GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

"I WOULD BRING THEE INTO MY MOTHER'S HOUSE!"

Our Need Of And Desire For Christ's Presence
Song of Solomon 8:1-4

Don Fortner

Did you bring the Lord with you tonight? While you were preparing to come to church, did you give any thought to preparing your heart? While you were getting ready to meet with God's people, did you think about getting ready to meet with God? While you were preparing to hear the Lord's servant, did you do anything to prepare your heart to hear from the Lord? When you made your plans to come to the house of worship, did you make any plans to worship God? Did you bring the Lord with you into this place tonight?

Song of Songs 8:1-4 "O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. 2 I WOULD LEAD THEE, AND BRING THEE INTO MY MOTHER'S HOUSE, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. 3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. 4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please."

This is the one thing that I desire for us. I pray that, as we have gathered in this place, the Lord himself will be present with us. Our Lord Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). Oh, that the Lord himself might meet with us tonight!

There are hundreds of thousands of people gathered in houses of worship tonight. But I wonder, is there some place where the Lord God is meeting with men. I want to be in that place. Perhaps he will meet with us! Is that possible? Could the living God meet with us here? This much I know…

• The place of our meeting has nothing to do with whether God meets with us. Our Lord said, "where". He does not promise his presence at nay specific place. No one has a corner on God's blessings – No country – No city – No temple – No building – No denomination – No surrounding will guarantee the presence of the Lord.


• The number of people gathered has nothing to do with God's presence. Our Lord said, "Two or three." It is not necessary for all of those assembled together in the house of worship to be sincere. If only two or three in the crowd have gathered in the name of Christ, he has promised to meet with those two or three. On one occasion, 5,000 walked away and missed the Lord's blessing; but those twelve who stayed found it. Are there just two or three here who have come together in the name of Christ?


• Physical force cannot secure the Lord's presence. Those who tried to build a tower to heaven by their own labor were confounded. Yet, men say, "If we would just do more."


• Mental exertion cannot secure the presence of the Lord. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" (Job 11:7).


• Fine words and long prayers will not guarantee the Lord's presence (Matt. 6:7).


• Our religious heritage will not secure God's presence. The Jews said, "We have Abraham as our father." The Pharisees said, "We be Moses' disciples."


• An orthodox creed will not guarantee the Lord's presence. The church at Ephesus had that (Rev. 2:1-4).


• Proper church order and a proper observance of the ordinances will never secure the Lord's presence.

How then, can we lay hold of this promise? "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The simple promise of that text is that wherever two or three people come together in the name of Christ, he will be present with them.

Proposition: The greatest need, and I hope the greatest desire, we have as individuals and as a congregation is the manifest presence of our Lord.

Tonight I want to stir your hearts to seek the Lord's presence in our midst, and give you some instruction about what we can do to secure his presence in our assembly.

Divisions: Our text has four verses. We will look at the verses one at a time. The verses themselves will be the four points of my sermon.

1. The Request of Love (v. 1).
2. The Resolution of Love (v. 2).
3. The Rest of Love (v. 3).
4. The Responsibility of Love (v. 4).

This last chapter of this inspired Song of Loves begins with an ardent desire expressed by the church, the Bride of Christ. It is the desire of every believing soul. It is the request of every heart in which the love of Christ is revealed. The request is just this, "O Lord, give me constant, intimate communion and freedom with thee. Let me always know thy presence" (Deut. 5:29; Job 23:2; Psa. 14:7).

Song of Songs 8:1 "O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised."

Psalms 14:7 "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad."

She was already wed to him. He had taken her to be his bride; and she had taken him to be her Lord and husband. Their hearts were already knit together. But the marriage had not yet been publicly solemnized. The marriage feast had not yet been spread. She was obliged, for the sake of decency and respectability, to keep her distance. The Bride and her Beloved, when they met in public, could not be so intimate and affectionate as they might desire. Therefore, she wishes that she might be looked upon as his sister, and that she might have the same chaste and innocent familiarity with him that a sister has with her own brother. A brother and a sister who had nursed at the same breasts might be most affectionate, intimate and free with one another, without any fear of reproach or shame.

Our Lord, by means of his incarnation, has really and truly become our Brother. He is not ashamed to call us brethren; and he is made to be the Elder Brother, the Firstborn, of the family of God (Heb. 2:11, 14, 17).

• In the incarnation, he assumed our nature.


• In regeneration, he gave us his nature.

a. Like a brother, he sympathizes with us in all our afflictions.
b. Like a brother, he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
c. Like a brother, he helps us in all of our trials.
d. Like a brother, he is tender, compassionate, caring.

Those who know Christ love him. And all who love him desire uninterrupted, intimate communion with him.

In essence, this is what she is saying - "O Lord, when I find thee present with me, I will embrace thee, kiss thee, and show my love to thee, as a sister would show her love to her brother. Without shame, I will own thee, acknowledge thee, and love thee, even in the presence of thine enemies. I will publicly avow my love to thee."

