Good evening, Grace. Welcome back to our Vesper. Wonderful to have you with us. If you're visiting, my name is Josh Hinton, one of the pastors here at Grace Covenant Church, and we're delighted to have you with us. There are some bulletins in the back, in the foyer on top of the table, so if you would like one, please go grab one. They have the order of worship or the liturgy, and you could follow along. This is a special time, I said this morning in the life of Grace Covenant Church, starting this new schedule. I remember when I was a young believer, And I was probably a year old in Christ and I got saved right out of high school and I didn't have a lot of friends because most of my friends, well all of my friends were pagans. And I knew that I had to make a clean break because I wasn't strong enough to be around them. And that meant that I found myself quite lonely in those early days of following Jesus. But I remember that our church had an evening service, and I remember very much, very clearly, an evening just like this. It was raining. The humidity wasn't there because it was California, but it was raining. It was an evening service. It was a communion service. And I just looked around, and I saw and heard the hubble and bubble, and I said, this is my family. This is my family. And I just want to encourage many of you that don't have families in this area, maybe you're military, maybe just in the providence of God, He's brought you to this place and you have a similar story. That's a good story. That's okay. The people of faith have been migrant people. Abraham was a migrant people, he and his family, and we are pilgrims on the way. That's what the book of Hebrews tells us. We are on our pilgrimage on the way to Mount Zion, and it is so wonderful to share this time of fellowship with you. So let's begin with a call to worship this evening. It's a responsive call to worship that's found in Psalm 2. This is very significant, very much tied to our meditation on the text tonight. Psalm 2 is talking about the Son. And as I mentioned this morning in the Ephesians Sunday School class, when we as Christians look back on the Psalms, we're looking back at them Christocentrically. We're seeing Jesus in the Psalms. And when you hear and confess this This response of worship tonight, make it worshipful. We are kissing the sun as we're coming before him and worshiping. So let's hear this call to worship from Psalm 2. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice and come before him with trembling. for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all those that take refuge in him. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you that we could find refuge in Jesus Christ. What a strong and mighty tower He is to us, Father. He is a strong and mighty tower to those of us who are hurting, to those of us who are lost, to those of us who are roaming, to those of us who have been hurt. Maybe even by the church we have been hurt. And Father, I pray that you would give us the clarity of sight to be able to see the distinction between Christ and His church. It is actually for the church that He came. He came from heaven and sought her. He came to redeem her. He did not come because she was fine. He did not come because in and of herself she was able with a good conscience to wear a white wedding gown on the day of their marriage. Father, we confess to you that we don't have a white wedding gown, but we also delight in the reality that you give us a white wedding gown because you give us your perfect righteousness. So Father, may we enter into the joy of that thought, that blessed thought, that in Christ we have all things, in Christ we have atonement, in Christ we have righteousness, in Christ we have the new heavens and the new earth. And Father, I know we say that a lot, but I am under no illusion that it's easy for many of us to get there, to take joy in that, to rest in that. I recognize, Father, that we have to fight to take joy in that, maybe fight in the midst of our pain, fight in the midst of our loneliness. And, Father, may we not put on airs as if we're there. If we're not there, help us to be vulnerable, help us to be transparent. But, Father, we do pray that as we're worshiping this morning, this evening, even as some of us may be fighting back and choking back tears, that you would help our hearts to catch up with the joy that comes off our lips. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand. We're going to sing the goodness of Jesus. ♪ Which is the bread of eternity ♪ ♪ Blessed are you, O God, in the world of eternity ♪ ♪ Blessed are you, O God, in the world of eternity ♪ ♪ Blessed are you, O God, in the world of eternity ♪ you ♪ O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, to Bethlehem. ♪ ♪ He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He is God, He Song of Solomon chapter 2. Song of Solomon chapter 2. And as we come to the table tonight, we're going to look at that second horizon of that portrait of love between Christ and His church. And what I'm going to do in your hearing tonight is read the whole chapter. Song of Solomon, chapter two, one through 17. Let's give our attention to the reading of God's word. I'm sorry, I said chapter two, it's chapter one, my apologies. Chapter one, verses one through 17. The song of songs, which is Solomon's, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, For your love is better than wine. Your anointing oils are fragrant. Your name is oil poured out. Therefore, virgins love you. Draw me after you. Let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you. We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you. I am very dark, but lovely. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon, do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They kept me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon, for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions? If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock. and pasture your young goats beside the shepherd's tents. I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. We will make for you ornaments of gold studded with silver. While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance. My beloved is to me like a sachet of myrrh that lies between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En Gedi. Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves. Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green. The beams of our house are cedar. Our rafters are pine. That's for the reading of God's word. I ask the Lord to attend the ministry of the word this evening. Father God, as we come before you this evening, and especially in this service, as we come to the Lord's table, we pray that you would stir up our love and our affections. Father, I'm under no illusion, there are some in this congregation who are not in a marriage relationship right now. Some who have painful memories of one that once was. Others who yet long to begin that marriage relationship. And so Father, I pray that you would take us all to that second horizon. I pray that you would take us to the place where the perfect lover of our souls, Jesus Christ, is laid out by your word. by your servant in such a way, Father, that we are endeared to him, that our souls are drawn to him, that we are drawn after him, as the Shulamite says, and that we truly, not in a feigned way, not in a forced way, but in a voluntary way, come to Jesus and sup with him, having heard his word and heard the gospel through the ear hole. Then Father, we will taste the emblems of the gospel with our mouths. Father. Help us to worship in spirit and truth tonight, we pray. In Christ's name, amen. Last week we looked at the first horizon. And if you're just tuning in, we've been looking at the Song of Solomon on what I've been calling two horizons. It's really an Old Testament term. It's really a biblical theology term that very simply means that You can look at a text in the Old Testament in its original context and consider what it meant for its original hearers. But because we are Christ-centered in our interpretation of the Bible, we can come to the same text and we can look at it and see Christ in it. And this is what we're doing tonight. On that second horizon, we're looking at the love relationship between Christ and His church. As I drew your attention last week, or yeah, last week, I want to do it this week, to verse 4. The lover, the Shulamite, the bride, in this case the church, says, draw me after you. And I said last week that that really pictures love as something of a gravitational pull. There's a gravitational pull to love, and the emphasis is not so much on what we do, but what our lover does that draws us to him like a tractor beam. And that's what I want to look at tonight, and just five simple observations as we come to the table, five ways that Christ draws us to him like a tractor beam. And I pray and hope With the Spirit's help, you will truly be drawn to Christ this evening like a tractor beam as we give attention to these five things. So how does Christ's love continually draw us after Him? Number one, by constant realization that His love is better than wine. Look at verse 2b. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for your love is better than wine. Remember I said last week when we were looking at the first horizon that one of the beautiful things about the marriage relationship is that there are no regrets. There's no regrets with your love. When you're growing up and you go through adolescence and you go into those teenage years and You start to feel your body doing funny things and you start to see it do funny things and there's that awkwardness and you start to have feelings for the opposite sex that you never had before. You soon learn that you need to control those things. You're not to give yourself over to unabashed passion. You are to control yourself because love, as beautiful as it is, And as much as it has been designed by God, has an address, right? And that address is in the driveway of marriage. It's meant to happen within the covenantal boundaries of marriage. God never intended love to just be thrown out to anyone. In fact, when we look at Ezekiel, And I certainly won't read that for you here tonight. I won't scandalize your ears. You kind of have to prepare yourself for things like that. But Ezekiel chapter 16, the problem with Israel as a lover there is that she had given her love to everyone. And what was scandalous about it is that usually, usually one who is unfaithful will go and pay for the love of another, but the scandal of Israel is that she went out and gave her love and paid others to take her love. It was an absolutely scandalous idolatry and apostasy. But when we think of Jesus Christ, We need not have any regrets in giving our love to Him, and His love is better than wine. As I said, you have a few drinks more than you should have, and you have regrets in the morning, right? But with Jesus, there are no regrets. And if I can have you just turn to the next book of your Bible, in Isaiah chapter 25, let me just give you a little