I realize this is your soul winner's weekend, and I trust that the Lord will richly bless in the going forth of his word. And I had difficulty deciding upon a subject to deal with, because you've had so many of these meetings over the years, and no doubt you've heard familiar words used year after year. And I was asking the Lord for guidance, and this is where the Lord has led me. And for a time this morning, I want to preach on the subject, Lord, visit us, we need thee. And of course, this is something that we can think about in the context of the great commission given by Christ to his disciples so long ago, the great subject of winning souls for Christ. So that's the subject for this morning. Lord, visit us. We need thee. Ever since the Lord Jesus Christ gave his apostles the great commission mentioned here in Matthew chapter 16, of course, it's found in Mark chapter 16. It's also found in Matthew 28. Ever since then, soul saving has been an important subject and topic. The Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples here to go out and to preach the gospel to every creature. He sent them forth to warn sinners. and they sent them forth to win sinners. And in verse 20, we're told that the disciples preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. The disciples did what they could do. The Lord Jesus Christ did only what he could do. The disciples communicated the word The Lord himself confirmed the word by giving signs following the preaching of that particular truth. They were faithful in their commission, and the Lord made them fruitful in their commission. And the same thing applies to us today in the service of God. Now, this is not limited to the apostles, this go ye. That really means, go me. And I think that's applicable to each one gathered here in the house of God, go me. I don't know if you've ever given much thought to this. But two thirds of the name God is Go, G-O. And this is a great commission that the Lord has given to his church to go. Evangelism is the important part of being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is how the faith or the truth gets spread throughout the world. Now many religions, many organizations and other groups are spreading lies throughout the earth to hinder people from believing the truth. That's a sad fact, isn't it? Very sad. atheists, evolutionists, Muslims, and others who do not hold Christ as the only way of salvation, the only one who can forgive our sins. And they are busy, and they are promoting what they believe in our schools, and the media, and every outlet they can get. It seems to me You may disagree with me, but it seems to me that the Christian church has not really seen a lot accomplished in these days. Now, don't misunderstand me. There are thousands and thousands of people getting saved that we know nothing about. The Lord is still accomplishing his divine purposes and his divine plans. What I'm saying is that we in our country may not be seeing things happen the way we used to see them happen, but God is still at work. God is still accomplishing his divine purposes and his divine plans, and God's purpose will see to it that every one ordained to eternal life in the covenant of redemption will be reached and won for the glory of God. And God still uses man and woman to evangelize and to spread the gospel and to reach the masses with the gospel. Really, I do believe that the church needs what the bride needed in Song of Solomon. The bride in Song of Solomon, especially in this chapter, needed a special visit from her beloved. And I think that's what the church of Jesus Christ needs today. I think that's what you need. I think this is what I need if we're really honest about the thing. We need this special visitation of the Lord. Lord, visit us. We need Thee. I'm sure that most of you know that the Song of Solomon illustrates in a wonderful way, the mutual love of Christ and his church. Now, I know that different people have different views on the Song of Solomon, but this is the way I look, and this is the way I see the Song of Solomon. And George Burroughs, in his excellent little commentary on the song, describes the Christian life as a series of visits and withdrawals of our Lord. For he said in his word, that's the way it is. It's a series of withdrawals and visitations of the Lord to his beloved people. Now, in the previous verses of the second chapter, there has been a great display of love between the bride, we're looking upon the bride as a type of the church, and the beloved, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse four, for example, they're found together in the banqueting house. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me is love. And then in verse six, she's in the arms of her beloved. This is a very intimate scene. This is a very intimate relationship. Do you see that? She says, his left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. So here's intimacy. Here is communion. Here's fellowship between the bride and her beloved. Here's Christ and his church. And this ought to be our experience of the people of God, intimacy with our blessed Redeemer. So there has been this token of love and closeness and intimacy and joy before, but the scene has changed now. We're no longer in the bank-willing house. For some unknown reason, the bridegroom has withdrawn and left a spouse. It has to be stated, the withdrawal is not permanent. The bride has her heart set on his return. Lord, visit us. We need thee. That's really what she was saying. Beloved, visit me, for I need thee. I long for your embrace again. I long to be close to thee again. And that's what she's expressing here in verse eight. She's saying, behold, he cometh. And these words show the Lord's intention towards his people in terms of coming to them. Now, these words are found a number of occasions in relation to his second advent. I think of Matthew 25, verse 6, behold, a bridegroom cometh I think also of Revelation 1 verse 7, Behold, he cometh with clouds. I also think of Jude verse 14, and we have these words found in these three different verses of God's Word. So these words are used in the context of the second advent of Christ. We understand that. But here In this portion of the Word of God, in these two verses, it's the Lord coming to visit His church in times of communion and times of fellowship. How the church of Jesus Christ needs this kind of communion with the Lord, this kind of fellowship. Now, in order to fulfill the great commission given to the apostles and given to the church, and when you consider the difficulties faced in these times, I think that we, as the people of God, part of the church of Jesus Christ, do we not need a special visitation of the Lord again to enable us to accomplish that commission given so long ago? I think we do need this kind of visitation, and I'm sure you will agree with me. So let's think about this visitation, the great need of our hearts today, at this time of thinking about the Great Commission, of reaching the lost with the gospel. Now you will see that it was a timely visit of the Beloved. Behold, he cometh. Now, do these words not imply distance? The bridegroom wasn't present at this point of time with the bride. You understand that? You see that? But he's coming. And he's coming to remove the distance. He's coming to break down the barrier, if you like. He's on his way. Behold. Behold he cometh. She was missing him. Remember the church at Ephesus? Remember when John wrote to that church? There was a problem in the church. Thou hast left thy first love. It's very possible that there may be someone listening to my voice today, and they've left their first love. that they are missing the Lord today. Remember Jacob when he came to Bethel as he fled from before the face of Esau, his brother. He had a conversion experience that night in the dark. But remember what he said in Genesis 28 verse 16, the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. Are you conscious, even now as you gather in the house of God, or gather around the Word of God this morning, that the Lord is here by his gracious Holy Spirit? The bridegroom is still afar off at this point of time, but she is sensible that he is away, and she longed for his return. She missed him, and I do believe that she missed the kisses of his mouth. In chapter 1, verse 2, this was her desire then. In the opening part of the book, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. A kiss is a term of affection. It's a token of affection. It's something that is enjoyed between a married couple, a husband and a wife, maybe a mother and a daughter, and so on. It's a kiss. It's a token of love and affection. It's the kisses of his mouth. It's not the kisses on the neck that the father gave to the prodigal, nor is it the kiss that Mary gave to Christ when she kissed his feet. And it's certainly not the kiss that Judas gave to Christ on his cheek. It's the kisses of His mouth. She wanted a token of His love, a token of that intimacy that she had enjoyed previously. There's a someone here today, and you've lost out with God. You've lost the joy of his great salvation, and you're just longing to go back to the place you once were, to be right with God. Oh, to be right with God, to be right with the Lord. She was yearning for a more intimate and personal relationship. She certainly missed his kisses, but she also missed his embrace in verse 6. It talks there about the left hand and the right hand. The left hand was under her head lifting her up. The right hand was embracing her. The left hand under her head infers that she would turn to look up to him, but that she needed support to do so. And the right hand embracing describes a natural way of embracing a person. You haven't seen someone for a long time a mother, a father, a relative. You're overjoyed when you see them again. Maybe not in these times, but certainly in normal times. You have put your arms around them. You would embrace them. Good to see you again. It's been a long time. You hold them tight. And she was longing for this embrace from her beloved, to be in the arms of Christ, to have his arms around us. Underneath are the everlasting arms. And he says in the Word, that none, not one, is able to pluck you out of my hands. That's a joyful thought for us, is it not, as the people of God. Underneath are the everlasting arms. His arms are round us today. She was longing for this intimacy again. She was longing for His embrace. She missed the banqueting house. The banqueting house may be rendered the house of Wayne, suggesting a place of joy and gladness. Wayne in the Bible is a symbol or a