to Revelation chapter 3. And we're going to look to the Lord to just continue to walk through this entire book.

And this whole series of messages is going to be entitled Song of Solomon, the Journey of Love. Song of Solomon, the Journey of Love. Beginning in chapter 3 of the book of Revelation. I'm sorry, chapter 2.

Beginning in verse 1,. And unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write these things, saith he, that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

After this, we're going to partake of communion, God willing. I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.

Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Beloved, we must pray that the Lord will take us beyond reading the Bible in order to learn doctrine and touch the Spirit of the Word.

Do you hear what Jesus is saying here? Do we hear by the ears of our spirit what the Savior is saying here? As I read this portion of Scripture, I am hearing the heart of a broken Savior. I know that you can't understand this unless you're married, or maybe you can if you have children, or maybe if not in relation to your parents.

But how would you feel if somebody very, very, very, very dear to you excelled in good works, excelled in great things, excelled in wonderful service, but yet you sensed in the depths of your heart that they've lost their love for you?

What would all of their service mean to you? What would all of their service mean to you?

Jesus says you've left your first love.

The words of Jesus in this portion of Scripture rip through the veneer, tear the veneer off, tear the surface off, goes beyond all of the activity, all of the service, all of the external things that look good, and zeroes right into the center of the being.

And there He says, I perceive that your heart is not aflame for Me the way it used to be. Though outwardly your activities are excelling and outwardly you are doing things that are commendable, yet the Lord is saying, those things in themselves are not what brings me delight.

I am tickled pink that my wife works day and night. I'm thrilled that she serves my family and serves me. I am thrilled that she's always saying, can I get this for you? Can I do this for you? I am thrilled that she is trying to prepare my clothes for me to get ready for this trip to come up Thursday.

How she's going to get the sewing kit out and probably shorten some things and make some things fit. I'm thrilled. But if in the midst of it, I went to bed at night and I pondered and I sensed that even though she's doing all this for me, she doesn't love me the way she used to, what good would all that do for me?

What good would it do? How would I feel if I knew that when I tried to embrace her, she pushed me off? Yet she got up in the morning and said, would you like me to make you breakfast? Well, sure, sure.

I'll take a few egg whites and some toast. Here you go, sweetheart. Oh, I got your clothes. Thank you. And then that evening I tried to embrace her. What's wrong? I don't understand. This is what Jesus is seeing and saying to you and I, to the church in this late hour.

You have left Thy first love. Remember therefore, one version says, remember therefore the heights from which you have fallen. The heights from which you have fallen and repent and do the first works.

Returning From Religious Activity to Spiritual Intimacy

Now, beloved, it is quite obvious that these saints had produced works. They were producing works. Jesus mentioned the works before He indicted them. So, it's not talking about external works. There are works that Jesus longs to see that are not occurring, that is breaking His heart.

But the thing that distinguishes these works that He commands the Ephesians to do again from the works that He mentioned in verses 2 and 3 is that the works in 2 and 3 can be seen by men, can be discerned by men, but the works that He is requiring the church in Ephesus to come back to are works that can't be seen by men.

They are the activities of the heart. The activities of the soul. The works that indicate embrace. The works that indicate laying hold of and embracing and having intimacy within. They're the works that He longs to see in His church.

And we have run after external works. We have run after service. We have run after religious activity. We have run after playing church and conforming our lives to the 1999 picture of what it is to be a Christian.

And yet, we have fallen from the works of spiritual intimacy with God. And that breaks the heart of Christ, even as it would break your heart if you saw someone serving you, but inwardly their hearts have been separated from you.

They're not embracing you. They're embracing something else. Something else has captured the heart. Now, you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, the heights from which you have fallen. Listen closely.

The only reliable account that we have to know the way it should be, because I've pointed this Scripture out many times to Christians, and I myself have thought about it, and Jesus says, remember from whence thou art fallen.

Well, what frame of reference is He referring to? What is He talking about when He says, remember the way it used to be. Remember the heights from which you have fallen. Repent and do those first works.