picture of that. In Isaiah chapter 25, maybe keep a thumb in Song of Solomon and come to Isaiah 25, wine is such a symbol of joy and comfort and gladness and celebration in the Bible, that in Isaiah chapter 25, the prophet uses the figure of wine to describe the blissful state of eternity. Isaiah chapter 5 verses 6 and following. The mountain of the Lord that he speaks of is of course Mount Zion. On this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined. And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever. and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him that He might save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. Let us be glad and rejoice in this salvation. Beloved, let me just say this. Listen, when you give yourself to the Lord, in a monogamous way. When you give yourself to the Lord in a monogamous way, like the prophet here, when you get to heaven, you will say, we have waited for him and here he is. We have no regrets. We have no regrets. We have waited for him. We denied ourselves the pleasures that all of our friends were going out and taking up for themselves. They were taking up joys and pleasures that were illegitimate, but I stayed with my beloved. I was faithful to him, faithful through the tears, faithful when he was the only one there. I had no companion. I was soaking in the pain of a broken relationship. I was soaking in the pain of a violated relationship. But Jesus was there. He was there and His love was better than wine. This is our lover. The lover of our souls. His love is better than wine. Secondly, how does He draw us after Him? when he uses us to spread his fragrant aroma to others. Look at verse three, coming back to Song of Solomon, chapter one, verse three. Shulamite says, your anointing oils are fragrant. Your name is oil poured out, therefore virgins love you. Your anointing oils are fragrant. You know, One of the things or one of the pictures that Paul gives of the church is that we are to be the aroma of Christ to the world. He says this in 2 Corinthians 2, verses 15-17. You don't have to turn there, but I'll read it to you. He says, Who is sufficient for these things? We're not like so many peddlers of God's Word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. In other words, when he draws other to himself through our reflection of him, we get to in some sense, don't misunderstand me, reflect Christ to others. Now listen, if we're gonna be the aroma of Christ to others, we must smell like Christ, right? Now think about that for a second. I'm speaking of metaphors, of course, but let me be a preacher and do what preachers do, okay? If we're going to be the aroma to Christ, we must first smell like Christ. And how do we smell like Christ? How do we smell like Christ? You know, sometimes my children will smell my cologne on my wife. I say, what are you doing with daddy's cologne? Well, I've been in his arms. Have you been in Christ's arms? Have you been by his side? Have you been following him? Have you been close to him? And is your closeness apparent by your life? Is your closeness apparent by the affections that well up within you? Is your closeness to Christ apparent by the way in which you speak, the tenderness with which you treat others? If that aroma is there, then they will see Christ, and it is a beautiful thing when he uses his fragrant aroma to spread to us, to others. It's a humbling thing. What's a third way? A third way in verse 3b that he draws us to himself is when he gives us his name through faith union. Now, we talked a little bit about this this morning. It's a beautiful thing. Christ doesn't have to give us his name, but you think about that. He does give us his name. And when a wife, in most cases, I know there's exceptions, but when a wife becomes one flesh with her husband, what does she do? She takes on the last name of her husband. She is now flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. She is now a part of him. They are now a one flesh unit. And it is no less true spiritually when it comes to our relationship with Jesus Christ. We take on his name. What is your name? My name is Christian. My name is Christian. I am a Christian. Beloved, that's why if you could cut through all the malaise of all the identity politics and identity wars that are going on in our nation today, the last thing in the world that you as a Christian should do is identify as anything other than a Christian. Anything other than a Christian. I don't care what the color of your skin is, I really don't. I'm not denigrating your heritage, wonderful heritage that your ethnicity has, that's great. But that is inferior to the Christ who brings together all the nations. all the nations. So he gives us his name, he gives us identity, he gives us worth, he gives us reputation. Why? Because Proverbs 22.1 says this, a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. And favor is better than silver or gold. Favor is better than silver or gold. I remember John Piper saying, he was talking about pastoring men who had daughters and having to deal with, and I've had to deal with this a little bit, but just some, even Christian husbands who are like, I want my daughter to marry a rich guy who's well off and yada, yada, yada. And I remember John Piper, I don't know why I have this quote in my head, but he just, he said he was talking with his wife about how we should think about sending our daughters off. What kind of men should we send our daughters off with? And he said something to the effect of, I would rather, I would rather my