Day of Pentecost 01 Song of Solomon 5: — J.M. Davies

I hope you realize that I always enjoy preaching, and it's been a delight to have fellowship with you, and every day eating with you. And people said, you come to our place for dinner, and then someone said, could you come after the meeting?

And I was wondering if someone would invite us out in the middle of the night. I am fed up. Strawberry shortcake ice cream. And by the way, we enjoyed it. Gone off the diet for a week or so, you know.

It's great, because that happens to me every week. That's a problem. But it's been a delight. I've enjoyed your fellowship very, very much. You know, sometimes you've never heard of someone, you've never met them before, and you wonder what this character is going to be like.

It's coming, and you've never heard me before, and now you know. And by the way, I trust that you have received a deeper appreciation of Jesus Christ, and of the Word of God. And this is a great book.

The Word of God is a wonderful, wonderful book. And there are great treasures in it, great riches we can dig into. And God has given us the equipment with which to do it, given us the Holy Spirit to live in us, to guide us into all truth, to illuminate our minds and our hearts and understanding, to give us a fresh glimpse of Christ, who promised that the Holy Spirit would take of His things and reveal them unto us.

And so we've been trying to do that day by day in this book. We haven't certainly gone through the book of Song of Solomon. I didn't intend to do that. As a matter of fact, I never intended to touch this book this week, until the first night we were here.

And then I started and couldn't get away from it again. And so I trust it's been a blessing to you. Now, I want you to turn to Song of Solomon again tonight. And we're going back to the second chapter again.

Now, we went forward a bit this morning to chapter 5 because of this gentleman this morning who supported my message. He was leading the singing, and he quoted the chorus, "...altogether lovely, he is altogether lovely, and the fairest of ten thousand, this wonderful friend of mine.

He gave his life to save me, now he lives in heaven to keep me. He is altogether lovely, is this wonderful Savior of mine.". So I couldn't bypass that because of the little phrase in chapter 5 when this girl is asked, "...what is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women?".

And boy, did she tell them. She knew him from head to foot. And described his head and his hair and his eyes and his cheeks and his lips and his body and his legs, all those wonderful things about him, and came to the conclusion, A positive exclamation.

He, that person she was exalting, is... It was a present enjoyment of this person in her experience. Altogether, it was a particular examination of this person. Lovely is her precious expression of her beloved.

And it ought to be true of us that we know he's lovely. And we're not afraid to tell others about it. I was encouraged tonight. My son was in Orlando just the week before last, and he was there in business.

And there was a young man, a salesman, who came with him. And said, you know, I'd like to hear your dad speak. Now, he'd never met me, he'd just heard of me from my son. And so he brought him. Now, what he wanted to do was to come and be a spectator and listen to a speaker, like listening to an orator, and then give his opinion of what he thought of my speaking.

And what happened was, my son was telling me tonight, that when they get in the car on the way home, my son said to him, what did you think? He said, I really enjoyed the fact of how you presented that message, but he said, I never thought he would level it at me.

He said he was preaching to me. Well, my son said, well, you may have thought that, but he was preaching to everybody, but you were getting it personally. He said, I certainly was. He couldn't have missed me.

And he said, he even looked at me when he was preaching. And they talked about it all the way back to the motel, and they talked about traveling back to Halifax again on the plane, and he hasn't stopped.

And he's been talking to other people in the business about it, too. That I was preaching to him. And I sure was. I don't preach to people who are not there. And by the way, in these meetings, I've been preaching to you.

The Gospel Is Personal and Powerful

It's interesting, isn't it, how many messages are good for somebody that's not there. You sit there and say, wouldn't that be a great message for so-and-so? By the way, these messages were not for so-and-so.

The messages were for you and you. And I hope it didn't miss you. This is for us. This is personal. And it was a real encouragement to know that God had spoken to this fellow and still is speaking. And the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it.