What's very subjective if you individually look at it, because you might think, well, maybe what He means there I'm to imitate the emotion that I had when I first got saved, or I'm to try and imitate the tingly feelings.

All of that is subjective. I would like to point your attention to the only reliable account that we can go to that can teach us what it ought to be like to love the Lord with all of our heart. I believe when Jesus spoke these words to the church in Ephesus, He had in His mind the songs of Solomon that He Himself inspired, because that is a window into the heart of the romance that Christ wants to have with the church.

That is a window into the heart of what it's like to be engaging in the heights of the love that God wants us to have with Him. And so, therefore, if we are to remember and go back and repent, we must pray the Holy Spirit will breathe afresh into our spirits and enable us to grasp the cry of His heart as we walk through the song of Solomon together on our knees before God.

The Believer's Personal Encounter With the Lover

As you turn there to the song of Solomon, many, many years I have gone through this book many, many, many times. But recently, as I went through this book, I was brought to the place where the Lord had a special blessing for me.

One that was not quite like any other time that I read through this book. In previous times reading through this book, I was elated and thrilled at the thought that this book reveals the beautiful intimacy and relationship and love and passion that Jesus has for His bride, the church.

And I always read it marveling at how Jesus is so in love with His church and likewise, His church is so in love with Him. But recently, when this began to occur and the Lord began to walk me through this, I was enabled to read through this and hear the voice of my lover.

And suddenly, the book that for so many years represented the Lord and His church suddenly represented me and Him.

I can't describe what that means. I can't describe what that does. The preciousness, the intimacy, the love. I saw that I was that girl in high school.

And His embrace was around me. And I was walking down the hallway. And everybody was looking. I didn't really care what anybody thought because His arm was around me, not them. Verse 1, the song of Psalms, which is Solomon's.

The word Solomon, listen closely. Lord, I'm praying that You will give us Holy Spirit hearing, eyes to see, hearts to perceive, that You will be pleased, Lord, to walk with us through this portion of Scripture and breathe into us, Lord, the thoughts that You want to show us through these words, Lord.

I pray in Jesus' name. Solomon means full of peace, peaceable, an abundance of peace. Let me tell you something. When you begin to hear the song of Solomon, you will finally have peace in your life. Once and for all.

And it will not go away. The reason why the church is seeking peace, all doctrinally they say, Jesus is my peace. But you know as well as I do in experience, we're going from one broken cistern to another broken cistern because we know theologically He's our peace.

But something's not right. Something's not right. So we're going here. We're going there. We dabble with this. We're looking for peace. But when you hear the song of Solomon, you will come to know peace.

Listen, the absence of living, vibrant peace within the soul and spirit of the church today is the result of having left our first love. The song of songs, which is Solomon's. I can remember when I was about 14 or so, I got a job as shopwright.

And I'm telling you, I can't even remember her name, but I got a puppy love crush on one of the girls that worked there. And let me tell you what I used to do. If she went into the break room, I would walk past the break room and see where she was sitting.

And then when she got out from the break room, I went down and sat where she sat. Just so in my mind I said, she sat here. I know none of you are like that. You're all somewhere else, right? I know that.

I know none of you ever experienced that. And I can remember when she was cashier. I would bag. And I didn't know the Lord back then, but I prayed that my boss, Stella... How many remember Stella from shopwright?

Anybody? Mom does. I prayed that Stella, because she ran the shopwright like a high-ranking officer in the army. I remember I would pray, oh God, let Stella tell me to bag on the register that this girl is working at.

And you know, it never happened. Never happened. I can remember that I had no problem getting up for work as a 14-year-old because I woke up and the song of love was in my heart. Oh, it was puppy love, I know.

But it was still something real to me. And that song, I'd get up and I couldn't wait to get to work because I couldn't wait to see her. She was just beautiful to me. And you kids are going to experience this someday.

The song of love.

But there is a song of love that the Holy Spirit wants to give us about the romance, about the love relationship that we have with a living Savior that will absolutely change our lives. When was the last time you heard the song of love?