daughter marry a poor missionary in the sticks in Timbuktu that has a heart of flame for Jesus Christ than a lukewarm Christian with a portfolio that stands above and beyond everybody else. I just don't care. Because at the end of the day, what? A good name is to be chosen than great riches. It's better than great riches. It's better than silver or gold. I've seen it, beloved. And you teenagers, you who, even not teenagers, you who are looking for husbands and you who are looking for wives, listen, I've seen it time and time and time again. Men and women choose a mate. based on just their looks, based on, I'm getting older, I just wanna marry anyone who will come along, based on, you know what, he says he's a Christian and he doesn't really love the church and he doesn't do that, but you know, he's got a good job, he's stable, and you know what, oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes, they regret that decision. Why? Because you shouldn't be looking for somebody who will simply pay the electricity bills. You should be looking for somebody who is pointing to the one who holds light in his hand, Jesus Christ. One who has a desire and a passion to see Christ glorified, not only in his or her own life, but to see it worked out in the life of their spouse and their family. 1 John 3, 1, I love the King Jimmy of 1 John 3, 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called sons of God. What's a fourth way in which he draws us by his love? when he assures us of his love in the midst of our doubting. When he assures us of his love for us in the midst of our doubting. Look at verse six. We saw on the first horizon that the Shulamite says, don't gaze at me because I'm dark. This has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with class. She was out working in the fields and the sun had touched her and she got dark. And even in the Middle Eastern culture back then, it's actually the case now, this is not a racist thing to say. But in the ancient Near Eastern culture, fairer skin was perceived to be more desirable. Darker skin was often associated with the blue-collar workers, the rednecks that were out in the field. And it was the light-skinned ones that were, well, really people coveted that. They wanted to be like that. She says, don't look at me. Don't look at me. And we oftentimes, in a similar way, don't think that we are worthy. We are of a lower class than him. We are not royalty. We are not sinless. We are not worthy. And we say with the bride, do not gaze at me because I am dark. What are ways that this happens in our relationship with Christ? Well, I'll tell you a way that it happens, beloved, when we backslide. And we all backslide from time to time, right? Now, I can remember as a young Christian, I made a very, very clean break at 18 years old with all my old friends. I just didn't want anything to do with them. And at that time, I had just said, I'm not going to drink alcohol anymore because it was a problem for me when I was an unbeliever. It's actually one of the ways I got saved, is I ended up getting arrested for a DUI, and I was in a county jail, and I came to myself, just like the prodigal son did in the pig pen, and the Lord saved me, and I just said, I'm done. I'm not gonna drink anymore. And then, as I said, in those first few years of being a Christian, I was lonely, and I got a knock on my door. There were no text messages back then. We actually talked to each other face to face, My old friend from high school knocked on my door and said, Josh, let's go out cruising. This is Modesto, California. If you've ever seen American Graffiti, that's what we did. There was nothing else to do in Modesto. You just go to this strip called McHenry, and you just go up one side and down the other, and then get a hamburger and go up one side and down. That's all we did. It was boring. But that was the funnest thing to do in that time. And somehow, one thing led to another, and here I am a Christian. We ended up at a party. And one thing led to another, and somebody gave me a beer, and I took it. And every single sip of that beer, it was like hot lava going down my throat. I felt absolutely convicted. I'm not saying beer is wrong. You have to understand, it's where my heart was at that time. I was so thankful for salvation, which was so fresh. that at that time, that beer and that contact with those people that wanted nothing to do with Christ, it felt like a violation of my relationship with Jesus Christ. Didn't even get drunk, but I went home that night and I just got on my knees and I just cried out to the Lord and just begged him to forgive me. See, when your love is so hot, even the thought or a minimal violation, if you will, it just tears you apart. And the thing, beloved, is that even when we backslide, and maybe your backsliding's worse than that, and trust me, I've had worse backslidings than that. But even in our backsliding, the beautiful thing, Song of Solomon 613, is that we hear the voice of Jesus saying, return, return, O Shulamite. Return, return, O Shulamite. And he does not say, return when you are worthy. He says, you don't need to find worthiness in yourself. All you need to do is feel your need of me. That's what Jesus says. Feel your need of me. And if you feel your need of me, and with tears streaming down your face, you come back and you say, forgive me, I repent, the path is always open. That's why the prodigal could come home. He could come home because the path to the Father's house was always open. And not only that, but his father wouldn't wait for him to