Don't you still believe in the gospel? Sure. The gospel should still be preached. Because it's dynamite. It's the dynamite of God. Dunamis. Unto salvation to everyone that believe it. And then we get saved.

Then we have a great appreciation of our beloved. And we're the ones that He loves. And what a relationship it has been together to travel together and know that I am His and He is mine. After I became a Christian, I used to go to a home every Sunday afternoon.

I didn't have too many friends around who were believers in the particular church I went to. And this lady who was a Quaker, you know what a Quaker is. And we went to her home. And she used to get her young people together.

And she said, listen, I'll tell you what I want you to do. It wasn't just memorizing scripture. I'd like you to memorize hymns. Memorize hymns. And we started to memorize hymns. And she said this, you know, as you get older, that the words of these hymns will come back to you in circumstances which will help you.

And I always remember that hymn. Love with everlasting love. Led by grace that love to know. Spirit breathing from above, thou hast taught me it is so. O this full and perfect peace. O this transport all divine.

In a love which cannot cease. I am His and He is mine. Heaven above is softer blue. Earth around is sweeter green. Something lives in every hue. Christless eyes have never seen. Birds with gladder songs o 'erflow.

Flowers with deeper glee shine. Since I know, as now I know, I am His. And He is mine. And that's the relationship in this book, Song of Solomon. That there's a relationship. I'm His. He's mine. And we appreciate.

And by the way, He appreciates you too. Did you know that? He called you His fair one. His love. As a matter of fact, one of the expressions, lovely expressions in the book of Solomon is, My love, my dove, my undefiled.

Isn't that nice? What a glimpse of how the Savior looks at us. Because He has saved us and put upon us God's perfect righteousness. And He sees us as undefiled. Perfect forever. Isn't that great? Isn't that great?

Thank you. It sure is. Why wouldn't you get excited? Well, you see, I have to be careful with the pacemaker. That's all right. It's great to be a Christian. And that's why this book is so wonderful. It's expressions of love from one person to another.

And that's what the Christian life ought to be. As I express my love to Him, and He expresses His love to me. And I can say honestly tonight, yea, He is altogether lovely. Now, let's go back to chapter 2 and verse 10.

“Rise Up, My Love”: The Call of the Bridegroom

We talked the other night about the vision of our beloved standing behind our wall. Now in verse 10, my beloved speak and said unto me. This is personal again, you see. He said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For lo, the winter is past and it's still raining. It was the last time I lived that. Still raining. Because I've said that in Ireland all the time. You always carry an umbrella over there. Rains between the showers.

And by the way, one day, all of the things of this earth, as far as we know them, and the winter storms and so forth of our lives will disappear one day. There'll be no more of it. As it is, the rain is over and gone.

And the flowers appeared on the earth. The time of the singing of birds is come. The voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree put us forth her green figs. And the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.

Boy, that's going to be a great time. Flowers and fruits and fine weather. Oh, boy. And what a future it's going to be for the believer. When he comes and says, Rise up! That's the blessed hope of the Christian, isn't it?

When the bridegroom comes and says, Rise up. That's what we're looking forward to. It could be tonight. I had the privilege of ministering at my mother's funeral. My mother got saved the day I left for Canada in 1951.

There were none of my relatives Christians after I became a Christian. And I used to pray for them. And when I left the old country, I remember going to my mother and she said, You know, I'll never see you again.

I said, Why is that? She said, You've gone thousands of miles away. And those days you went by boat. And it was seven days across the ocean. And it looked like, you know, when you go, that's it. You won't see it for the rest of your life.

And she couldn't go. I had to go to get the train to go to the south of Ireland to get the big liner off the coast of Ireland coming from Southampton. And so she couldn't go to the station. My father went with me to the train.

And he had sort of a tear in his eye, but he didn't want to cry. And my mother and I were very close. Even though she was not a Christian. Never went to church. And I left Ireland and I went across the ocean and I came to Toronto.