tape of joy. She certainly was missing the joy of his presence at this point of time. She had been brought into this place, into the banqueting house by her beloved. Now she's missing the joy of his conscious presence, but she's still dwelling upon his love. She's remembering him. Many a time when we do get into Bypass Meadow, what's the thing that brings us back to our senses? By thinking about Christ. By thinking about the work that he accomplished for us on the cross. Think about the prodigal son in the far country. He's been rebellious against his father. He's gone away. But when he thought about the father's house, when he thought about the provision in the father's house. That certainly was one of the things that stirred him up and caused him to return when he thought about his father. And when we do grow cold, and we do grow cold from time to time, God have mercy upon us. One of the things that the Spirit of God uses is to bring to our remembrance Christ and his atoning death, his atoning sacrifice, the shedding of his blood, a life given on our behalf, the substitutionary work of the dear Son of God who loved us, When Peter forgot the Word, he went on heedlessly into his rashness. Lord, I will not forsake thee. He ignored what Christ had said unto him, warning him. And after he failed, there's a time when he looked across and he saw Christ. And the Bible says he remembered the Word. He remembered the Word that Christ had given to him. What did he do? He wept. His heart was humbled before God. The Lord had given the word and his faithfulness. Peter had ignored it. He got into Bypass Meadow. He had to suffer for it. But when he looked to Christ, he remembered the word and he wept. That was the first step on his way to recovery. The first step of being restored to the joy of the Lord. and so she's longing for him. She misses his conscious presence. She's longing for him. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples before he left to return to heaven. He says, I will not leave you comfortless. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." But how was he going to come to his disciples? In John 14, verse 16, he said, I'm going to give you another comforter. But what does that mean? Who was this another comforter? Well, there are actually two words in the original language translated another. There's the word alos, and it means another of the same kind. And then the other word is heteros, meaning another of a different kind. Now don't let me confuse you. Let me try to use an illustration to illustrate this point, to make it clear to you. Okay, many people have a mahogany table, dining room table. They may have six chairs, all matching chairs. We used to have one of those ourselves. They don't really have a lot of those things out in the United States. We had to get rid of it. But you have this mahogany table, you have the table, and you have the six chairs. Maybe you're having special guests coming for supper. But during the week, the child does something to the chair and breaks it. Or someone carry a little bit too much weight sits down and breaks the thing. What are we going to do? We're having these special people, we need to have six chairs. So the wife says to the husband, I want you to go down to the furniture shop where we bought this and see if they have another chair. It's got to be the same kind, you know. So the husband, he rushes down to the store. He knows the person in charge. Oh, yes, sir, I have one of those spare chairs. You can have it. He brings it home to the wife, and she's overjoyed. Success. The elders coming from Newton Abbey Free Presbyterian Church will not be disappointed. They're very fussy people, they've got to have all the chairs the same. That's a special occasion for them. Okay, everything's okay. Everybody's smiling, the wife's happy, the husband's happy. The elders come, they're happy enough as well. But take another scenario. The wife sends the husband down to the store, the furniture store's closed. What am I going to do now? Oh, I know Wisebuys. They sell furniture. I've been there before. I'm sure they have that kind of thing. So I rush to Wisebuys. I'm looking for a dining room chair. Mahogany. Well, I've ordered two up the stairs here. Come up and see them. So I go up and look around. And oh, I think that's the best one there. It's not exactly the same, but let me take it anyway. And so I bring this back, and my wife is greatly perturbed and annoyed. I set the chair down. It's a different chair, but it's not the same kind. The one I got from the furniture shop is a different chair, but it's of the same kind. It's the same kind of chair, but the one I picked up in Wisebuys, it's a different chair, but it's a different kind. It doesn't fit in. So when Jesus was using this expression, when he was saying that, I'm going to send you another comforter, he's saying, I'm going to send you one like me, one who is divine, a divine person, one who's God. So I'm leaving, I'm going. And the disciples were upset, and they couldn't understand what was going on. But he said to them, he brought comfort to their hearts. He says, I'm going to come to you by my Holy Spirit, because he's the same kind as me. He's God. He's a divine person. and he will do for you. He will treat you the way I treated you while I was with you on