1. He gave me a kiss of forgiveness; I will give him a kiss of faith.
2. He gave me a kiss of peace; I will give him a kiss of praise.
3. He gave me a kiss of grace; I will give him a kiss of gratitude.
4. He gave me a kiss of acceptance; I will give him a kiss of adoration.
5. He gave me a kiss of redeeming love; I will give him a kiss of returning love (1 John 4:19).

The Bride, the Lamb's wife will not be completely ready until the time of his glorious appearance. But then all his redeemed ones shall be admitted to the nearest possible embraces of Immanuel. With unspeakable pleasure, we will embrace our Redeemer and enjoy him eternally!

"Yea, I should not be despised." That is to say, "He will not turn his face away from me, when I reach out to embrace him and kiss him. And those who now despise me will despise me no more. They will envy me."

NOTE: "The whole (verse) expresses her boldness in professing Christ, without fear or shame, in the most public manner" (John Gill).

This is THE REQUEST OF LOVE – "Let me embrace thee and kiss thee, as a sister would embrace and kiss her beloved Brother, without shame or fear."

Song of Songs 8:2 "I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate."

Here, the church, the believing soul, makes a resolution to improve the opportunity she would have for cultivating a more intimate and full knowledge of Christ, if she could always enjoy his communion.

NOTICE THE RESOLUTION: "I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house." The believing heart, enjoying personal fellowship and communion with Christ, says, "I will bring you into the house of God with me. My mother, the church of God, and her children need to be acquainted with and enjoy your presence too." (Compare Gal. 4:26).

• There are some children among the election of grace in my mother's house who do not yet know my Beloved. I want you to know him.


• The whole family, my mother and all her children need the presence and influences of Christ.

a. His presence awakens dead sinners – "Lazarus, come forth!"
b. His presence forgives the guilty – The harlot at his feet. Her sins, which were many, were all forgiven her.
c. His presence comforts troubled hearts (John 14:1-4) – "Peace, be still."
d. His presence brings peace – "My peace I give unto thee." Wherever the Prince of Peace comes, he will bring peace.
e. His presence gives assurance – "Fear not: for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God." "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

2. What can we do to secure the Lord's presence in our midst? How can we bring Christ with us into the house of God?

He must be led, like a royal king would be led by one of his subjects into his own home. Would you lead the Lord Jesus Christ into this house?

• Trusting Him.


• Seeking His Will.


• Seeking His Glory.


• Seeking His Mercy.


• Seeking His Sheep.

The allusion here is to a wise mother, who takes her newly wed daughter aside and teaches her how to behave toward her husband, so that she may have his affection and live happily with him.

The church, the house of God, is a school of instruction, where souls are taught the ways of Christ, the gospel of Christ, and the will of Christ. Believers should always crave such instruction. And that instruction is sure to be profitable and effectual, only when Christ himself is present to teach us by his Spirit (Psa. 45:10-11).

Psalms 45:10-11 "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; 11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him."

1. It will be according to the Scriptures.
2. It will come through the ministry of God's servants – Pastors and teachers (Jer. 3:15).
3. It will be brought to your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 13:15 "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

The spiced pomegranate wine was a very rich, flavorful wine, which was delightful to the taste, but less inebriating than other wines.

This refers to the graces of the Spirit and the exercise of grace in the believing heart. These are the things that give our Lord pleasure; and they are preferred by him to the best of wines (Song of Sol. 4:10).

Song of Songs 4:10 "How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!"

"Those that are pleased with Christ must study to be pleasing to him; and they will not find him hard to be pleased." (Matthew Henry).

This is THE RESOLUTION OF LOVE – "I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house, both to be instructed by thee and to make my sacrifices of love to thee."

Christ is our Sabbath. When we come to him and he comes to us, we enter into the blessed rest of love (Heb. 4:9-11).

This picture implies five things…
1. The Love Of Christ For His People.
2. Our Love For Our Savior.
3. Our Support From Christ – "underneath are the everlasting arms."
4. Our Safety And Security In The Arms Of Christ.
5. The Believer's Confident Faith In Christ - We Rest In Him (Isa. 11:10).

Isaiah 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious."

When our Lord reveals himself and makes his presence known, our hearts are at peace. We rest in him!

Our Lord has come to us. He has granted to us his presence in this place. "His left hand is under my head; and his right hand doth embrace me." It is our great joy and privilege in this place to rest in his love. Now, "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love till he please."

So long as our Lord is pleased to dwell in our midst, let us be careful not to disturb him, grieve him, and drive him away (Eph. 4:30).

Ephesians 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

• Remember what it is like to be without him (5:6).


• Remember the evil which grieved him before (5:1-6 – Neglect).

Now as we come to the Lord's Table, to eat the bread and drink the wine, let us embrace him in the arms of faith and kiss him with the lips of prayer.

To you who know him not, I bid you once more, Come now to Christ. Bow to him, trust him, receive him. Kiss the Son now, with the lips of repentance. Embrace the Savior now in the arms of faith. May God enable you to do so.

*