And I got a job in Toronto. And the first letter I got from home, I was sitting in my room just before the mail came. And I was thinking, I've left Ireland and all of my relatives are going to hell. Not saved.

Maybe I made the wrong move. Maybe it wasn't the will of God that I should come over here because I intended, when I came to Canada, that wherever I'd go, I'd witness for Christ and try to win others to Jesus Christ and particularly drunks and so forth, win them to Christ.

And I'm sitting here saying, Hey, I've left there to go and win other people. My family's still lost. And I was asking the Lord, Lord, You show me whether I should stay here or not. And I always remember getting the old airmail forms from Ireland.

And I opened it up. And I looked at the page. Halfway down the page, it said this, I got saved the day you left for Canada. And when I walked out of that house, my mother went in and got on her knees and trusted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

And I knew she was saved. And I knew when she was saved. When I went home about four years ago, I was in Word of Life Bible Institute teaching. And I got words. As a matter of fact, it was Joanna who called us from home and said, Dad, I've got bad news for you.

Your mother passed away this morning. And so very quickly, I made arrangements. I went to the class that day and then the next morning. And I taught all the classes in two days. And we flew out of Montreal to Ireland.

And when I got off the plane, my brother said to me, and by the way, later on, he gets saved too. And he said, Bob, he called me Bobby, I told the Presbyterian minister who was going to preach at her funeral not to arrange any program or about any preaching until we saw you because you might like to preach.

Well, I said, what do you think? He said, I think you should. Now, my older sister is not a believer. He said, well, I said, what does she think? He said, she thinks you should too. Well, I said, you do.

I think I should too. And what a day that was. You know why? The funeral undertaker came in. He stood with a bag, straight striped suit. And the casket was the front of the building. And I stood behind the casket.

And I said, you know, this is a wonderful, hopeful funeral. I said, you know, I'm looking forward to a time not when my mother's body is going to be put in the grave, which is today. I'm looking forward to the time it's going to come back up again.

Resurrection Hope at the Funeral

I turned to this scripture. Now, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. And in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, if you turn to that scripture, in verse 13, it tells you about that time when we'll rise up, right?

When our loved ones will rise up. When those fair ones will rise up. And in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13, the apostle Paul says this,. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren. There's a comma there, by the way, just in case you get that mixed up.

I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that is, those who have died in Christ, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Now, he doesn't say that you sorrow not, period.

Because I want you to know that when someone has been very close to you and they die, you're going to miss them, right? And certainly you're going to sorrow. There's nothing wrong with tears. Silly for people to come along and say, what are you crying about?

I want you to know, if I die and my wife doesn't cry, I'm coming back. I would like to think she missed me for at least five minutes. No, no. He doesn't say you shouldn't sorrow. Certainly you should sorrow.

Certainly. There's nothing wrong with tears. But he says you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Did you ever see some of these funerals in India? In these other countries where the body is burning and the wailing?

And the sound is hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. But thank God when a believer dies, when they sleep in Jesus Christ, it says that we sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Why? For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.

And what a shout that will be. What a victorious shout that will be. My beloved watch, speak! And say, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The winter is past. The rain is over and gone. The time of the singing of birds has come.

And spiritually, in the future, when Jesus comes back in the air and He says, rise up! What a wonderful day that will be. Now, at that funeral, I described this. Now, my mother was about 4 foot 11. My father was about 5 feet tall.

My kids are giants. My oldest boy is 6 feet. Our second oldest boy is 6 foot 3. Joanna is 5 foot 8. I've spent my life walking around like there's a kink in my neck. Now, you may look at me and say, well, how can that happen?

I mean, your wife is 5 foot 4, and you're 5 foot 4, and your kids are 6 foot 3. Well, it's because of quality. They're tall. Now, there's somewhere along the genes. I have no idea, but I think they're tall.

But my mother was just a little woman. I said this that day. I said, listen, folks. Her neighbors were sitting there. And friends she used to meet on the road every day when she went to get her messages.

