Three Days That Changed EVERYTHING! Pt.1

Friday AM: Denied, Mocked & Interrogated

Three Days that changed EVERYTHING: history, politics, culture & cultures, social constructs, community relations and world wide values…everything! What happened two thousand twenty odd years ago on a Friday, Saturday & Sunday in Jerusalem changed our the story of humanity like nothing before or since. Do we properly understand exactly what transpired? Do we grasp the significance and spiritual impact of what occurred? Do we live based on the reality of what God did that Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Putting all the pieces together can enable us to fully celebrate Easter this year. And it can also enable us to walk in faith with God at a deeper level having a greater appreciation for what Christ did!

Doctor Luke is going to be our guide through these three days… we have other information but we will focus primarily on what Luke depicts and nail that information down.

Thursday is the beginning of Passover, the upper room was prepared, Christ celebrates the ‘Last Supper’. Jesus washes the disciples feet, Judas moves to betray Jesus, Peter says: “no matter what, I won’t deny you Jesus!” Jesus say, ‘Not once but three times!” Jesus and The Eleven leave the upper room, go to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays, the disciples can’t stay awake… 

As we join the story it is the middle of the night, the wee hours of Friday, what will forever be known as ‘Good Friday’. But it seems anything but good: Judas has led a group of temple guards to where Jesus and the disciples have been praying in Garden of Gethsemane. Judas identifies Jesus and then Peter thinking he needs to defend Christ, cuts off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Jesus heals the man’s ear and gives himself up.

The last thing Jesus says before they take him away: 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

Gospel of Luke 22:54-71 & 23:1-12

54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them.

  • All of this is going on under the cover of night…
  • Evil works in secrecy; when you have something to hide, you hide it
  • The temple guards took Jesus to the house of their boss for safekeeping
  • Peter tries to be part of the crowd

56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” 57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. 58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

  • Upon close examination, Peter is called out twice as having been with Jesus
  • Second time he is emphatic in his denial of being a follower of Jesus

59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

  • He is accused a third time of being with Jesus, he is marked as ‘Galilean’
  • As Peter is talking, the rooster crows, meaning the sun is about to come up
  • Jesus had been in the courtyard the entire time, He heard all 3 denials
  • Peter recalled the exchange from the previous evening (12 hours ago)
  • Why did Peter do it? He had not yet been indwelt with The Holy Spirit

63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65 And they said many other insulting things to him. 66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them.

  • They were at the home of the High Priest’s for 4 or 5 hours by this time
  • They taunted Him because He they didn’t believe He was God
  • Then about 6am the ‘Sanhedrin’ is ready to meet

67 “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68 and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

  • As a criminal they question Him
  • Their goal was to get Him to declare Himself The Messiah 
  • If He declares Himself Messiah then they can put him to death

70 They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.”71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard I t from his own lips.”

  • They try to get Him to say it another way
  • He uses the phrase ‘I am’ (He has done this before)
  • They take that as an admission of guilt

1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.” 3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

  • They took Him to the Governor; only he could put someone to death
  • They then characterize the charges as being a direct affront to Roman rule
  • Pilate’s question is a form of mockery 
  • Jesus being ‘King of the Jews’ would still make Him have to answer to Pilate

4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” 5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

  • He proclaims to everyone (there is a crowd gathered) no reason to charge Him
  • The Sanhedrin will not take no for an answer
  • They need to get rid of Jesus because He threatens their power
  • They claim He is creating unrest (Roman rule was all about order)
  • They identify Jesus as being from Galilee…

6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

  • Pilate figures out how to pass the buck, He is not inclined to Judge Jesus
  • By sending Him to Herod Pilate avoids the Sanhedrin’s pressure to kill Jesus

8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.

  • Herod Antipas was a figurehead, a puppet of Rome
  • He was curious about Jesus, viewed Him as a ‘spectacle’ or ‘performer’
  • Jesus does not dignify him with any response because he was a fraud

10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

  • The agenda of ‘The Chief Priests’ is driving Herod to act
  • Because of Jesus’s silence & Sanhedrin insistence; Herod gets on board
  • If Herod backs the Sanhedrin, then Pilate will order Jesus’ death
  • All the Jewish authorities bless this execution but Pilate is the one in charge
  • They were enemies, but in Jesus’ death they will collaborate (by the will of God)
  • This series of events is happening based on God’s sovereign control

SUMMARY:

The events that lead up to and include Jesus Christ’s death reveal God’s humility, justice and sovereignty. They also reveal the sin that each member of the human race must deal with.

The Religious Leaders have to capture Jesus at night because they know they are wrong in doing it. Corruption and the work of satan takes place behind closed doors in secrecy.

The denial of Christ by His right hand man was part of the humiliation He suffered. Peter’s denial sets the stage for his transformation once God’s Spirit indwells him.

The Jewish religious establishment was corrupt and responded to Jesus’ threat to their power with the exercise of their power. Part of that was public mockery, a true display of humans capacity for evil / sin.

The way Christ is interrogated is meant to help us see how we insincerely interrogate God. We are unable to fully understand God’s sovereign justice and think we can question why God has done something.

APPLICATION:

What is the difference between privacy and secrecy in your life?

How have you been transformed by your conversion to following Christ and the indwelling of God’s Spirit?

Have you seen God mocked in our world today and how have you responded to it?

Would you consider the enacting of God’s will to be perfectly just? If not, why?

/by

Song of Songs Pt. 7: A Flame of Yahweh

In the final chapter of Song of Songs the Bride recalls the importance of family and exclusiveness. The Bride expresses her dependance on her darling, and declares their emotional and physical oneness. She and the community affirm the value of her physical purity and in perfect unity the Bride & Groom go to a life of sweetness together!

Song of Songs 8

(Bride) 1 I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother’s breast; then, if I met you outdoors, I could kiss you, and no one would look down on me.

  • This is like calling him ‘Brother Groom’, like he called her ‘Sister Bride’
  • It speaks of a love that is as strong as a sibling’s loyalty
  • She longs to express her love fully in public. 
  • She cares about the community and wants to be in unity with it

(Bride) 2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house, and she would instruct me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, fresh juice from my pomegranates. 3 His left arm would be under my head and his right arm around me. 4 I warn you, daughters of Jerusalem, not to awaken or stir up love until it wants to arise!

  • This is the ideal of marriage God’s way: it is a family affair
  • She is going to seek the wisdom of one who has been where she is going
  • This wisdom will be like wonderful refreshment for her Groom
  • They would be in the perfect position to awaken the fullness of love

(Guests) 5 Who is this, coming up from the desert, leaning on her darling?

  • The ‘Who is this’ speaks that transformation has occurred in the Bride 
  • The community is recognizing the Bride has been in the ‘desert’
  • She comes up out of the desert only with the help of her darling
  • She has learned to fully lean on Him

(Groom) I awakened you under the apple tree. It was there that your mother conceived you; there she who bore you conceived you.

  • The apple tree is a symbol of ongoing goodness, consistent and abundant
  • The awakening of the Bride’s love was in the community of her family
  • Your Mother conceived and bore you in the community of her family
  • This is God’s plan for marriage, that it is blessed by the family (sin ruins ideal)
  • Twice in the final chapter is the tie in of family to this marriage being ideal stated

Everything is ready now for the union to be consummated. The lessons have been learned, the fruits have been kept, the obstacles overcome, the community and family are on board.

(Bride) 6 Set me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, passion as cruel as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Yahweh. 7 No amount of water can quench love, torrents cannot drown it. If someone gave all the wealth in his house for love, he would gain only utter contempt.