earth. Isn't that a wonderful thought? He's coming to us. Hallelujah. He comes to us by his gracious spirit. And here we find the bride in the Song of Solomon. She's longing for his presence. She's longing for a special visitation. She can't live without him. I don't know what happened in the relationship that caused him to withdraw. I don't know. Who can tell? But the point is this, she's looking forward to his visitation, his return. Behold, he cometh. Now, in the Bible, we read of different visitations. Way back in the book of Genesis 21, the Lord visited Sarah. What did he do when he visited Sarah? He fulfilled his promise. What was the promise? Sarah, you're going to have a baby. You're going to have a son. And we know what Sarah did. She laughed. And Abraham laughed as well. And isn't it interesting that the child that was given was called Isaac, which means laughter. God really did give him something to laugh about. Hallelujah. They laughed in unbelief, but God caused them to laugh with praise. So the point is this. The Lord visited Sarah. The Lord fulfilled his promise. God cannot deny his promise. He that wineth souls is wise. That's the commission. That's the labor, the work he has called us to do. And the Lord worked with his disciples, confirming the word with signs following souls. An increase, an engallering. That's the promise of God. So when the Lord visits his people, he comes to fulfill his promise. The Lord visited Hannah, 1 Samuel 2 chapter 21. What happened when the Lord visited Hannah? Well, he answered her prayer. She didn't pray for a girl. No disrespect to ladies or girls, she prayed for a man-child. What did God do? Did God give her a girl or a boy? He gave her what he promised, a man-child. And when God comes to visit his people, he comes to answer their prayers. And then I think of the days of Ruth and Naomi, in chapter one of the book of Ruth, verse six, the Lord had visited his people and giving them bread, the Lord met the need. And he visited his people in Bethlehem, meaning house of bread. And he gave them bread in the house of bread. And the Lord God came down, and he visited a world of sin. And he came to Bethlehem, the bread of life. The one who said, I am the bread of life, came down from heaven's glory to meet the need of sinners, just the way he met your need at the cross. and he brought you to faith in Christ. Oh, what we need today is a visitation of the Lord. Lord, visit us, we need thee. The timely visit of the beloved. And then in the second place, there is the tender voice of the beloved. Notice what she says here. She talks about the voice of my beloved. And in the original, there's an element of surprise. Hark, my beloved. There's a surprise. But there's also an understanding because she recognized it as the voice of my beloved. She knows his voice. She can identify his voice from all others. Remember that night when the boy Samuel lay down there in the tabernacle in the Old Testament? He heard a voice a number of times. He thought it was Eli, and then Eli gave some good advice to Samuel. He didn't always give good advice, but he did on this occasion. He says, you go and lie down, and when you hear that voice again, and sure enough, the voice came, Samuel, Samuel, this time, what did he say? He recognized the voice of the Lord, and he said, speak, for thy servant heareth. At first, he didn't recognize the voice, But then the Lord came effectively, and the double use of his name, it was different. And Samuel was able to recognize the voice of the Lord. And when God speaks to his people, his people will know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Remember that morning at the tomb, Mary came. She saw someone there. She thought he was the gardener. He spoke to her, but she didn't really recognize that voice, recognize the person to be Christ, until he said, what? He mentioned her name. And he said, Mary, sometimes sitting in church, listening to the preaching of the Word of God, the Lord just came and he put my name into the text. or at my name into the message. And I sat up and I began to pay attention because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, here's a word from God for me. It's personal. And when we get a personal word from God, it will make the difference. Because her eyes were opened and her understanding was opened then. She knew it was Jesus. And he had risen from the dead. He had triumphed over death and hell. And our Savior has triumphed over death and hell. And he lives today to speak to his church. The only problem is, is the church listening? Remember when Elizabeth was expecting a son, and Mary, who also was expecting a son, went to visit Elizabeth. Remember what happened? And we know what Elizabeth said, you know, talked about, you're being the mother of my Lord, and so on. But when Mary came into the presence of Elizabeth, Elizabeth said, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. At the coming of Christ, who was still in the womb of Mary, the babe in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy, joy of being in the presence of Christ, even in the womb. It's not only behold the bridegroom cometh, but behold the voice of my beloved. And really, she's saying, he's coming, he's really at the door. And the Bible does say, my sheep hear my voice and follow me, for they