She used to say, I'm going down to get my messages every day down the road. And they were there. And relatives who were there were drinkers and so on. I said, one day, this little body of our mother will come out of the grave when Jesus comes with a shout.

He'll say, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. You know, when I was talking about that and saying that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, the dead in Christ, to rise first.

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. You see, there'll not only be a resurrection, there'll be a reunion, won't there? With them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so shall we ever be with the Lord. I said those are the most comforting words that you could read. That's why the chapter ends in verse 18 saying, wherefore comfort one another with what? These words.

You know, sometimes as Christians we don't see what God is telling us to see. And that is, how do you comfort a believer who has lost a loved one who's in Christ, right? It says comfort them with these words.

These are the words. 1 Thessalonians 4. Now when I finish the message, and of course over there you carry the casket out on your shoulders, the relatives, the sons, particularly the grandsons. And so my brother came up and his two sons.

We put the casket on our shoulders and we walked down the aisle and the undertaker went ahead of us. And when he got to the door, he went out and he put the little trolley for to put the casket on in front of me and we put it down there.

And then he put his arm around my shoulders. And I looked up into the eyes of the undertaker and there were tears in his eyes. And he said this. He said, He said, Mr. Mr. That got to me. He said, The picture that you gave today got to me.

And then he said this. He said, If I could hear preaching like that, I'd be in church next Sunday. But he said, I've never been in a situation that was so joyful and hopeful. You know. Not miserable. And I remember he went to my brother-in-law.

He was a friend of my brother-in-law who wasn't a Christian. And my brother-in-law told me later. He said, By the way, you got to the undertaker. And I said, The important thing, George, is that I get to you.

He didn't like I got to him. Let me tell you, folks, that the most hopeful, wonderful experience for the believer in relation to this whole business of being sick and dying and going to sleep in Jesus Christ is that time when he says, Rise up!

What a day that will be. When all of the winter conditions are over, the storms are past. The sickness is past. The sorrow is past. The death is all past. And when he says, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

What a change takes place. What a wonderful experience it's going to be. The hope of that resurrection when he says, Rise up. Rise up. Rise up. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in your Bible. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Corinthians had problems in relation to the bodily resurrection of believers.

The Gospel and the Bodily Resurrection

And they asked a question in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Of course, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is the chapter which deals with resurrection. It starts off telling us in verse 3 about what the gospel is. How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

And that He was buried. That He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And that He was seen of Cephas. Then of the twelve. Then of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

And then He was seen of James. Then of all the apostles. And last of all, Paul says, He was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. And he's talking about seeing the resurrected Christ. And it's in this chapter he says, if there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ isn't risen.

And if Christ isn't risen, then your faith is vain. You're still in your sins. That's why, by the way, it's very important to preach the resurrection, isn't it? Without a risen Christ, we've got no Savior.

We've got no salvation. Our faith is in nothing. And we're of all men most miserable. Because our only hope is now, right? When we die, everything's over. That's the way it is. Isn't it interesting that when all of the religions of the world, we're talking this morning about people saying, well, now look at this religion, Mohammedanism.

You can go to his tomb where his body is. And all the other leaders, you can go and make a pilgrimage to their tomb where their body is. But when you go to Palestine and be shown around to the tomb of Christ, there isn't anybody in it.

It's an empty tomb. Why? Because He's risen! And He's living! And He's glorified! Now, in 1 Corinthians 15, of course, you say to yourself, I wonder what it's going to be like. When He comes, our bridegroom and says, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, for the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the time of singing of birds has come, and the flowers are giving forth a sweet smell, and the figs are pretty.

What's it going to be like? This change that's going to take place in these bodies of ours, what will it be like? That day when He calls us from the grave. Well, listen to what it says. Look at verse 35.

It says, But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? With what body do they come? And then Paul says this, Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened. In other words, it's not made alive, except it dies.