  • A seal such as a bracelet on the arm meant you belonged to someone
  • This is the uniting, the consummation
  • The Bride says: I want join with my beloved emotionally and physically
  • She is now ready…She know what love is (She has learned & lived God’s ideal)
  • Strong as death! Death ends each & every life on this earth… Not eternal life
  • The cruelty of Sheol is that it is final, every time, for every one
  • The flame of love is God’s flame. If you misuse what is His, you get burned
  • The passions of love can engulf you… consume you
  • Love is unquenchable, it is beyond your control (just like everything else)
  • Strong as death…only thing stronger than death is God / Christ / Holy Spirit
  • If you think love’s power is for sale, you’re a fool, you shouldn’t take seriously!

This next exchange is an expression of how the community plays a role in marriage. Now that this ideal marriage is happening they are giving some of the back story on how it happened. 

(Guests) 8 We have a little sister; her breasts are still unformed. What are we to do with our sister when she is asked for in marriage? 9 If she is a wall, we will build on her a palace of silver; and if she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

  • While the girl is yet a woman the community will keep her from marriage
  • When the time is right the community will affirm the ideal bride as pure
  • The ‘palace of silver’ gives honor to her, for being a wall, allowing none to pass
  • If she has been accessible, she is cared for and enclosed by the community
  • She is just not put out there as en example. GRACE!

(Bride) 10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; so in his view I am like one who brings peace. 

  • Here the Ideal Bride declares that she his barred all access
  • Her intimate parts are out of reach, untouchable, inaccessible
  • Because of this, her beloved sees her as THE source of peace (Shalom)
  • This is God’s ideal for marriage: The exclusiveness is how it was meant to be!

(Bride) 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon, and he gave the vineyard to caretakers; each of them would pay for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. 12 My vineyard is mine; I tend it, myself. You can have the thousand, Solomon, and the fruit-caretakers, two hundred!

  • Baal Hamon means: Overlord of Abundance
  • Land owner would use share-croppers to tend their lands (common property)
  • She is expressing how her abundance is not ‘farmed out’, she keeps it close
  • The world (Solomon) can have everything else, she saves herself for the groom
  • This is the final declaration of the Bride that she is the groom’s and his alone

(Groom) 13 You who live in the garden, friends are listening for your voice. Let me hear it! 

  • Now that they are one flesh they literally ‘live in the garden’
  • The community wants to affirm their union, the Groom calls His bride to confess

(Bride) 14 Flee, my darling! Be like a gazelle or young stag on the mountains of spices!

  • Now the union is complete 
  • Bride saying: ‘together we go, to live out the ideal

SUMMARY:

In a biblical marriage or relationship with Christ, we can have a ‘Familial’, sibling type bond, that transcends attraction.

In following Christ & doing marriage God’s way, we are to lean on our spouse and/or our Savior to get through life’s deserts.

God’s way of marriage & relationship with Him is meant to be experienced within the blessing of family.

God’s ideal is that our attachment to our spouses or God is meant to be all-encompassing.

Love is a passion rooted in the very existence of God and meant for His purposes, otherwise it can be deadly.

The community of God’s people has a role to play in setting standards and helping to protect the purity of young people.

We should value ourselves in a way that we save our intimacy for our God given spouse as we are to keep ourselves for God alone.

When united with our spouse or God, His way, we go to a place of sweetness unique to this life.

APPLICATION:

How might you relate to Jesus more as a ‘perfect’ brother or sister?

How well do you lean on your spouse? How well do you lean on Your Lord & Savior?

How can you treat your marriage or your walk with Christ with more awe and respect?

How can you participate in forming and affirming cultures of biblical marriage and Christ following here at midtown?

/by

Song of Songs Pt. 6: Resist all Others, Keep Your Fruits for Your Beloved

We continue with our two track reading of song of Songs.: The ultimate example of God gifted marriage & relationship with Christ

Last time on Song of Songs…

Our Bride is remembering a time when she was younger

She was swept up into a chariot, the chariot of a Prince!

The community / God’s people were concerned for her

They warned her as she went, about even the ‘appearance of evil’

So now she is presumably alone with the Prince:

Song of Songs Chapter 7

(Prince) 1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, you daughter of princes! The curves of your thighs are like a necklace made by a skilled craftsman. 2 Your navel is like a round goblet that never lacks spiced wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat encircled by lilies.

  • His praise is tied to man made things: sandals & necklaces
  • The ancient beginnings of the importance of women’s shoes… 
  • The prince starts at the ground & goes up: Shepard started at the top
  • He is quick to focus on a certain area…
  • The belly is symbolic of the desire of the flesh

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven… ~ Philippians 3:18-20a

(Prince) 3 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory, your eyes like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bat-Rabbim, your nose like the tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus.

  • Same description of breasts, must have been a popular comparison
  • Ivory Tower has connotations of aloofness, detached…promotion of vanity
  • These were fish pools outside the gates of the capital of the Amorites
  • These gates were known for the multitudes that passes through them
  • The tower is figurative, Lebanon was meant to be part of the ‘Promised land’
  • It represents something desired but not obtained, another form of aloofness 
  • The promotion of 

(Prince) 5 You hold your head like Mt Carmel, and the hair on your head is like purple cloth — the king is held captive in its tresses. 6 How beautiful you are, my love, how charming, how delightful!

  • He calls himself ‘The King’, and he is ‘captivated’ by posture & appearance
  • He is enamored by the ‘Image’ she projects, who she is from a distance
  • He is not looking at who she really is, just her image
  • Beautiful / Charming / Delightful… Bla bla bla! Empty flattery
  • It is all promotion of self-centered image-consciousness 

(Prince) 7 Your appearance is stately as a palm tree, with its fruit clusters your breasts. 8 I said, “I will climb up into the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches.” May your breasts be like clusters of grapes, your breath as fragrant as apples, 9 and your mouth like the finest wine.

  • The world says: ‘Your Appearance’, not who you are, is what matters
  • He mentions her breasts again, still no mention of the eyes…
  • Now the prince states his intention, ‘I will climb’… ‘I will take hold’
  • This is not about anything but his desires
  • This is how this world does relationship: it is about what I can get out of it

(Bride to Prince) May the wine go straight to the man I love and gently move the lips of those who are asleep. 10 I belong to my darling, and his desire is for me. 

  • The wine, her kisses have only one destination: straight to the man I love
  • As they go to their proper and single destination, that will gently change the speech of the prince who is ‘must be dreaming’ if he thinks she willing to dance for his army
  • In case the Prince didn’t get the more veiled comment she make it very clear
  • I belong to the groom because he cares about 1st and foremost about ME! 

That is the end of the scene…

SUMMARY UP UNTIL NOW

The bride & groom (Christ & His Church) declare their love and devotion

They begin the process of uniting, but when the groom came for His bride…

She was unresponsive, caught up in herself

She let the world / sin get between her and her beloved…

But she admitted her wrong, and in doing so repaired the relationship

And she declared her allegiance and their unity

She resisted great temptation to ‘Dance for Two Army camps’…

The glitter and riches wanted to have their way with her, she chose to be faithful

She would will have many more temptations to resist as a faithful Bride

So we are back to where the bride and groom are ready to approach union

(Bride to Groom) 11 Come, my darling, let’s go out to the country and spend the nights in the villages. 12 We’ll get up early and go to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, to see if their flowers have opened, or if the pomegranate trees are in bloom. There I will give you my love.

  • She wants them to go away together, to a simple, basic and undistracted place
  • Together they will see that everything has blossomed and now is the time
  • It is the setting where she will give herself fully to her groom

(Bride to Groom) 13 The mandrakes are sending out their fragrance, all kinds of choice fruits are at our doors, fruits both new and old, my darling, which I have kept in store for you.