When was the last time your heart panted with the sense of, oh God, oh Christ, oh Savior, I love You! But more importantly, You love me! You see, this isn't some dead doctrinal book. This isn't some dead book essentially about a man and a woman.

Now, I'm not saying that the Lord can't use the book in order to inflame romance into a marriage. Fine. I won't touch it. But beloved, God's intent is not limited to that. But He wants us as His children to know that there is a higher love that surpasses that whole realm.

And that's the love. And that's the language that the book of Solomon is representing. All of the language in the book of Solomon, though it is a very natural language and though it refers to very normal, natural things, yet the language is describing the unspeakable spiritual realities that are within the heart of Christ when He beholds His undefiled One and when she beholds Him.

And you'll notice there are vivid descriptions of each other. Various parts of the human body. Don't draw back in fear and blush and be timid. But realize that it goes beyond. It goes deeper than just the natural.

And it opens up to us the world of the Spirit where we're seeing an incredible, unspeakable love relationship between an eternal God and His bride. That will thrill your heart. One that will put peace in your soul.

One thing I know about that woman I saw in the vision, she had peace like a river. She was so secure. Why shouldn't she be? Why should she worry about what anybody thought? Why should she seek anyone's approval?

Why should she worry if this one likes her and this one doesn't? Who cares? Look whose arms are around me. Look whose arms are around me. Love me. I'll do anything I can to help you love me. But praise God, I'm not going to lose sleep over it because there is someone that does love me.

And His love is upon me. We have got to come to see this love that Jesus has for us. It will bring healing to your soul. It will bring healing to your heart. It will bring healing to your mind. It will deliver you from fear and intimidation.

It will deliver you from the fear of man, which is a snare to the soul. It will deliver you from doing stupid things, acting in foolish ways, saying foolish things, getting yourself all in a frenzy. It will heal you from that.

As you live and walk and participate in this living revelation, I am embraced by my Lover. I am secure in that embrace. Kids, don't you feel secure in your mom and dad's love? Aren't you glad that they're for you and not against you?

Huh? Aren't you glad? Oh my, this is so exciting. Verse 2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For thy love is better than wine. Kisses. The word means to be attached, to fit one to another.

People in the Old Testament and in the New Testament who were conquered, kissed with the kisses of his mouth. To show their submission toward the Conqueror. In other words, kissing represented one who was conquered and it showed their submission to the Conqueror.

What a picture here. As we open up and begin to look into the heart of God, we see, let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. Let me show Him that He has conquered me. Let me show Him, let us embrace, let it be a sign to Him that my heart is in submission to Him.

He has melted me with His love. He has brought me down to jelly, so to speak. He has brought me to my knees because of His love. Oh, let Him kiss me. Let Him show me. Let me show Him that we are forever together.

Nothing will separate us. Have you cried out in your spirit this language recently? Have you cried out the language of Lord? Now, I know it's physical, but get beyond the physical. This is language describing spirit to spirit.

God is a spirit. We are spiritual beings. This is a spirit of a redeemed bride crying out, kiss me, let me feel Your embrace. Not a physical thing, a spiritual thing. It's the heart saying, Lord, You have won me.

You have conquered me. You have overcome me. You are master. I am servant. You are Lord. I am citizen of Your kingdom. Oh, may God help us to cry out the language of this song to our Lord and Savior. Let me tell you, returning to your first love starts with let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.

Let Him come and conquer me again. You can be in service for the Lord. You can be active for the Lord. You can walk for the Lord. You can be engaged in activities for the Lord. But yet, there is not the cry of a conquered heart toward the One who has conquered you.

Has He conquered you? Are the kingdoms of your heart in submission to Him? Are you bowed down before Him? Lord, You've conquered me. He doesn't want to conquer you with authority and power. And He doesn't want to conquer you by an executive word.