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, that may chancel fruit of some other grain. But God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body.

In other words, He's likening the death of a believer and the resurrection of a believer like putting seed in the ground. Now, when you put seed in the ground, what happens to it? It germinates. In other words, it dies.

It cannot come up with a new body unless it dies. There can be no new bodies in your garden unless the seed, what? Dies and goes into corruption. And so He's saying it's like us. That's what happens to us.

You put a body in the grave, and it doesn't make any difference what kind of a casket you put it in. Right? Now, there's not too many places where you'll find the bodies still around. And still in one piece.

But, you know, if you go to Ireland, someday you should cross the sea to Ireland anyway. And you go to Dublin. Right? And if you ever go to Dublin, you go to a place called St. Michael's Church. And there's an old fellow there, a caretaker, and if you just ask him, he'll get an extension cord and take you down into the vaults.

So, a wonderful experience. And they take you down below the church where a lot of princes of Ireland have been buried. Their caskets are there. There are no spider's webs there. Interesting place. Now, you go down there, you will find a very, very tall man who's lying in a casket that is broken open.

And this old gentleman let you shake hands with him. Lovely experience. Just one little light bulb showing you around, you know. We were down there one time with our quartet. But those bodies haven't totally decomposed.

The atmosphere down there, something to do with it. But generally speaking, it's what? Dust. Dust. Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And when your body's put in the grave, it's like a seed going under the ground, it germinates, it dies.

And the same thing with seed you put in the ground, it germinates, it dies. But one day, springing up, out of the earth, there's a new body. Right? A new body. Every time you plant potatoes, you get new potatoes.

Right? And the old potato, what? Dies. It's in the corruption. New potatoes come. And what he's saying is that when you're put in the grave and your body goes into corruption, one day there's going to be a new one come up.

New one. And folks, I'm looking at you tonight, you need a new one. Of course, so do I. We need a new one. Believe me. It's wearing out, isn't it? Believe me. No doubt about it. You know, people talk about the fact that I don't like getting old.

You started to get old the day you were born. And it doesn't make any difference how well you do about it. You see, this is a corruptible body. It's a mortal body. And if Jesus doesn't come, it's going to die.

It's mortal. It's going to die. And it's a corruptible body. And all the way along your life, it has been deteriorating. That's why the Bible says concerning man in relation to his flesh and his natural condition, all flesh is as what?

Grass. And all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth. It sure does. You see, the flesh is like grass and it withers. That's why you don't spend as much time as the mirror yet you used to.

The grass has withered. Now you can take oil of olay and you can fill up the cracks. You can do all kinds of things with it. And even men do it. You know, so forth. You can do all kinds of things. And try and improve it.

But whether you like it or not, it's still withering. And it says all the glory of man is the flower of grass. You know, one of the things that bothers me about buying flowers is not the fact of buying them, but, well, it is.

Sixty bucks for a dozen, not even for a dozen roses, but the thing is, when you buy flowers, you know, Valentine's Day, right? They make the biggest business, flowers, during the whole year. You buy all these nice roses, nice flowers, right?

These are azaleas, right? Look at them. Looks like it. Yes, they are. I know nothing about flowers. But you know something about them? They're not always going to be like that. Right? It doesn't last.

All the splendor of all the nice flowers you see, and roses, buy a dozen roses and put them in that jar. Aren't they beautiful? And then, boom, boom. They start to droop and boom. That's like us. All of our glory starts to droop and boom.

Boy, do we need new bodies. And what he's saying is that when we die, it's like putting your feet in the ground and your body goes into corruption. But listen, and he also says it's going to be a new body, doesn't he?

A new body that God gives. You see, when a seed goes into the ground and there's a new plant, it's a new one, right? The old one died, the new one came up. And the same thing he says, there's differences in the heavenly bodies, right?

The sun, the moon, the stars. One star different from another star in glory. See, our bodies one day are going to, are they going to be different? Yeah. But we're going to be the same because it will be you.