  • The fragrance of the Mandrakes announces the time is right
  • The garden is fully in bloom, the consummation of their union is near
  • The fruits of their love are at the door, not quite there, just over the threshold…
  • All kinds of fruits: physical, emotional & intellectual
  • Old & New: the bride and groom bring their past and anticipate the future
  • What make it all perfect is that she has kept it all in store for just her groom
  • The value of their love is bound up in the exclusivity of it

BIG IDEAS:

Our world promotes self-centeredness, which divides our marriages & our relationships with Christ.

Image-consciousness turns relationships into nothing more than self-fulfillment; the opposite of what biblical marriage & biblical relationship with God are about.

In a biblical relationship with Christ you trust He cares for you! In a biblical marriage you trust your spouse cares for you. 

The full depth of love with Christ & in biblical marriage happens in simplicity; devoid of self-centered image-consciousness.

The exclusiveness of what is kept for our Lord or our spouse, is what brings all the richness to the relationship!

APPLICATION:

What things, activities or relationships promote self-centeredness in you?

How image-conscious would you say you are? What makes you image-conscious?

What has happened in your life that makes you not trust Christ cares for you?

Where in your life is there a lack of exclusiveness with God or with your spouse?

/by

Song of Songs Pt. 5: A Secure, Exclusive and Passionate Allegiance

What makes this book so special: the layered meanings. In my research I have come across a wide variety of interpretations. But what is historical fact is that it has always been considered to be Scripture / Holy Writing / God Breathed.

The Jews sing Song of Song as part of their Passover celebration. As Christ and His disciples left the upper room and moved through the city headed for the garden of Gethsemane they would have heard people singing the lines of this epic poem. 

There is a 3rd character that has been seen previously in Chapter 3, The King, Solomon. Now we are going to see a memory of a run in with the Prince. This character represents the influences of the world: corruption, sin and excess. He will attempt to lure the bride away from the groom to come between them.

We are going to see the use of the garden again as a symbol of what is meant to be, and we will to see how this ‘Song’ is about marriage AND relationship with God. This comparison is throughout the Scriptures, an example from Isiah:

For the Lord delights in you, and to Him your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your Creator will marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you. ~ Isaiah 62:4b-5

Previously on Song of Songs…

The Bride, caught up in herself, hesitated when her darling called her…She was unsure of the relationship (Her feelings) & sought to be reunited with her darling. She suffered the loss of not being one with her darling, and wisely sought help. The community leads her to remember why Her darling is special. In that remembrance she finds peace, will she in turn find Him?

Chapter 6:1-13

(Guests) 1 Where has your darling gone, you most beautiful of women? Which way did your darling turn, so that we can help you find him?

  • Again she is called by her community / God’s people: ‘most beautiful of women’
  • The disunity / distance originated with her, she repented, now they can help
  • They tell her she knows how to find him… come on you know where he went
  • The remembrance of her darling will lead her to where The Groom is
  • In marriage & with Christ, we need to feel & think to fully experience intimacy

(Bride) 2 My darling went down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies. 3 I belong to the man I love, and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

  • Her darling is exactly where he was meant to be, the shepherd in ‘His Garden’
  • She is His Flock / She is His Garden / She is His Peace
  • What she believes about him & their relationship is true
  • She is His, He is Hers, and that is where they find Shalom 
  • When she remembers fully who He is and what He means to her she is secure
  • This is the essence of what every woman was made to enjoy: security

(Groom) 4 You are as beautiful as Tizah, my love, as lovely as Jerusalem, but formidable as an army marching under banners. 5 Turn your eyes away from me, because they overwhelm me! 

  • This is a woman approaching Her Groom with passion
  • Tizah was the seat of the 1st kings of the divided kingdom: ‘Delightful’
  • Nothing is more beautiful that Jerusalem, the height of excellence & favor
  • With ‘fire in her eyes’ she is declaring who she belongs to
  • Braziers (fire bearing devices) & Banners denoted your tribe, your allegiance
  • The groom is blown away by ‘His Love’! Turn your eyes away = ‘I’m not worthy’

(Groom) Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Gilead. 6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that have just come up from being washed; each of them is matched, and none of them is missing. 7 Your cheeks are like a pomegranate split open behind your veil.

  • As he composes himself the familiar words she so longs to hear begin to flow
  • The imagery of seeing goats descend by switching trails down a mountain
  • Pretty unique to have white (washed), straight (matched) & all of your teeth!
  • The skin of a pomegranate is very taught, super smooth 
  • The veil: the bride is ever modest, ever chaste

(Groom) 8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, as well as young women beyond number; 9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, her mother’s only child, the darling of the one who bore her. The daughters see her and call her happy; the queens and concubines praise her.

  • Now the groom puts her in a special class above all of the listed royalty
  • Solomon is recorded to have had 700 wives / queens & 300 concubines!!!
  • All women in the region… HIS dove, HIS perfect ONE, is one of a kind

(Groom) 10 “Who is this, shining forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun” — but formidable as an army marching under banners?

  • He has compared her to cities, goats, sheep & pomegranates
  • Elevated her above all the women in the land
  • Now the groom compares her to things beyond his knowledge
  • How the dawn breaks he doesn’t know, just that it is beautiful
  • How is the moon so fair? How is the sun so bright?
  • She is an imposing force come to fight for what is hers, she has his attention

The Bride becomes all she can be, the apex of her beauty, when she is undivided, when she is fiercely passionate for Her Darling. The Groom sees the fullness of her beauty flowing from her exclusive, passionate allegiance to Him.

This sort of union, this joining of souls has been constantly threatened and will be going forward. It is good to remember what has been overcome in the past to solidify a watchful mentality.

Next is a flashback scene… a remembrance of a time before

(Bride) 11 I had gone down to the nut orchard to see the fresh green plants in the valley, to see if the vine had budded, or if the pomegranate trees were in bloom. 12 Before I knew it, I found myself in a chariot, and with me was a prince.

  • It was not yet full spring, so she was going to look for sings of spring
  • This epitomizes innocence, the naivety of being immature
  • Perhaps this was before she knew better than to be in such a place alone
  • She seems to have been snatched up onto the Chariot of a Prince
  • She is being swept up in ‘Tech’ & ‘Lux’… dazzled by the world of sin

(Guests) 13 Come back, come back, girl from Shulam! Come back, come back to where we can see you! 

  • The prince takes her out of sight, perhaps to His tents…
  • The community is worried about her, worried she might be in over her head
  • They want her to stay in the safety of the community (1st Peter 5:8)

(Guests) Why are you looking at the girl from Shulam as if she were dancing for two army camps?

  • The community is concerned about the appearance of what is happening
  • They know that the glamour of The Prince / The World, could allure her
  • They realize we all face the prospect of split loyalties
  • They are concerned it looks like she is ‘working both sides of the street’

In marriage we will be tempted to let our affections be divided, we will have opportunities to dance for more than one army. It is the same with Christ, the world is set up to divide us from Him. Are we prepared to fight off the temptation to share our affections with other gods, such as wealth, career, approval, image, self-fulfillment? The scripture teaches we should have a passionate allegiance to Christ and if God wills it, to our spouse. We need to demonstrate our undivided allegiance, our spouses need to see it & Christ desires to see it. But are we dancing for two army camps far too often?

What will the Bride, the girl from Shulam do? Will her passionate allegiance to her darling enable her to resist a prince? Tune in next week to see…

SUMMARY:

Biblical marriage is built on trust that flows from a balance of present feelings AND what we know to be true about our spouse. 

An intimate walk with Christ is about relating to Him with our intellect and emotions.

God wants us to be secure in our marriage, to be passionate about our marriages and to leave no doubt about the exclusive allegiance we have to our spouse. 