know my voice. A stranger will they not follow, because they know the voice of strangers. The sheep follow Christ. They hear his voice. He mentions their name. He knows their name. And they follow him. Don't be like Abraham, who ran ahead of God. He wanted to give God a helping hand, foolish thing to try. Made a mess of things, and God had to overrule. And the problem created then is still with us today. Moses ran ahead of God as well. And we know what happened a way back in his day. He ran ahead of God. The best thing for us to do as the people of God, the sheep of the pasture, is to follow him. The voice of my beloved. Mine, mine, mine. I know thou art mine. Does that not thrill your heart today? Does that not bring blessing to your troubled spirit even now in the house of God? Mine, mine, mine. Mine through eternal election. Mine through sovereign grace. Mine through precious blood. Mine through adoption into the family of God. Mine through justification by faith. Mine, mine, mine. My beloved is mine. I belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to me. Mine. Has the lockdown been getting to you? It's gotten to many people in different ways. We can lose focus at times. We can even lose our way at times. But remember this, mine, mine, mine, he is mine. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He will be with me right to the end of the journey of life. He will be there in the valley of the shadow of death. It's only a shadow of death. A dog can bark, but it can't harm. The bark can't harm. It's a shadow of death. And the Lord will safely conduct his people over into eternal rest. There's a connection between his voice and his coming. The voice of my beloved, behold, he cometh. Do you see that? His visitation takes place in and through His Word. And Christ's Voice is synonymous with the Word, and it is not heard outside Scripture. His voice is heard only in Scripture. When Adam and Eve hid in the garden, they heard the sound, or they heard the voice. We could put in the word sound there, the sound of his approach. Was it the voice? Was it the movement like the way you would have when a wind blows in the forest there? Who can tell? Walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Remember the disciples in John 21. They're out there on the Sea of Galilee. They've taken no catch all night. And the next day, they see someone standing on the shore. They don't know who it is. And then the Lord began to speak to them. Who was it that said it as the Lord? The one who leaned upon the bosom of Christ. the one who got real close to Christ. In John chapter 13, the one who knew him intimately in a close relationship, he said, it is the Lord. Oh, the joy that comes to our hearts when we realize it's the Lord who comes to us in our barrenness. It's the Lord who comes to us in the times of failure. It is the Lord. He's so merciful. He's so gracious. He still cares. He comes to bind up our wounds. He comes to lift us up again. He comes to encourage us in the work of God that we're engaged in, because he is God. John recognized the voice that is the Lord. I've heard his voice. Oh, when we hear the voice of God, that cheers us up. It thrills our souls through and through. My beloved spake and said unto me, rise up, my love, my fair one. Verse 10. What language? The language of redemption. And that reminds us of Ephesians 5 and that great picture of the bride loved by Christ. And when Christ begins to speak to us in his word, he brings us to the cross just the way He spoke to the two disciples on the mess road when he drew near. They didn't recognize him. He drew near, and then he began to expound on all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. He brought them to the cross. What did they say? Did not our heart burn within us? Why did he talk with us? When he was giving to us the word, when he was revealing himself in all of his glory in the word, our hearts burned within us. Oh, what an experience that was. Then he returned to the home with them, and then suddenly he just disappeared. But that wasn't the end for them. They left their home again, and they traveled that distance back into Jerusalem. And as they were telling everybody else what had happened along the road, what happened? Jesus himself drew near and stood in their midst. So they were actively involved in telling the good news about Christ, and all of a sudden he appeared, and one day he's coming. And what a joy it will be for us, for him to find us witnessing for him, winning the lost for the glory of God. My beloved. And then finally, we have this timely visit, and then we have the tender voice, and we're coming to an end. The thrilling view of the Lord. The thrilling view of the beloved. And the first view we get of Christ in verse eight, he's coming, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. Oh, what an amazing picture. What an amazing figure we have here. He is emphatic and could be rendered this very one. And what a picture of endless strength and boundless energy. And the bride declares, my beloved, is like a roe or a young heart. And the language reveals the way the Lord comes to his people, the roe or the gazelle. and the heart in scripture are emblems of swiftness. He is speedy on coming to his bride to get help. Have you discovered that? You're dealing with an