I want you to be under my feet. He wants to conquer you by love. He wants to win you. As Alan uttered by the Spirit, the Lord was saying, I'm drawing you. I want you to come to Me. That's the way God wants to conquer us.

It is not through manpower. It is through love power. Many times, listen, many times there's areas in our life that are not conquered, not because we don't have enough of the power of the Holy Spirit, simply because we've not come to understand His love.

A revelation of Christ's love is a conquering revelation. You feel there's some areas in your life that's out of control? Do you feel there's some areas in your life that have gotten strong? That have gotten a little bit independent?

May I encourage you by the love of God and the Spirit of God, seek to return back to Psalm 1. Get on your knees and begin to pray the prayer of verse 2. Let Him conquer you. Let Him overcome you by His love.

The Fragrance and Name of Christ

Verse 3, Because of the savor, the fragrance of thy good ointments, thy name is as anointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. The savor, the fragrance of thy good ointments. That is language that describes the spiritual reality of when we see Him, there are those things that He possesses that attracts us.

Are you attracted to Christ? Are you enticed by the incredible virtues that He possesses? Does His goodness attract you? Does His kindness attract you? Does His moral perfections attract you? Does His tenderness attract you?

Does His loving kindness attract you? Because of the fragrance of thy good ointments. When was the last time that you caught a glimpse? And spiritually, when was the last time you sensed the fragrance of His ointments?

When was the last time your spirit tasted of the goodness of the Lord? Not dead theology. Not dead theology. Oh, we're so religious. We can read through half the Bible and never touch Him. But oh, we satisfy that religious nature, don't we?

We feel so good about ourself. We pray. We read our Bible. We did our duty. We read more than Brother So-and-so. You don't know what love is. You don't understand Him if you're in that realm still. You still trying to impress people?

That girl didn't try to impress anyone. She had no need to impress anyone. She was so lost in His love. Have you tasted? Of His ointments. Oh, Lord. It's all about You, isn't it? It's all about Him. Because of Thy ointments, Thy name is as an ointment poured forth.

What does the Bible say in John 17? John 17, verse 6, I have manifested Thy name. Because of the savor of Thy good ointments, Thy name is as an ointment poured forth. Therefore, do the virgins love Thee.

Notice it's His love, verse 2. Thy love. Notice in verse 3, it's Thy good ointments. He is the first cause. He is initiating this relationship with this bride. Let me explain something to you. If you want to love Him, you cannot work it up.

You cannot try and draw from the resources of your own commitment.

The resource wins us.

Through a personal revelation of Himself. What does John say? We love Him because He first loved us. Sound basic? Then why have we missed it? The attributes of God are seen in Jesus Christ. In verse 3, when she says, Thy name is as ointment poured forth, there is a prophetic touch to this confession.

When she says, Thy name is as ointment poured forth, it is a prophetic word showing her, in fact, the many paths of testing ahead for her, ordered by her Lord, in order to truly know His name. Because we only come to know in a living experiential way the many facets of God's name.

Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord is our provider. Jehovah-Rapha. The Lord is our healer. And all the other names of God, we come to know them through our journey with Him. So when she is saying, Thy name, she's being set up.

The Lord is preparing her to take a great journey where she's going through life to come to know the names of God in an intimate way. 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. So here, verses 1 -4, remember the love, Jesus said to the Ephesian believers, the heights that you have fallen from, return.

Intimacy Before Service

These are the works. We're beginning to see the works that Jesus so longs to see. Notice service. This is so important. You'll notice that service for the Lord, because service is in the Song of Solomon.

But do you know that this woman, this undefiled one, is not seen in service with her Lord to the very end of the book? And we're going to see as we go through this, that she was plunged into premature service and it almost destroyed her because she wasn't ready for it.

Her roots were not deep enough in communion. Her roots were not deep enough in a love relationship with the Lord. And it was, listen, you'll find it. It's right in the book of Song of Solomon. It was being around the sheep and serving and ministering that she lost sight of her Lord.

And where is it that people are losing sight of God? It's right in the midst of all their service for God. They've lost Him. They don't know who He is. They're confused. They're hurting. They're weak.

