Love Renewed — Chuck Smith

Welcome to the Word for Today, featuring the Bible teaching of the late Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel Movement. This radio program is a verse-by-verse study through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of the Word for Today, Pastor Chuck continues his study with Love Renewed, as we pick up in Song of Solomon, Chapter 8, Verse 5. And now with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck.

Love Renewed and the Seal of Belonging

And he said, I raised thee up under the apple tree, and there thy mother brought thee forth, and there she brought thee forth that bare thee. It would seem that this apple tree had a significance in their relationship.

It was probably where they first met, where they first saw each other, where there was that first love, that first sight kind of a thing under the apple tree that was near her home, there by her house.

And it was there that your mother brought thee forth, and she that brought thee forth that bare thee. And so she responds to him, set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is stronger than death.

Jealousy is cruel as the grave, and the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. And if a man would give all of the substance of his house for love, he would be utterly contemned.

So she's asking to set the seal upon my heart. Now the seal was the signet, the signet ring. And sometimes they wore the signet ring as a necklace, and it was on a necklace. It was the mark of ownership.

Set your mark of ownership upon me, upon my heart, as a seal upon thine arm. It is interesting that in Ephesians chapter 1, as Paul is listing all of the blessings that we have through Christ, in Christ, he begins the list by saying, Thanks be unto God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ in heavenly places.

And as he begins to describe these spiritual blessings chosen in him before the foundations of the earth, predestined, then he said that we were chosen, and then we were redeemed, and then we were accepted, and then we had this inheritance.

And then he said that we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession. So here she's saying, I want you to set your seal, your signet, upon my heart.

Paul declares that God has placed his seal, his signet, upon us, and that seal is the Holy Spirit. God has given to us the Holy Spirit as a deposit, or a down payment, so to speak, by which God places upon us his mark of ownership until he redeems the purchased possession.

The Ephesus Trade Illustration and the Holy Spirit's Seal

Now Ephesus was a major seaport of the ancient world. The major seaport where the goods from the east were brought, and there they were placed on ships and sent to Rome. And the merchants from Rome would be there in Ephesus to purchase these goods.

And when they would purchase the goods, they would crate them and all for shipping, and then they would put a wax seal on it, and the merchant would take his ring and make the impression in the wax. It was the sign of ownership.

These goods belong to me. I've purchased them. So they would be loaded on the ships, and they would be taken to the Roman port of Puteoli, where the employees of the owner would go down to the ship, and they would recognize the signet ring mark in the wax.

And they'd say, that belongs to my boss, and they would unload it, and they would lay claim to the possessions that he had purchased there in Ephesus. Now those in Ephesus, many of them were deeply involved in this trade, and they understood completely the type of transactions that were going on.

So Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, said that the Lord has put on us his seal of ownership until the redemption of the purchased possession. And he declares that it's the earnest of our inheritance.

It is to show you that God is earnest. He's intent in his desire to redeem you. And so it is the earnest of the inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. You see, the Lord hasn't yet, I haven't yet arrived at the home port.

When I arrive at the home port, I'll have his seal on me. He'll say, yeah, that's mine, let him in. The seal of the Holy Spirit, the earnest of the inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

And so she's asking for the seal, set your seal upon my heart, your ownership, your mark, your stamp of ownership upon me. And then speaking of love, it's as strong as death, but jealousy is as cruel as the grave.

And the word translated grave is the same word translated hell. Jealousy is as cruel as hell. The coals thereof, and thinking of hell, the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame.

There are those who say that jealousy is a sign of love, perhaps, but yet jealousy can be cruel and it can burn. So many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. And if you gave all of the substance you had for love, you would be utterly contemned.

The Value of Love and the Bride's Little Sister

It's worth more than everything you have. What was that song they used to sing years ago? And songs used to have good meanings to them, even the popular songs. Today, if you can understand them, it's usually, you're sorry you did.

But I can remember the song, there was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy who wandered very far over land and sea. The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return. Love, true love, stronger than death.