It is meant to be the same with Christ: A secure, passionate & exclusive allegiance.

The Union of one man and one woman done God’s way (Biblical Marriage) gives us a vision of the beauty, pleasure and fulfillment found in eternity with Christ. 

In marriage and in our walk with Christ our unity is always under threat, for even in innocence we will be divided by the world, dazzled by tech & lux, and lured into dancing for more than one army camp.

APPLICATION:

In marriage or with Christ, what are your trust issues that can hinder relationship?

What are situations where your emotions dominate in your response to God or your spouse?

How have you declared your passionate allegiance to your Lord or your spouse?

Why is it attractive when it is clear who a bride or a Christian belongs to?

/by

Song of Songs Pt. 4 : Don’t Hesitate When True Love Calls

Can you think of a time in your life when you hesitated & missed out on something? 33 years ago I did not hesitate when true love called: Happy Valentines Day.

Back to you…have you hesitated and paid dearly for it? Did you learned something? The Bride of Christ, you and I, we are prone to be caught up in our routine, to let worldly pursuits distract us, and we hesitate to follow Jesus Christ as He call us to.

We have ideas about what it means to truly follow Christ, but we must get out of our heads and act when Christ calls to us, not tomorrow or when it is more convenient. And in a Biblical marriage we can’t hesitate when our spouse needs us, we must respond to their needs in a timely manner, with our active presence. 

The crucial ingredient of intimacy is presence, really being there, in our relationship with God and our marriages. It is also crucial to actively remember why it is we love our spouses and our Savior. As a community of Jesus Christ followers we are called to encourage each other in the Lord. That means worshiping whole heartedly. Listening to each other tell our God stories, reminding us why we love our Lord so much! And in our marriages we need to actively remember and tell our spouses why they are our one and only beloved.

As we read Song of Songs we see the dual story of a Bride and Groom and the bigger picture of Christ and His Church. The growth of intimacy and the uniting in both cases is sacred and beautiful, fulfilling the promise of The Garden, how it was meant to be, Shalom!

This morning our passage starts in the dream of what the bride and groom are to become, but that dream is endangered by the bride being too caught up in herself to respond without hesitation to the call of her beloved. In the course of learning a hard lesson she clarifies exactly why he is her one true love. But like I said this is not just about a bride and a groom, this is about how we respond to our Savior and Lord as His Bride.

Chapter 4:16-5:16

(Bride) 4:16 Awake, north wind! Come, south wind! Blow on my garden to spread its fragrance. Let my darling enter his garden and eat its finest fruit.

  • The bride is responding to the Groom seeing her as HIS garden
  • She is declaring her desire for their love to be a return to ‘The Garden’
  • She is expressing her total vulnerability and inviting her darling into this love

(Groom) 5:1 My sister, my bride, I have entered my garden; I am gathering my myrrh and my spices; I am eating my honeycomb along with my honey; I am drinking my wine as well as my milk.

  • The idea of exclusivity: MY Sister; MY bride
  • This creates ‘The Shalom’. Intimacy between a man and a woman God’s way
  • The Groom finds total fulfillment: He enjoys all the pleasures of ‘The Garden’

(Guests) Eat, friends, and drink, until you are drunk with love!

  • The guests encourage & approve of the full enjoyment of love by bride & groom
  • In this context (one man & one woman united under God) love is at it’s best!
  • The guests represent the community of God’s people
  • This is the yet to be realized perfect state of intimacy: Shalom

(Bride) 2 I am asleep, but my heart is awake. Listen! I hear my darling knocking!

  • It is unclear whether she now is in a dream state or she was previously
  • her desire is to hold on to the dream but she is called to ‘real life’

(Groom) Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my flawless one! For my head is wet with dew, my hair with the moisture of the night.

  • The groom is entreating her to open the door to Him
  • He call to her as: Perfect / Peaceful / His Passion / His Trust
  • He has come at an unexpected time, after sundown
  • The best of life is not always convenient…

(Bride) 3 I’ve removed my coat; must I put it back on? I’ve washed my feet; must I dirty them again? 4 The man I love put his hand through the hole by the door-latch, and my heart began pounding at the thought of him. 5 I got up to open for the man I love. My hands were dripping with myrrh —pure myrrh ran off my fingers onto the handle of the bolt.

  • The bride express some hesitation, some thought of selfishness, some doubt
  • Then knowing that he truly come for her she is overcome and she acts
  • She seems to be in the midst of preparing to sleep, (bedtime routine)
  • After hesitating she goes to him without stoping her anointing routine

(Bride) 6 I opened for my darling, but my darling had turned and gone. My heart had failed me when he spoke — I sought him, but I couldn’t find him; I called him, but he didn’t answer. 7 The watchmen roaming the city found me; they beat me, they wounded me; they took away my cloak, those guardians of the walls! 8 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, that if you find the man I love, what are you to tell him? That I am sick with love.

  • Her hesitation has proved to be her undoing…now she haas to seek him
  • He is not able to be found and she pays the price for not responding to him
  • She experiences the harshness of the world outside ‘The Garden’
  • The bride invokes an oath from the daughters of Jerusalem / God’s People
  • They are to send a message to the groom: There will be no more hesitation

(Guests) 9 How does the man you love differ from any other, you most beautiful of women? How does the man you love differ from any other, that you should give us this charge?

  • The guests refer to her ‘most beautiful of women’ 
  • The community of God’s people appreciate her desire to seek the groom
  • The guests want to know why the man she loves is one of a kind
  • What is it about this groom? Why do they want her explain why He is special

(Bride) 10 The man I love is radiant and ruddy; he stands out among ten thousand. 11 His head is like the finest gold; his locks are wavy and black as a raven. 12 His eyes are like doves by running streams, bathed in milk and set just right.

  • Radiant: an expression of glory
  • Ruddy: King David, Man of Sorrows in Isaiah & Jesus were described this way
  • The Bridegroom stands out, one of a kind
  • Head like the finest gold = value in the thoughts and insights he has, the finest
  • The hair symbolizes youth and vitality, jet black, no grey
  • Eye like doves: gentle, full of integrity, cleansed of filth and inviting

(Bride) 13 His cheeks are like beds of spices, like banks of fragrant herbs. His lips are like lilies dripping with sweet myrrh. 14 His arms are rods of gold set with beryl, his body polished ivory adorned with sapphires. 15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His stature is like Lebanon, as imposing as the cedars.

  • His face is sweetness personified to her
  • Lilies dripping myrrh: what comes from his lips in unrivaled in all creation
  • The works of his hands are precious and pure
  • His body denotes his ‘Guts / Bowels’… the source of his character
  • His affections for his bride are rich and strong
  • Legs denote stability and consistency
  • His countenance / appearance is one of a kind excellence

(Bride) 16His words are sweetness itself; he is altogether desirable. This is my darling, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

  • What he speaks to her is the icing on the cake: the epitome of sweetness
  • All of these things combine to make him the perfect object of her affections
  • He is my ‘Brother Groom’ she declares to the people of God

SUMMARY:

The bride and groom are imagining the consummation of the marriage, a return to ‘The Garden’.

The groom comes tot he bride unannounced, but the bride is selfishly focused on ‘her world’.

Her excuses and hesitation are overwhelmed by the strength of her feelings for the groom.

Hesitation comes with a high price, he is gone and in her search for him, the world now treats her with pain and shame.

The bride wisely seeks help from the guests, ‘The Daughters of Jerusalem’ confessing the error of her ways.

God’s people encourage her to clarify her desire, to share why her love for the groom consumes her.

She describes the groom as being everything desirable and His words to her are the ultimate source of desire.

APPLICATION:

How do you imagine your relationship with Jesus Christ?