get all the way up the drive. His father pulled up his robe and ran toward him. He couldn't get to his son, his son who had squandered all the riches, his son who had slept with all the whores, his son who had just lived a dissolute, reprobate lifestyle. His son was coming back and he was repentant. See, he heard the call, return, O Shulamite. Return, O Shulamite. And He came back. We can come back. It's not our worthiness that matters, it's that we feel our need of Him. And because of our faith union, verse 5, we are lovely. She says, look at this, I love this, I'm very dark, but lovely. It's interesting that even in her recognition that I'm undesirable on one hand, on the other hand, I'm desirable. And this is nothing more theologically than at once sinner and saint, right? At once sinner and saint, it's simultaneously sinner and saint. The Christian's life is a life of the already not yet. We are sinners and we are saints. We are saints and we are sinners. And the rest of our life, we live in the midst of that tension as we're waiting for that tension to be alleviated and eradicated when Christ breaks through the clouds and gives us a heart that will never stray. A heart that has no aroma, has no whiff whatsoever of sinfulness, but it's all gone. Sinner and said, I am dark, but I am lovely. Beloved tonight, you may be dark, but you are lovely. You're lovely in the eyes of your beloved Jesus Christ. Fifthly tonight, we can always be sure where to find him. Look at verse seven. The Shulamite says, tell me, you who my soul loves, where you pasture your flock? Where you make it lie down at noon? For why should I be one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions? And I just, I'm not gonna go into the Hebrew here, but just trust me, companions is more like competitors here, okay? So why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of a competing shepherd? Watch this. He gives his answer in verse eight. Oh, you wanna know where I pasture my flocks? You wanna know? If you do not know, oh, most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock and pasture your young goats beside the shepherd's tents. Like the Shulamite, we often wonder where we can find him, especially when he seems aloof. You wanna know where you could find Jesus? You follow in the tracks of the sheep. Where are the sheep? You know where they're going? They're streaming into the house of the Lord. They're streaming into the house of the Lord. You want to know where Jesus is? You want to know where you could find him? Follow his flock. Follow his flock. That's what you did tonight. You followed his flock and here you are. You're amongst his flock. You're with his flock. You're next to his flock. You smell like his flock. And this is where the shepherd is. The shepherd is among his flock. They flock together, sheep of a feather flock together, mixing all kinds of metaphors tonight, right? They flock together because they're following the same shepherd. Now, I know many of you already know that, I get it, but let me just put it this way. I mean, if you're here tonight, I'm preaching to the choir, okay? If you're here tonight, we're preaching to the choir. But if you ever get the idea, if you ever get the temptation that, you know what, I just, I could worship Jesus at home by myself. You can, you can. Is it the same? No, it's not the same. It's not the same. And we're gonna be talking about this in Ephesians, but I'll just remind you, in Ephesians 2.17, it says that Christ came and preached peace to those who are far off and those who are near, meaning the Jews and the Gentiles in the context of the church. But wait a minute, when did the Ephesians hear Jesus preaching to them? Every time the minister steps up in the pulpit and preaches the word of God, Jesus Christ is speaking to his flock. Jesus Christ is speaking to you right now. Why would you wanna miss out on that? Why would you wanna miss out on that? I read an article years ago, actually it was about a year ago, it was about morning and evening service. And it began with the story of an old woman, an old saint, who was there morning and evening, every Sunday. And somebody asked her, man, isn't it hard for you to get there? I mean, it's late. You know, some people are providentially hindered, but it's late, aren't you tired? I'm sure as you get older you have all these ailments and stuff like that. She said, my legs get me there first, and then my heart catches up. My legs get me there first, and then my heart catches up. And I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, but I'll bet that that has been the story of some of you, even tonight. You didn't wanna come? Man, it was raining cats and dogs. I got a few texts, people were like, is service canceled? I'm like, if you feel unsafe, stay home, okay? But some of you are like, I don't, I'm coming, I'm going. I'm following the flock to the house of God. I wanna hear the voice of our shepherd. So you wanna know where he could be found? Follow the tracks. Go to the house of God. Go to his house with the people of God where his body and blood are given for you to touch and handle and be reminded that he came in a real body and suffered real punishment for real sin and that sin was yours. Oh, how he loves you and me. Go to the house of God where the rest of flock is gathered so you could worship among like-minded fellow sinners and saints. and assures the dawning of the morning so certain is His loving kindness to us when we come in repentance and faith. Beloved, let's come and turn our attention then to the table.