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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/jerry-jennings/he-is-altogether-lovely/
Now, what I have upon my mind is kind of to build on what our brother had after the morning meeting, thoughts that he had in relation to Christ. And I would kind of like to build on that. Now, I'm not going to expound greatly.
I'll tell you why, because I can't. I have limitations, all right? So what I have to say about Christ is really very simple. It's simple for me, and if it's simple for me, it should be simple for you.
So I want to read one little portion of Scripture with you in the Song of Solomon. And I'll read in verse 10 in the Song of Solomon. My beloved is white and ruddy and cheapest among ten thousand. And I personally think this is language that could be used in relation to the Lord Jesus.
His head is as the most fine gold, and his locks are bushy, black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers.
His lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the burl. His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold.
His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yea, and this is what I have upon my mind. He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
So what I have upon my mind really is a few thoughts concerning the Lord Jesus. And we can say as a writer of the Song of Solomon, he is altogether lovely because he is altogether lovely. There's no question about that.
I sometimes think that the Lord cannot be compared, but he can be contrasted. When you think of man's greatness, it's marred by man's littleness. When you think about man's wisdom, it's flawed by man's folly.
When you think about man's goodness, it's tainted by man's imperfection. And the Lord alone is altogether lovely. He's lovely in his holy humanity. His humanity is holy, yours isn't, neither is mine. I'm human, you're human.
I'm just humanity, but I'm not holy humanity. The Lord Jesus was holy humanity when he walked upon the face of this earth. So he is altogether lovely in his holy humanity and in his humility and in his sympathy, in his courtesy, and in his dignity.
And briefly, that's what I would like to think about with you. I'd like to consider the loveliness of his holy humanity. The Savior was perfectly human, with the exception of a sinful, fallen nature. That's something that every one of us was born into this world with.
If you have never inherited anything in your life, you've inherited that. A fallen nature that makes it possible for you to commit sins. And maybe I'm speaking to someone here that is lingering in their sins and in nature's darkness.
And this afternoon, they are yet strangers to the grace of God. And you have a fallen nature, just like when I came into this world, I had a fallen nature. And that nature enabled me to commit sins. And if I was ever to be in God's heaven, and if you're ever to be in God's heaven, those sins have got to be forgiven.
No exceptions. It doesn't make a matter if you were born and raised in a Christian home or in a criminal's hut. It doesn't make a matter. You need those sins forgiven. You need to be born again. And that is the issue.
And the issue is not religion. It's relationship. A relationship with a living, loving, lofty Lord Jesus Christ. That is a great need in this world today, and that's the great problem in this world today is sin.
Sin unforgiven. Men and women moving through this world in their sins and trying to govern people. I think it was George Washington that said, you cannot govern a nation without God. Problem, as I see it anyway.
And not only in the United States, but nations around about that are trying to govern people. And they're trying to do it without God. And it's pretty obvious that it isn't working. And he too grew and he advanced in stature.
And Luke tells us that, doesn't he? Chapter 2, verse 52. In wisdom and favor with God and man. So I take it that he labored and that he loved. And that he wept. And that he slept. And he showed Mary and Martha in John chapter 11 what he could be to them in a time of tears and trial.
Know anything about tears and trials in your life? Trials that fill your eyes with tears. You know anything about that? Well, if you don't, just wait. Just wait. And you'll experience it. You'll experience that in your lifetime.
As I have and many others have experienced it in our lifetimes. And I'm glad that our brother reminded us. In times like that, we can lean upon the Lord. And he'd have us to do that. So he showed Mary and Martha what he could be to them in a time of tears and trials.
He'd be living in the good of Romans 12 and verse 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice. And what? Weep with those that weep. You know, the Savior was very warm. And he had very warm ways about him. And those warm ways attracted some.
And those warm ways inspired others. And those warm ways enraged those that were arrogant. Made them angry. He received sinners and he ate with them. Such as Nicodemus. What kind of sinner was Nicodemus?
He was a moral sinner. Then there was a lady by the name of Mary Magdalene. What kind of a sinner was she? She was an immoral sinner. But there's something I noticed about the Savior. He treated them both with equal and utmost courtesy.
Regardless of who they were or where they came from, he was courteous towards them. Are we courteous towards one another? You know, there's no excuse, none whatsoever, for rudeness. If you're rude to your brother or your sister or your wife, let me say it again, your wife, there is absolutely, absolutely no excuse for being rude.