Yet, the Bible says that this beloved, precious woman was made to be keepers of the vineyard. And she said, but I've not kept my own vineyard. There is a spirit in the church today that is seeking to destroy the love relationship that Jesus wants with His people by trying to lay hold of them and get them involved in service.

Get them involved in activity. Get them involved in what looks like Christianity. And in doing so, they are raping them from that intimacy that the Lord so longs to have with His beloved. We're not fit to be keepers in the vineyard.

We're not fit to be laborers in the vineyard. We're not fit to walk in the vineyard when we don't even know the vineyard owner. How can we How can we represent Christ's heart to the church when the only way is through singing the song of love and going through the process of coming to know Him, getting delivered from ourself, getting delivered from our flesh, getting delivered from all of our distractions?

What is the fruit? What is the result of intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ? What is the result that happens when you and I start breathing out the prayer, kiss me with the kisses of your mouth. Show me, Lord, that You have conquered me.

Let me know that I am the conquered one. That You are Master and Lord. What happens when the Lord wins us by His love? We suddenly get a revelation. Verse 5, I am black. As we are intimate with Him and as we come to see His love, we come to a revelation of what we are apart from Him.

Being Black and Beautiful in Christ

I am black. Do you remember, beloved, in Luke 5, verse 8, what Peter said to Jesus? As I read through that, and I saw the Lord was showing me how every Christian must come to the place where they see that they are black, that they are sinful, that there is no good thing that dwells in them.

Beloved, the result of being lavished by God's love is seeing what you are apart from Him. Don't be afraid of the revelation that comes to your soul when you realize you're crooked, when you realize there's no good thing in you.

Don't be afraid or despair when God lets you fail, when God sets you up to fail. Don't despair. You've got to come to see how black you are. You've got to come to see how powerless you are. The Lord doesn't love you any less when you see this.

The Lord doesn't love you any less, but it sets you up to come into a posture where you are even more dependent upon His goodness, more dependent upon His grace. Listen to the words of Jesus or the words of Peter.

Peter walked through the Song of Solomon when he met Jesus Christ. Jesus will take every true believer who is after Him through the Song of Solomon. Listen to what he said. This is after Jesus performed an incredible miracle and revealed His glory.

This is when Jesus showed Peter, I'm the man of all man. I'm the sinless one. I'm the real man, Peter. I'm the one with no guile. I'm the one that stands with a pure gaze and looks into the window of your soul and knows everything going on inside of you.

I'm the one that you can't fool, you can't deceive, you can't lie to, you can't put a front. And God gave that revelation to Peter. And what did it do to Peter? Luke 5, verse 8, When Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

What did she cry out? After she was lavished by His love. After she was crying out, Kiss me with the kisses of Your mouth. She cries out, I am black. But what did she say in the next breath? I am black, but comely.

Do you know what that word comely means? Beautiful. How can you be black and beautiful at the same time? Hallelujah to God. Turn your Bibles to 1 Peter. How can you be black and beautiful at the same time?

I lost the Scripture reference. Where does it say that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus? Somebody help me. I thought it was in 2 Peter or 1 Peter. I know in 1 Peter 2 .24 it says, Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5 .21, I believe it is. Yes, thank you, Lord. I believe it's 2 Corinthians 5 .21. Yes, there it is. How can we be black and beautiful at the same time? For He hath made Him Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

The way that we are black and beautiful at the same time is this. We are black when we see in the light of His glory what we are apart from Him. And we are beautiful when we see in the light of His glory what He has given to us of Himself.

The beauty that He beholds in us consists of His life. It consists of His righteousness. It consists of all of the perfections that He Himself possesses have now been imputed to us. And so that we stand complete now with the beauty of His perfections.

Stop looking at yourself. Stop trying to find righteousness in yourself. Stop trying to find goodness in yourself. Stop trying to find something in your flesh. Paul said in Romans 7, verse 18,. For I know that there dwelleth no good thing in my flesh.