Many waters cannot quench it. The floods can't drown it. If you gave everything you had for it, you'd be getting a bargain. It's worth more than everything. Now, the bride goes on to speak about her little sister.

She's not yet old enough to get married. She's not yet developed. She's just still a child. We have a little sister. She hasn't developed. What will we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken of, when she gets a little bigger, when she begins to mature and someone desires to marry her?

And the bridegroom answers, if she is a wall, we'll build upon her a palace of silver. If she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. In other words, we'll take care of that when the time comes.

If she's like a wall, we'll build upon her, we'll add to her, to her beauty, to her grace, to her glory. And so the bride speaks, and she said, I am a wall. My breasts are like towers. And then was I in his eyes as one that found favor.

And so her response, as she declares, the fact that her joy in finding favor in the eyes of the one she loved. Now sort of a little footnote. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Haman, and he let out the vineyard into keepers.

Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. It was leased out, and he was to receive for the lease of each of the fields a thousand pieces of silver. But she declares, my vineyard, which is mine, is before me.

And you, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof, two hundred, or a double tithe. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice, cause me to hear it.

Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a roe, or to a young heart upon the mountains of spices. And so the end of this beautiful poem, as she calls for her desire to hear his voice. The companions hearken to thy voice, cause me to hear it.

Learning to Hear God's Voice

And I think that that's a good prayer to end the Song of Solomon with. And that is, cause me to hear your voice, O Lord. Give me a sensitive ear that I might hear the voice of my Lord when he speaks to me.

The Bible said there are many voices that go forth, and none of them are without significance. Have you developed a trained ear to hear the voice of God? Over and over, Jesus said, he that hath an ear, let him hear.

Though the Lord is speaking, so many times people do not hear him. It's not that he isn't speaking, it's that we're not listening, or we're not tuned in to his voice. In this room, there are many voices.

Sensory Overload and Spiritual Distraction

There's all kinds of music. Music that you wouldn't care to listen to. Music that you might enjoy. It's all here. There are pictures all around us in the atmosphere here. Visions, so to speak. All kinds of things are happening.

People are getting shot. People are chasing others in cars. All kinds of adventures are taking place right here within the atmosphere. All you need is a proper tuner to tune it in. And you could hear the music, or you could see the actions that are going on.

The news reports, or whatever. All you need is to be tuned in to the proper frequency and all, and you can hear those voices. I believe that God is speaking, and he speaks to each of us. Our problem is that we're not always tuned in to hear the voice of God.

And yet it is so important that we do learn to hear the voice of God, and we begin to understand the voice of God. How many times over and over do we read in the book of Jeremiah, and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, the prophet saying.

And I wonder how many times the word of the Lord comes to us, but we don't recognize it or we don't hear it. We're not in a position to be tuned in. Now, one of the problems is sensory glut. Our five senses are constantly and continually feeding information to our brain.

And at the very same time, your brain is interpreting all of these sensory messages that are coming from your eyes, coming from your ears, coming from the nerve centers around your body. And so as you're sitting there, you think, you're thinking, my, this seat is getting harder.

And you're seeing the colors, and your brain is interpreting the various colors. It's interpreting the face and so forth, and identify. And you're hearing the words, and your brain is taking these sounds and translating them into meaningful thoughts.

And it may be that someone near you has a pleasant perfume, and you're thinking, hmm, I wonder, what is that? What kind of perfume is that? And all of these things are being processed by your brain as the senses of the body, the five senses, are feeding all of this information that is coming to your brain, being interpreted, and then being responded to.

As your brain says, move a little bit, and it'll feel softer again. And you're responding to these things. Now, in a part of the training of the astronauts for their space missions, because when you get out into space, you are in a weightless condition.

Sensory Deprivation and Awareness of Spiritual Reality

You don't get that sense of hard or soft, because you're in a weightless condition in space. It's very quiet out in space. And in the preparation of the astronauts for their missions in space, they seek to place them in what they call a position of sensory deprivation.

So they put them in this warm water, which is the same temperature of the body, so that you're not aware of hot or cold. And in the water, you are floating, so you get the sense of weightlessness. And they darken the room.