How have you hesitated to respond to Christ’s call on your life?

How might you seek the help of God’s people to clear distractions from your life so you can respond to God?

How well have you clarified the basis for your conversion to Christ Following?

When Loves Comes To Town by U2 & BB King

When love comes to town, I’m gonna jump that train
When love comes to town, I’m gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword
I threw the dice when they pierced his side
But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide

/by

Songs of Songs Pt. 3: How Christ sees his bride

All of our text today is spoken by The Groom. What we are going to hear is the way God intended a man to be attracted to and protective of his one and only bride.  We are also going to hear how God feels about each and everyone of those who have become HIS bride, how he sees and cares for those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ.

This epic poem, uses the most important of all human relationships to show how bringing that desire, passion & fulfillment completely under Jesus Christ’s control is a picture of how it was in the beginning, and how it will be in heaven. One of the constant themes throughout this ‘Song’ is how much better love is when we let God take the lead, that we submit to His timing. That the ideal love relationship must not be awakened before the right time. That the special things a man and a women can share in marriage are meant to be kept until the proper time, as God reveals.

This principal goes for everything; when we put our lives under Jesus’ Lordship we become what HE created us to be: His perfect, special, secure and fruitful Bride. This is how we are meant to be, in this exclusive, intimate with our Creator. ‘Shalom’

The CSNY song ‘Woodstock’ has a line: ‘We’ve got to get ourselves, back to The Garden’. We have God given desire to experience Shalom, to walk with God like Adam & Eve did in the Garden.  God wants to take us back to The Garden, That is why Christ came! This book is scripture because it helps complete the picture of God’s redemptive story.

Song of Songs 4:1-15

(Groom) 1 How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep that have just come up from being washed; each of them is matched, and none of them is missing.

  • The repetition is on purpose
  • Imagery drawn from the experience of a shepherd
  • Doves are a symbol of purity
  • She is veiled, the totality of her beauty is still unknown; she is not his yet…
  • Hair like goats on a mountain….picture it
  • It was rare to have nice teeth…

(Groom)3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like a pomegranate split open behind your veil. 4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built magnificently, on which hang a thousand bucklers, each one a brave warrior’s shield. 5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle grazing among lilies. 

  • Using the things that were familiar in that world
  • Scarlet thread was rare, woven into temple curtains & High Priest’s Ephod
  • Pomegranate: soft and round yet behind the veil;  they are not fully known yet
  • Tower of David was a Citadel, the description speaks of splendor & strength 
  • The ‘lilies’ is a place of security and sweetness

(Groom) 6 When the day’s cool breeze comes up and the shadows lengthen, I will get myself to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense. 

  • Lengthening shadows denote the end of the work day
  • He will seek the sweetness of His Bride when work is done; a fitting reward

(Groom) 7 Everything about you is beautiful, my love; you are without a flaw. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Come down from the heights of Amana, from the heights of Senir and Hermon, down from the lions’ lairs and the leopard-haunted hills.

  • It is a subjective vision, to see your Bride as flawless…
  • If we are ‘In Christ’ God doesn’t see sinful you or me, He sees His perfect Son!
  • The groom wants the bride to come to him, choosing to leave her world
  • Mountains are a place of excitement and danger, the valley is secure & sweet
  • ‘Leave and Cleve’  In marriage and ‘In Christ’

(Groom) 9 My sister, my bride, you have carried my heart away! With just one glance, with one bead of your necklace you have carried my heart away. 10 My sister, my bride, how sweet is your love! How much better your love than wine, more fragrant your perfumes than any spice!

  • Calling her ‘Sister Bride’ is telling her how multifaceted their relationship is
  • Protection & Loyalty for a sister, Union & Exclusivity with your Bride 
  • She carries his heart away, he is naturally attracted
  • Her love is what the Groom desires the most, it’s more intoxicating than wine
  • The reaction of his senses to her is beyond any other experience
  • This is How God sees you Christian: desirable for all the right reasons
  • THIS love of a Bride & Groom can illustrate the love of God & His people

(Groom) 11 Your lips, my bride, drip honey; honey and milk are under your tongue; and the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.

  • Kisses and words come from the lips
  • He only calls her Bride now for these things are shared only with that one.
  • Mystery & intrigue, the scent of the unfamiliar…

(Groom) 12 My sister, my bride, is a garden locked up, a pool covered over, a spring sealed shut. 

  • Again the dual title invokes secure care and exclusive passion
  • Water is what gives every growing thing life
  • This water is not available to everyone, it is held for a one of a kind purpose

(Groom) 13 You are an orchard that puts forth pomegranates and other precious fruits, henna and nard —14 nard with saffron and aromatic cane, cinnamon and all kinds of frankincense trees, myrrh, aloes, all the best spices.

  • V13 is sometimes over sexualized… (shoots or limbs translated as thighs) 
  • Literal translation: ‘Your shoots, a paradise of pomegranates…’
  • To Him she is all things stimulating to the senses
  • In this God ordained love she is a place where everything is put right: Shalom
  • The Big Idea: in God ordained marriage we can get a glimpse of ‘The Garden’

(Groom)15 You are a garden fountain, a spring of running water, flowing down from Lebanon.

  • As they trust each other and enter into intimacy, the life giving goodness flows!
  • When joined God’s way the spring is to be released and the Garden thrives

SUMMARY:

The Groom compares the beauty of his bride to the beauty of God’s creation from the perspective of a shepherd. This is how the ‘Great Shepherd’ sees His bride.

The Groom’s daily toil is rewarded by ‘The Sweet Heights’ of his Bride. The mountains are exciting & risky, the valley is safe & peaceful.  He calls her to come to him and find security.

Sister Bride is a name that expresses incredible protective care & loyalty along with passionate unity and exclusivity!  This is who Jesus Christ sees His followers as!

Our sexual intimacy is precious to God, He desires us to share it exclusively in the confines He prescribes (Biblical Marriage). In the same way He wants us to be intimate with Him exclusively.

This is a picture of how a ‘God Prescribed Marriage’ can give us a vision of what a return to the Garden of Eden Heaven will be.

APPLICATION:

What are some ways you can practice being a beautiful part of God’s creation? 

How do you respond to Jesus Christ seeing you as His unique ‘Sister Bride’?

Since Christ enthusiastically enjoys your honest love, how can you express it more?

What would it look like for you to be a garden spring of running water in your relationship with God?

/by

Song of Songs Pt. 2 : Our Longings Fulfilled

Doing things God’s way

How and why did I chose this book to preach: Guidance is needed! We need guidance & inspiration to have Biblical relationships with Christ & a spouse. 

Why is Biblical Marriage important? Scripture defines Biblical Marriage as one man and one woman under one God.  THIS IS THE ONLY sanctified place of sexual intimacy for humans according to God’s revealed Word.  This is God’s ideal for humans.

Why is a Biblical relationship with Christ important? Love is under the sovereignty of God, just like everything else!  With this Scripture, God is showing us how to do it HIS way! The fierceness & strength of pure love is God’s ideal for our relationship with Him.

So it‘s about God’s ideal for marriage and His ideal for relating to Him. Understanding the Song’s literal meaning regarding the ideal marriage enables us to understand its allegorical implications. They are meant to work together pointing us to good theology and good doxology.

Why is it Scripture?

Song of Songs was included in the Hebrew Canon because it affirms the ‘radical monotheism’ of Judaism. This absolute exclusivity is expressed in Biblical marriage, one man & one woman under God, that is also seen in the writing of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Jeremiah and Amos. New Testament wise, it matches Christ’s teaching of ‘The Wedding Feast of The Lamb’ and other such imagery.