And especially to your wife. Shame on you if you're rude to your wife. I'll tell you something about me. God has given me two women, wives, in my lifetime. They've been very good to me. They were both very good wives.
But you know, I was rude to my first wife. Part of the time that we were married, I was a lost guilty sinner. I was a mess. And part of the time I was saved. And then one day, cancer visited our house.
And my wife died at 68 years of age. And you know what I would do when I would drive down the road sometimes? I would just break out and start weeping. And I'd pull off to the side of the road. And I would weep.
Do you know what I was weeping about? My regrets. I had a lot of regrets in relation to my first wife. And one of those regrets was that I was rude to her. I'm not rude to my wife, Jannie. I learned my lesson.
I try to treat her extra special. How do you treat your wife, brother? You treat her extra special. Well, you should treat her extra special because she is extra special. You be kind to her. So that if God chooses to take her out of your life, you won't have the regrets that I've had in mine.
I just thought of something. And I'll pass it on to you. It was a good piece of advice that a man gave me years ago. And I also heard him give it to his daughters. His name was Ray Pryor. And what he said to his daughters was this.
Don't marry someone you can live with. Think about that. He said, marry someone you can't live without. Now, some of these young folks here, if they're not now in due time, they're going to become interested in marriage and having a family and so on.
That's good. But you know it's not enough for them to be saved. And in assembly fellowship, that's not enough. There needs to be more. There needs to be an intense desire for the things of God. And don't ever marry someone you can live with.
You marry someone you can't live without. Now, being an old man, I thought that I could get by with that. I am the oldest preaching brother here, I believe. I don't think anybody has me beat almost. Some of them are right on my heels.
Nicodemus was a moral sinner and Mary Magdalene was an immoral sinner. And you know, the Lord treated them equally. And he comes into the lives of sinners. At least he came into the life of this sinner.
And my life was like a stagnant, polluted pool. And when he came into my life, it was like a cool mountain stream flowing into my life. And the first time I ever heard the Gospel, I was 34 years of age.
I had never seen the inside of a Bible. And I would have came to the meetings that the brethren were carrying on, but they didn't invite me. They didn't invite me, so I didn't go to the brethren meetings.
I went to a Baptist meeting because they invited me. I didn't know the difference between a Baptist and a haller. If I could put it that way. Didn't know the difference. But I went and I heard the Gospel there.
And you know, of all the places I'd been, 14 different foreign countries at that time, and all the things that I had done and all the things that I had heard, when I heard that Gospel message a first time, that's just what it was like.
Like a clear, cool mountain stream flowing into my polluted life. I'll tell you, it was wonderful. I'll tell you a little story. I heard the Gospel among Baptist people. They were fundamental Baptists.
There was probably 25 people in this little meeting. And I don't know if you know, but I'll put it this way. You know how the Baptists are. They're always having these fellowship meals. Well, that never bothered me because I like food, you know.
If there's food anywhere, I'll find the food. Sometimes folks worry about whether I'm going to have anything to eat or not. I just tell them, hey, I can find food. I know where, and I used to travel with Roy Weber.
He knew every restaurant from Iowa all the way to the west coast. He knew where all the eating joints were at. And we'd visit them. How do I get on to that? It might come back to me, but you know I'm 83 now, and sometimes I lose my train of thought.
And I can tell you, I just lost my train of thought right now. But you bear with me. It may come back, and then again it may not. You just never know, do you? I want to think about the Lord and the loveliness of His humility.
He said, I am among you as one that serveth, and the Lord was truly meek, and He was lowly as He stooped to wash the feet of sinful men. I've often thought about that. You know, when He was reviled, and we've been reminded of that already this afternoon, He reviled not again.
He never raised His voice to insist on His rights. I wonder, as a child of God, do I have rights, insofar as this world is concerned? I've often wondered about that. I've asked a few people, and they kind of shrug their shoulders just like I do.
And He never insisted on His rights or protested His treatment. And He died only as lambs die. You say, how do lambs die? Silently. Any way you put them to death, they die silently. And the only thing you can hear is the dripping of the blood.
And that's how Christ died. You know, He was lovely in His humility. He was lovely in His sympathy. He had compassion for the sheep with no shepherd. He had compassion for the widow named. Yeah. He had compassion for the demonic of Gadara.