And there you are, floating in this water, in this weightless condition, in the darkened room, which is absolutely silent. You don't hear a thing. And the interesting thing, that after an astronaut has spent a day in this position of sensory deprivation, they begin to have visions.

The sixth sense is open. And that is why many of the astronauts have testified of spiritual experiences, because they have been in a position of sensory deprivation, which has opened them up to hear what we normally don't hear or don't interpret, because we're so blooded with all of the information that is coming constantly to our brains.

That is why the prophets, the disciples, had a tremendous advantage over us in hearing the voice of God. That is why in our day and age, it's not as common for us to hear or to understand God's voice, because we are so blooded with so much information.

The Car Radio Analogy and Making Room for God

Now, when you get into your car to go home, the first thing is you turn the ignition on. The radio probably goes on. You have the station all set, and there it is. And so all the way home, you're going to be listening to music or to news or something, and your mind is going to be busy, busy, busy, listening and being filled in on the world around you.

But at the same time, you're going to be seeing those car lights coming toward you. You're going to be computing the speed of that car. You're going to be watching the direction of it. As you are watching your own speed, making sure that you don't go over the limit, and as you are judging the distance between you and that stop sign and how fast you must depress the brake pedal in order that you might come to a slow stop.

And all of this stuff is going on, and the brain is working, working, working, working, computing all that. No wonder you're tired when you go to bed at night. Now, you see, they didn't have freeways.

They didn't have radios. They didn't have all of these things to glut their minds. When they went somewhere, they walked. You know, whenever I really want to meditate, I walk. I find it's very conducive for meditation.

And wherever they went, they walked, and they had that time. There were open channels where God could speak to them, and they would learn to tune into the voice of God, to hear the voice of God, and they understood the voice of God.

And in that sense, they had a tremendous advantage over us in our modern age of technology, which has so crowded our brains. And of course, we get and we're learning more and more about the environment and the noise level that is continually rising in our environment.

And all of these things that do have an effect upon us subconsciously, they affect us. I sort of sometimes feel like the bride with Solomon in Jerusalem with all the hustle and bustle. Let's go back to the little village, you know, and there, let's just go into the vineyard.

Let's go back to a simple life. Let's just, and there, experience the love and all. After all, we have each other, and that's all we need, kind of a thing. But, Lord, help me to hear your voice. That was her prayer.

A Prayer for Quietness and Communion With God

Let me hear your voice. Let that be our prayer. God, let me hear your voice. Help me to be quiet, to find a place of quietness where I can just sit and commune and cause me, Lord, to hear your voice. And if you do, you'll find he'll be speaking to you of his love and of his desires for you,.

And you'll be so enriched by that communion. We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse venture through the Bible in our next broadcast, as Pastor Chuck continues to guide us through the exciting prophecy of Isaiah.

And we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now, I'd like to remind you that if you'd like to secure a copy of today's message, simply order Song of Solomon, Chapter 8, Verse 5, when visiting thewordfortoday .org.

And while you're there, we encourage you to browse the many additional biblical resources by Pastor Chuck. You can also subscribe to the Word for Today podcast, or sign up for our email subscription. Once again, all this can be found at thewordfortoday .org.

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And now, on behalf of The Word for Today, we'd like to thank all of you who share in supporting this ministry with your prayers and financial support. And be sure to join us again next time as Pastor Chuck continues his verse-by-verse study through the Bible.

That's right here, on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck.

Salvation by Grace Rather Than Works

With today's closing prayer. Father, we thank You again for that work of Your Holy Spirit within our lives. As You, Lord, mold and shape us, as Your Spirit is conforming us into the image of Jesus Christ our Lord, how thankful we are, Lord, that we stand before You righteous in Him, because Your mercy endures forever.

Lord, we thank You for that mercy, Your lovingkindness, and Your grace towards us in Christ Jesus. Help us, Lord, always to remember that it's not by our works of righteousness but by Your grace are we saved.

Through the mercy of Your Holy Spirit, we have been forgiven, and we praise You world without end. Amen.

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