Why it is needed? It is the ideal God has for us. There are lots of examples in scripture for of how marriage is done wrong & relationship with God done wrong. This is how it is supposed to be: Shalom. This ideal marriage is an earthly picture of the eternal reversal of the punishment of Eve in Genesis 3:16 (“your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you”), the woman in the Song declares, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” There is mutuality, honoring and ‘how God would have it’ about this love that places the lovers back into the Garden. God’s love redeems!

Our passage today deals with the longing and desire for the kind of love God designed for us.  It speaks of new beginnings and plans that will soon be brough to fruition. The growing of these two into one flesh in right relationship with God, the consuming love we are to share with Christ.

PRAY

Song of Songs 2:8 – 3:11

(Bride) 8 The voice of the man I love! Here he comes, bounding over the mountains, skipping over the hills! 9 My darling is like a gazelle or young stag. There he is, standing outside our wall, looking in through the windows, peering in through the lattice.

  • Sound is an emotional trigger
  • The gazelle or stag symbolizes vitality and exuberance
  • He has come to where she is but doesn’t barge in 

(Bride) 10 My darling speaks; he is saying to me, “Get up, my love! My beauty! Come away! 11 For you see that the winter has passed, the rain is finished and gone, 12 the flowers are appearing in the countryside, the time has come for birds to sing, and the cooing of doves can be heard in the land. 13 The fig trees are forming their unripe figs, and the grapevines in bloom give out their perfume. Get up, my love, my beauty! Come away!”

  • This is what she imagines she hears the groom say: Spring is Here!
  • The garden, the vineyard, the trees the birds all declare it!
  • Spring denotes the blooming of their love, headed to the apex: Marriage!
  • She receives an invitation into the fullness of the relationship

(Groom) 14 My dove, hiding in holes in the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, let me see your face and hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

  • She is elusive, she is shy…
  • The groom acknowledges the humble posture of the bride
  • He asks her to reveal herself (The Ultimate Gentleman)
  • The groom waits for the bride to be intimate at her pace

(Bride) 15 “Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!”

  • Little Foxes represent things that could damage their growing love   
  • ‘Little things’ if left unaddressed, can ruin the bloom of God ordained love 
  • Don’t let the little things go unaddressed! Key principal for all relationships!
  • Take preventative measures to protect this love from anything that could harm it.”
  • The bride asked the groom to do this. We ask Christ to do this
  • A proactive approach to dealing with issues is God’s way

Some examples of ‘little foxes’

Uncontrolled desire that drives a wedge of guilt and mistrust between the couple.

Mistrust and jealousy that strains or breaks the bond of love.

Selfishness and pride that refuses to acknowledge wrong and fault to one another.

An unforgiving attitude that will not accept an apology.

(Bride) 16 My darling is mine, and I am his, as he pastures his flock among the lilies. 17 Before the daytime breeze rises and the shadows flee, return, my love, like a stag or gazelle on the hills of Beter.

  • The exclusivity of belonging solely to the other
  • She considers herself the ‘flock’ of the groom
  • The place where he keeps her is sweet and lush
  • When He is not there she longs for His return

(Bride) 3:1 Night after night on my bed I looked for the man I love. I looked for him, but I did not find him. 2 “I will get up now and roam the city, through the streets and the open places, I will look for the man I love.” I looked for him, but I did not find him.

  • This is a dream the bride has (previous sequence?)
  • She has dreamed of being His bride
  • Then she goes everywhere to find him

(Bride) 3 The guards roaming the city found me. “Have you seen the man I love?” 4 Scarcely had I left them, when I found the man I love. I took hold of him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the bedroom of the woman who conceived me.

  • Last place to check was with the guards: did he leave the city?
  • When she finally finds him she is fiercely possessive
  • She wants to take the groom to the beginning of her story and lay everything out
  • She is ready to become totally intimate with the groom… 

(Bride) 5 I warn you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and deer in the wilds, not to awaken or stir up love until it wants to arise!

  • The warning is like before: This God given gift must be handled with care
  • It must happen on God’s timetable, not ours
  • We must respect the power of what God wants for us, in marriage and in HIM!

(Bride)

6 Who is this, coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, chosen from the merchant’s crushed spices? 7 It is Solomon’s litter, escorted by sixty valiant men chosen from Israel’s finest; 8 all of them wield the sword and are expert fighters; each one has his sword ready at his side to combat the terrors of night.

  • This is imagery of King Solomon representing God
  • God can appear unapproachable, guarded and unreachable
  • There is power against evil, it is His

(Bride)
9 King Solomon made himself a royal litter of wood from Lebanon. 10 He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, its seat of purple cloth; its inside was lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Daughters of Zion, come out, and gaze upon King Solomon, wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, his day of joy!

  • HE has placed himself in this spot, it is His rightful place
  • We do well to approach Him in awe and wonder, but approach we must
  • Tie in to the King’s wedding day and the joy of that. (Wedding feast of the Lamb?)

SUMMARY:

The ideal is needed to guide us: in Marriage and in our life with God.

There is a proper way to approach Marriage and to approach God.

Exclusivity is God’s ideal for marriage AND His relationship with us. 

God gives us an exciting vision, but we must cooperate with Him to properly experience the fullness of what He desires for us in marriage and our walk with HIM.

We are called to be intentional in the addressing all relationship issues, with God and in Marriage.

Putting God in His proper place will enable everything else to be properly aligned.

APPLICATION:

Are you convinced this book is ‘God breathed’ and a guide for us in marriage and our relationship with Christ? Why or why not?

How exclusive is your walk with Christ? How exclusive is your relationship with your spouse?

How can you look at your walk with Christ as a new beginning today?

What are the ‘Little Foxes’ you need to attend to in your marriage or in your walk with Jesus?

/by

Songs of Songs PT. 1: ‘God’s Perfect Union for Humans’

Summary of The Book:

A celebration of how the most important human relationship can be the greatest experience we ever have on earth, when done the God of the scriptures way.

It is also the story of Christ and His church. We don’t have to be ashamed to talk abut sexual intimacy within God’s holy plan for it.

Pt. 1: Song of Songs 1:1 – 2:8

(Author)

1 The Ultimate Song, by Solomon.

  • Compilation of wedding songs / poems by Solomon
  • Two ways to read the book: Multi-Layered meaning of Scripture
  • #1. The description of the ideal union of two humans done God’s way
  • #1. The description of how we should be intimate in our relationship with God
  • We should be the Bride and Christ is our Groom!

(Bride)

2 Let him smother me with kisses from his mouth, for your love is better than wine. 3 Your anointing oils have a wonderful fragrance; your name is like anointing oil poured out. This is why young women love you. 4 “Take me with you. We will run together”. The king has brought me into his rooms.

  • The groom’s love is better than wine: intoxicating at different levels (spiritual)
  • Good smells were a luxury,
  • God’s idea of love & commitment between a man & a woman is enjoyable!

(Guests)

We will be glad and rejoice for you. We will praise your love more than wine.
How right it is for us to love you!

  • The community of God’s people affirm this God ordained relationship

(Bride)

5 I am dark tan but beautiful, you daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6 Don’t stare at me because I’m dark; it’s the sun that tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me look after the vineyards. But I haven’t cared for my own vineyard.

  • There is a humility that is part of the character of the Bride
  • She is not to be judged by appearances alone

(Bride)

7 Tell me, my love, where you pasture your flock, where you have them rest at noon; for why should I veil myself beside the flocks of your friends?

  • She is asking to be incorporated into every aspect of her beloved’s life
  • She want to be fully associated as HIS, she wants to be taken off the market

(Guests)

8 If you do not know, you most beautiful of women, then follow the footprints of the flock and let your kids graze by the shepherds’ tents.