And He had compassion for the hungry 5 ,000. And He had righteous indignation for those who suffer from self-righteousness or spiritual pride. What's the worst kind of pride? Is it spiritual pride? Or is it preacher pride?
Hmm? I kind of think that's the worst kind of pride. The Lord chose to touch the leper. He was a poor outcast. And He was defiled by disease. And He was demoralized. And He was dehumanized. Would you touch a leper?
You say, preacher, would you? Not likely. I'd have to think about that a little bit. I read a book about a man that went to Robinson Island. That was a leper colony. Spent 40 years there. Working with the lepers and never, ever got leprosy.
The Lord spared him from it. And that leprosy was kind of like sin. It affected everybody. The rich, the poor, the famous, the infamous. Everybody was affected by it. Just like sin affects every individual in this world, regardless of who they are or where they come from.
You think about that poor leper. The Lord touched him. And he hadn't likely felt the touch of human kindness for years. How about you? How about your wife? Does she experience the touch of human kindness?
You know, sometimes all it takes is just a touch. And that reassures her that you have a love for her. But this poor leper never felt that for years until the Lord reached out and He touched him. That's really what He does when He saves a soul, isn't it?
He just kind of reaches out and touches them. I want to think about the loveliness of the Lord's courtesy. No respecter of persons. He was as courteous to the wayward woman at the well as He was to Nicodemus, who was a religious Pharisee.
I'd like to consider the time is getting away and I'm starting to run out of gas. When you run out of gas, you stop. I used to preach with one brother. If he opened a meeting, you may get time on the platform.
And then again, you may not get time on the platform. And so he said to me one day, he says, Brother, how do you get stopped? I says, you just stop. It's simple. You just stop. And I says, you know, you can't give him the whole load of hay in one meeting.
And I guess that's kind of what he was trying to do, was give him the whole load of hay in one meeting. I want to consider briefly the loveliness of His dignity. You know, in 1 Corinthians 16, 13, we read this, That word means act.
You, like men, and be strong. The Lord was perfect manliness, perfect courage, perfect character, perfect conduct. And the Lord's gentleness was never weakness. And the Lord's courage was never brutal.
He was perfectly balanced in every aspect of His life. Absolutely, perfectly balanced. And you're not, and neither am I. Are we? If we're honest about it. When the Lord was falsely arrested and tried, He was bullied and browbeaten and bloodied.
He was scourged. He was smitten, He was spit on, and He was scorned. All of those things and more. And you know something about the Lord? As far as I can see, He never felt sorry for Himself. And He never murmured.
He never whimpered about His treatment. I can't see where He ever lost His temper. And He never lost His dignity. You know, as a people of God, it's not a matter of being proudful. It's not a matter of pride.
It's a matter of what? Dignity. We should be dignified people. And He never could be accused of any one of these things by virtue of who He was. And He was God manifest in flesh. And we can say, surely He is altogether lovely.
We can say that, can't we? And we can mean that. It's not just words. But we actually mean that. We actually feel that in our very being. That He is altogether lovely. The fairest of 10 ,000 to our souls.
And we can say as well, this is my beloved. And we can say behind that, I am His. And I am His. We can say that if we're saved. If we're born again the Bible way. And washed in the precious blood of Christ.
I am His. This is my friend. If you're not saved in this room, He wants to be your friend. And He's a unique friend. Because He's a friend that's sticketh closer than a brother. And perhaps John 13 and 15 is the word.
I have given you an example. That you should do as I have done unto you. He stooped, you know. That's one thing that he did in John 8. He stooped. And he wrote on the ground. You ever wonder what he wrote?
I've thought about that. I don't really know what he wrote. But I can maybe guess what he wrote. Thou shalt not commit adultery. I suppose that's possible that he wrote that. And then he stooped and he washed the disciples' feet.
And a servant in the house should have done that. But there was no servant in the house that moved to wash the disciples' feet. And there was no disciple that moved to wash the other disciples' feet. So who did it?
Who stooped? The Lord stooped. Just imagine that in your mind. Just think about that. The Lord in all of His might and majesty, in all of His beauty and balance, He stooped. And He washed the feet of the disciples.
1 Peter 2 .24. The Lord stooped to bear our sins in His own body on the tree. And you and I can see this morning He is, I guess this afternoon, He is altogether lovely. The fairest of ten thousand to our souls.