Right? You will be you with a new body. Think of that. And what he's saying is that putting the seed in the ground and germinating and a new body coming up and the difference between the different bodies and so forth is like the resurrection of the dead.

When Jesus comes, our beloved, and says, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Now, listen to this. Look at verse 42. He says, Resurrection of the dead. Listen, if you die and you're put in a grave, it will be you that will come out.

Your body. But it will be new. It will be absolutely, perfectly new. And it says, it is sown. In other words, it's your body sown. It's planted in the ground in corruption. It is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. People always think about, well, you go to a funeral and we're sort of an honorable thing here. A body going into a ground to decompose? What's honorable about that?

But I'll tell you this, a body coming out in the likeness of Christ is glorious, isn't it? That's what he's saying. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power.

This new body is going to be an incorruptible, glorious, powerful body. When our Beloved comes and says, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For the winter is past. The rain is over and gone.

It is sown a natural body. It's raised a spiritual body. Now, when people start to argue about the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses do this, they say, well, we're not raised as bodies. We're raised as spirits.

No, it doesn't say it's raised a spirit. It's raised a spiritual what? Body. It's a body. Now, a natural body, in a natural body, I'm confined to here, right? Terrafirma. Right here. I do not take off through space in this body.

I cannot do it. And there are people who have tried that. Jumping from buildings, think they're going to float down. They're not. They hit the ground. Boom. They're dead. Because they're in a natural body.

A body of flesh and blood. But thank God, let me tell you this. One day, the spirits will control these bodies. New bodies. And the marvelous thing is that when we get that new body, a spiritual body, the things we have to do now, we won't have to do then.

The Glorified Body and the Resurrection of Christ

Now, tonight, for me to get into this building, when I parked my car over there, I did not walk straight across, right through the wall. Because that's dangerous. I was very careful that I found the door.

And opened it. And came through it. Now, you can be sure of this. You know this as we're sitting here. You know we're going to be like Christ. Is that right? We shall be what? Like Him. And when He rose again from the dead, and He appeared to His disciples in that room where they were afraid, the Bible says, as they were there, Jesus stood in the midst.

The doors were locked. And by the way, He was in a body. He was in a body. He stood in the midst. And they thought it was a ghost. So would I. Wouldn't you? I mean, He didn't come through the door. He came right in.

Nothing could stop that body going through that place. And when they get in there, they said, it must be a spirit. How can this happen? And Jesus said, oh, wait a minute. Reach over here. Handle me and see.

A spirit doth not have what? Flesh and bones, as you see Me have. But now, here He is, a risen Savior. Now, He's in His what? Resurrection. Red body. And He walks right, boom! Right in. One day, can you imagine that today, right today, not too far from here, down the coast, there's a place called Cape Canaveral.

Cape Canaveral. And in Cape Canaveral, that's where they take off in these shuttles. I saw the mock-up of the shuttle before it was ever shown in public because one of the men who designed the heat sheet of the capsule, like Apollo 16, was a friend of ours in California.

We went down to the Air Force Base and we saw a mock-up of the shuttle before it was made public. But the shuttle, when it's going up through space, and those men who are going to go into space, and the fellows that were when I was on the moon, it cost millions, billions of dollars for the shuttle to take them up there, for the rocket to send the shuttle into space.

And you think of this. Jesus, after He rose again from the dead and had appeared to His disciples, and He took them outside Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, and He stood there in a body. Is that right?

Was there a body? There was no body. No space suit. No space capsule. There was a body. And after telling them to wait at Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, which saith He, ye have heard of me, but the promise of the Holy Ghost, when they're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit and going out to be witnesses unto Him, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and out of the uttermost parts of the earth.

He took off. And no wonder the Bible says that the disciples are what? Gazing up into heaven. It says He took off and a cloud received Him from out of their sight and out of His stomach, like this, in a body.