  • They are telling her she could know if she would follow the right guidance
  • Some of being brought to union by God involves letting it happen organically

(Groom)

9 My love, I compare you with my mare, pulling one of Pharaoh’s chariots —10 your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with its strings of beads; 11 we will make you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.

  • This is an expression of how the groom wants to show his bride off
  • These ornaments highlight her natural beauty, but they don’t overshadow it
  • She deserves nice things but she doesn’t need them to be his desire

(Bride)

12 As the king reclines at table, my nard gives forth its perfume: 13 to me the man I love is a sachet of myrrh lodged between my breasts; 14 to me the man I love is a spray of henna flowers in the vineyards of En Gedi.

  • When the groom is in his place the bride will naturally attract him
  • To the bride the groom is a secure pleasure, an ever present source of delight
  • A great spot at a great location

(Groom)

15 Look at you, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves!

  • Doves used as items of sacrifice
  • The affection is genuine

(Bride)

16 — Look at you! So handsome, so pleasing, my darling! Our bed is the greenery; 17 cedars are the beams of our houses, cypresses the rafters.

  • The bride is enthralled with the groom because he is HER darling (exclusive)
  • The location of their intimacy is all creation! (not just sexually in a bed)

(Bride)

2:1 I am but a rose from the Sharon, just a lily in the valleys.

  • Another expression of humility by the bride
  • She is saying she is not anything special but an ordinary, common flower

(Groom)

2 Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the other women.

  • In comparison to others the groom views his bride as a breed unto herself!
  • There is no comparison in his eyes

(Bride)

3 Like an apple tree among the other trees in the forest is my darling among the other men. I love to sit in his shadow; his fruit is sweet to my taste. 4 He brings me to the banquet hall; his banner over me is love.

  • The apple is the most valuable of trees: vary hardy, long producing, & beautiful
  • Security is found in the groom’s covering,
  • The bride wants to be overshadowed by the groom
  • His natural gift to is enjoyable to HER
  • It’s a place of celebration & honor: public display of the grooms affection
  • His banner is who He is and what He believers about her

(Bride)
5 Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. 6 I wish his left arm under my head, and his right arm around me. 7 I warn you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and deer in the wilds, not to awaken or stir up love until it wants to arise!

  • The groom at once flusters the bride and sustains her
  • For the bride to be sick with love is to be overcome, but the groom is the cure
  • The embrace of the groom is almost too much for her t handle
  • God wants the fullness of intimacy to be an overwhelming experience
  • But it is only to be experienced in the way HE has sanctioned
  • The warning is that to get the full experience you need to do it God’s way!

Summary:

The experience of God ordained marriage goes beyond natural pleasures. A Biblical relationship with Christ is supernatural.

The Bride is drawn to the Groom as the Biblical Church is drawn to Christ!

The Bride is humble & focused on others. Christ’s Bride exists only through humility

The Groom is proud of His Bride and brings Her into every dimension of His life. Christ wants us to share every aspect of Himself with us.

The exclusivity of the marriage relationship provides ‘secure pleasures.’ Only ‘In Christ’ can we experience ‘peaceful Joy’.

There is a proper time for love between a man and a woman to be expressed in sexual intimacy: The union of Biblical marriage. The terms of our surrender to Christ’s Lordship are His to dictate.

APPLICATION:

Why do you believe (or not believe) that sexual intimacy should only occur between a man and a woman in the relationship of Biblical marriage?

How do you see yourself as Christ’s Bride? How do you act as Christ’s Bride?

Married Couples: what ‘secure pleasures’ can you provide for your spouse?

Not yet Married: how will invite your future spouse into every part of your life?

How can you live more like Jesus Christ is proud of you and wants to show you off?

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LORDSHIP DISCIPLESHIP

Biblical Christianity

True biblical conversion to Christianity comes only through the giving up of your life to Jesus Christ, making Him Your Lord. Our discipleship should be characterized by the laying down of our life, just as our salvation is:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” ~ Jesus The Christ @ Mark 8:34b & 35

Lordship Salvation creates Lordship Discipleship. Lordship Discipleship results from Lordship Salvation. Lordship Discipleship is the Biblical Model and mode for all Christians.

But were does the motivation come from? Should we change a lot? Should we see things differently than we did before Christ? How does our discipleship fit into God’s plan for us to be part of a church body? How do we figure out what our role is in the church body? What should the life of a ‘Lordship Disciple’ look like?

Today’s passage gives a clear & complete vision of what I call ‘Lordship Discipleship’. It answers all the questions I just asked.

Romans 12:1-16

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

  • Brothers and Sisters who have received God’s mercy means: ‘Saved People’
  • What might be considered a proper view of God’s mercy?
  • We should be awed, amazed, remorseful, grateful, repentant & convicted!
  • Understanding what God has done for us will compel us to to lay down our life
  • ‘Being’ A living sacrifice is a continuous process
  • A living sacrifice can crawl off the alter…but will always crawl back on.
  • A Proper / Reasonable response to God’s mercy is surrender
  • This is the only ‘True’ response, the only response that pleases God

Lordship Disciples respond to God’s mercy by laying down their life!

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

  • Conforming to the pattern of this world involves where you place your treasure
  • What you conform to is what you value, it is what you put your trust in
  • The pattern of this world is NOT the pattern of God’s ways!
  • The pattern of this world is mostly dictated by Satan and human sin
  • Prior to Christ entering our lives we’re all conformed to the pattern of this world
  • You cannot be who God wants you to be and still value this world’s views
  • You cannot be a True follower of Christ and not change how you think
  • You must ‘Change Your Mind’ about a lot of things
  • Our brain is capable of being renewed, the physiology exists (God designed)
  • Lordship Discipleship is a process of mental & emotional transformation
  • It is through that transformation that you begin to see things from God’s view
  • Only through that transformation (Led by The HS) that you see God’s viewpoint
  • You have to learn & know God’s will to recognize it in your life. (Counterfeit Money)

Lordship Disciples are changed by God’s Will & Word so they know His will!

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

  • God placed Paul in the position to bring this hard truth to us:
  • Be honest with yourself, especially beware of overrating yourself
  • Use realistic judgement (we need others for this)
  • Be realistic about how you are, where God brought you from & where you are
  • Don’t work from who you would like to be or hope to be, but from who you really are
  • Knowing more about who God is helps us know who we are

Lordship Disciples are real with themselves & God!

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

  • We are not all meant to play the same role, we are pieces of God’s puzzle
  • The picture is only complete when every piece is in it’s proper place
  • We can’t complete the picture unless all of us do our part / play our role
  • In doing this we become interdependent, we all need each other
  • Because we all belong to Christ, we all belong to each other
  • Belonging to each other involves sacrifice (good thing we’re learning to do that)

Lordship Disciples live for the good of the Body of Christ, not their desires!

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

  • We have various talents, expressed at different levels, based on God’s work in us
  • If you are meant to speak from God’s viewpoint, do it based on HIS work in you
  • If you are gifted to serve, don’t try to be a prophet or a teacher (avoid seeking attention)
  • If you can teach, do it! Don’t try to do something else
  • If you are good at encouraging people become more intentional about it
  • If you have means to give then you must realize that is a gift to be shared
  • If called to lead take it really seriously, a lot is at stake (judged & rewarded)
  • If you can show others mercy be happy you get to be the ‘hand of God’

Lordship Disciples are good stewards of the gifts Christ gives them!