issue or a problem and you couldn't see a way out or a way through, and then suddenly he came. You were facing that great temptation, and you were brought up to the very precipice, and you were fearful, and you knew fine well to step over the precipice would mean hurt. You were just ready to take that fatal step over the precipice and that temptation, and suddenly, he came to the rescue. He brought a word. He brought a verse of a hymn to your mind. He brought some memory from the past to your mind. And then that crucial moment, he just stepped in. Speedily, he came to your aid. Maybe you were just on the verge of throwing off your personal testimony and going back into the world. And he just came and stepped in. One of David's friends, one of his men was a man called Ahaziel, and he's described as being as light a foot as a wild roe. And surely this language is used here to show the swiftness that Christ uses even to hear the prayers of God's people, the swiftness to bless his people. the swiftness of intervening on behalf of his people. Remember that word over in Isaiah chapter 65, verse 24, before they call, I will answer. Listen, before they call, I will answer, because he knows what's in the heart there. It's put there by the Spirit. Before they call, I will answer, and while they are speaking, I will hear. What an encouragement that is to the saints of God. Peter's out there on the Sea of Galilee, and boy, he shows courage. He steps out of the vessel, and sometimes Peter is blamed, but I want to tell you something. I would have thought twice or three times or four times about stepping out on that one day night, but he did it. And then he began to sink. He began to sink. The Lord didn't allow him to sink. He began to sink. And what did Jesus do? Swiftly, suddenly, quickly, he extended his right hand. and gave Peter a helping hand up and out of the Sea of Galilee. Suddenly he comes. Gabriel was sent swiftly to Daniel to assist him. At the time of the evening oblation, the time of the evening sacrifice, the language is indicative of a sudden visitation upon the ground of redemption. When you read of Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 29, you read there of Acts chapter 2 of God sending revival. It happened suddenly. That's the word that was used. Suddenly. The thing was done suddenly in the days of Hezekiah. Suddenly there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind. And we read here, that he comes leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills and mountains, and hills signify problems and difficulties and oppositions. But you see, he has everything under control. He has these things under his foot, you see. He's leaping, he's skipping on these things, these obstacles. It's the same in the Gospels when the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee and the storm came. He came walking to them on the sea. He had everything under his control. He came suddenly to their aid. And he leaps over the mountains and skips over the hills and he overcomes all difficulties and problems and distractions with ease. The mountains became stepping stones to bring him to the Beloved. And then there's a wall. He standeth behind our wall. It's our wall, by the way. A wall speaks of a barrier. And sometimes, in our foolishness, we erect barriers. It's the wall of our own sinful nature that raises the barriers. But it keeps us from seeing him. And this is often our experience in the world. But she knows that he's behind that wall. And we're told, here he standeth. He's not sitting in a position of rest. He's standing. He's ready to move into action. Just sitting leads into rest. So standing leads into activity. And he looketh forth through the window. Oh, the wall's there. But she knows that he's there. He's beyond that. And he said, OK, he's there. My beloved's there. I may put up a wall, but he's there. I know he's there in spite of me. And he's looking through the window. He sees everything, you see. Every movement, he sees what the bride is getting up to. He knows everything. He's glancing, he's glancing, he's gazing and surveying the situation. He knows all things. He shows himself through the lattice, whatever that means, a vent. He shows himself. She knows that he's there. In spite of the wall, in spite of the barriers, he's there. And he just wants to be with his beloved. He wants to embrace her again. He wants to kiss her with the kisses of his mouth. He's showing himself through the lattice. Christ is revealing himself gradually. That's the way the Lord works. Let us use what is shown. Let us press on with God. Let's endeavor to fulfill this commission given so long ago, but we can't do it successfully. We can't do it unless we, as the people of God, as the church of Jesus Christ, experience a divine visitation. Lord, visit us. We need thee. We need thee. That's it. We need the Lord. And may God be pleased to send us times of refreshment from the presence of God that this church and all of our churches will know special seasons of refreshment from God's presence, that we will have the experience again of what it used to be like long ago in the early days. We're talking about 70 years now. God came down then. Has God changed? No, he hasn't. We have changed. That's why we pray today, Lord, visit us. We need Thee. Sound the fire.