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

  • All of these things are expressions of conformity to God’s ways, not the world’s
  • Sincere love is unconditional love. Sincere love doesn’t need reciprocation
  • Tolerance of evil is NOT hating evil. It’s not wrong to hate what God hates
  • You can’t cling to what is good and what is evil at the same time (One Master)
  • Focusing on others takes God’s grace, the opposite of the pattern of this world
  • Honoring others above yourself takes HS transformation / a renewed mind
  • No place for apathy regarding God in the life of a Lordship Disciple
  • A Lordship Disciple’s life is marked by joy, hope, patience, faithfulness & prayer
  • A Lordship Disciple’s life is marked by sharing what you have with the Church
  • At Lordship Disciple’s life is marked by a spirit of hosting & welcoming others

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

  • True Disciples of Christ don’t play tit for tat…we don’t have to return fire
  • Lordship Disciples are emotionally invested in the lives of others
  • Lordship Disciples seek harmony in their interactions (not possible with evil)
  • Lordship Disciples are humble and gracious to the marginalized
  • Lordship Disciples are not full of themselves: They are full of God’s Spirit

Lordship Disciples live out the life that Christ has given them as their Lord!

SUMMARY:

The impact of receiving God’s mercy drives a desire to lay down our lives for Christ.

Christ’s Disciples live a transformed sacrificial life, rejecting this world, so we can truly know God.

Honest self assessment is crucial to learning and living our our role in the body.

In living our lives for Christ, our lifestyle will display God’s ways of doing things.

APPLICATION:

Do you agree that Lordship Salvation / Lordship Discipleship is the Biblical model?

How would you describe your need for God’s mercy and your response to it?

How do you think differently about things since surrendering your life to Christ?

How honest are you with yourself and with God? How can you be more honest?

How are you specifically using what Christ has given you to live under His Lordship?

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Luke Pt. 46: How true Disciples Roll

Following Christ in prayerful, non aggressive strength, surrendered to His will.

Still in the Upper Room Jesus is going to give His followers a lot of direction as to how to specifically follow Him. He give them and us HIS Kingdom Leadership Paradigm and explains the reality of Hard Road of His Discipleship. He shares how Christ’s Disciples prepare for Spiritual Opposition. He gives us some insight into tactics Satan used and will use on us! (that is why it is in the Scripture, to help us!) We are charged with following Christ in prayerful, non aggressive strength, surrendered to God’s will. His true disciples will operate with honesty and integrity when dealing with conflict. We are to be mindful of how satan operates and avoid going with the flow of the ‘spirit of the hour’ so as to avoid gettin caught up in the ‘time when the power of darkness reigns’.

Luke 22:24-53

24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.

  • The disciples quickly move from self examination to argument about status
  • Christ identifies the corrupt way of leadership in our world…(it is accepted)
  • He says: ‘You, my True Disciples will be different’…he redefines what status is
  • Jesus is explicit regarding this matter (Matthew 20 / Mark 10 / John 13)
  • Servant Leadership is the only Biblical way to leading Christ’s Church

27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.

  • Normal way is that the greater importance belongs to the one being served
  • When you follow Christ you do as He did; you sacrifice your needs for others
  • Doing for others is how WE measure importance / STATUS in Christ’s kingdom
  • We can’t fudge on His example…”well our church is so big we need a CEO…”

28 “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. 29 And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right 30 to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

  • They have made the cut… based on Gospel of John, Judas has left the room
  • What belongs to Jesus belongs to His ‘True Disciples’
  • The right to eat & drink is about family and community (partnership)
  • The 12 will condemn the rejection of Christ by the Jews (- Judas + Matthias)

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

  • Christ calls him Simon, telling him he has a ways to go to become Peter
  • 1st part of this is about all the Disciples (plural of you in V29, V30 & V31)
  • Then it becomes focused on Peter (singular of you all three times in V32)
  • You are all going to go thru some mess, then use what you learn to help others
  • Servant Leadership is born of experiencing humility, as in being humiliated!
  • When you have been there and done that, you want to help others not go there

33 Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.” 34 But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

  • Peter is earnest in his declarations, but naive as far as to how hard the road is
  • Jesus let’s him know that his sin will take him where he can’t believe he will go
  • What Peter lacked at that point was the indwelling Holy Spirit

35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?” “No,” they replied.

  • Based on how hard things are going to get Jesus wanted to prepare them & us
  • Prior to the Crucifixion the forces of Hell didn’t organize against the threat
  • Disciples were not considered a threat a couple years ago

36 “But now,” he said, “take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one! 37 For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: ‘He was counted among the rebels.’

  • Post Crucifixion the game changes drastically, protection instead of fashion
  • It was foretold the true messiah would be labeled an insurrectionist
  • To the Jewish authority Christ & His Followers will now pose a threat

Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true.” 38 “Look, Lord,” they replied, “we have two swords among us.” “That’s enough,” he said.

  • Christ alludes to what is going to happen over the next three and a half days
  • They say, we have two in our midst who can protect, who are armed
  • Jesus says, that’s good, we don’t need material offense, just defense

39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” 41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

  • They went to the usual place so Judas would know where to find them
  • He tells them and us directly: Pray for God to enable you to fight temptations
  • He goes out of earshot and prays this model prayer for us! V.42
  • He gives us an example of how we should look at everything in our lives
  • Since we have given our lives to Him why would we not submit to His will?
  • It is hard to say sometimes honestly, the more you believe it the more you do it

43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

  • The God / man Jesus The Christ relied on & got strength from heaven (model)
  • Resignation to God’s will brings strength and empowerment
  • Resignation to God’s will brings the ability to persevere, physically & spiritually

45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

  • At last means: when the struggle was finished…some time had passed
  • They were sleeping because they are like you and me: weak humans
  • Jesus tells us we can overcome temptations, it takes persistence & connection

47 But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. 48 But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

  • The crowd was made up of ‘Temple Guards’, the Sanhedrin’s private army
  • Since it was dark they needed a sign to get the right guy…
  • Satan will use the cover of ‘love’ to get what he wants (any means necessary)
  • ‘Test the Spirits’ Those opposed to Christ will erect elaborate facades of lies

49 When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” 50 And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

  • Now that Jesus was identified, the guards moved to take him into custody
  • The High Priest’s slave was probably giving orders
  • A strategic strike to defend their leader, John 18 identifies Peter as swordsman
  • Jesus ended it and restored what had been hurt
  • We all do dumb stuff in anger, we must stop when we hear Christ say stop!

52 Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? 53 Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

  • He demonstrates that their actions prove the evil intent they have
  • If they had a legitimate issue they would approach Him publicly, legally
  • Acting at night and violently is a mark of how Satan operates
  • People who act like this CAN NOT be honest about what their goals are

SUMMARY:

By His example, Christ clearly defines leadership among His Disciples as opposite the world’s way, calling the leaders of His people to be servants not overlords.

Christ’s Disciples will partner with Him in His Kingdom; but the journey includes hard tests and even the best of us will fail to honor Jesus every time.

Jesus warns His Disciples to be prepared for the opposition from HELL we face as objects of Christ’s redemption & forgiveness. Prepare to be attacked, not to attack.

Christ models for us HIS way to be proactive with temptation: He is real with His Dad and He resigns His will to that of The Father.

Evil that opposes Christ & His Disciples will not always do it overtly, they will claim the mantle of love. ‘The denial of Christ Jesus as God’ cannot contain any real love.

Achieving goals by whatever means necessary is not Christ’s way. His Disciples don’t do subterfuge or aggression; we do honesty and self defense.

APPLICATION:

What part will you play in encouraging and valuing the ‘Biblical Culture’ of servant leadership @ Midtown?

How well do you specifically identify the temptations you are facing in your life?

Why is it important for YOU to constantly pray: ‘God, I want Your will done, not mine’?

Should Christ’s Disciples agree with the social & political views of those who’s beliefs and actions contradict Jesus Christ’s ways and words?

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