The multifaceted nature of "my beloved" as depicted in the Song of Solomon, highlighting Christ's unique excellence, His supportive presence, and the power of His voice. It emphasizes that Christ stands out among humanity, offering rest, refuge, and sweet satisfaction, and that His loving embrace provides essential support for both the mind and emotions, as illustrated by passages like Philippians 4:7. The message further details the life-giving power of Christ's voice, which calls the spiritually dead to life, and contrasts His gracious, gentle voice with His authoritative, discerning voice that exposes sin and calls for repentance, as seen in John 5:24 and Revelation 1:10-15. Ultimately, the sermon portrays Christ as possessing divine vitality, enabling believers to overcome insurmountable challenges, and as a constant presence behind life's difficulties, urging listeners to fix their eyes on Him.
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Thank you very much. We need to be taught the way of God. We don't know it by nature. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit every day, every step of the way from earth to glory. Delighted to see you again tonight. I am not going to Orange Park tomorrow. I was there this afternoon. Well, I haven't well worked figured out. See, what I do is, you have a supper engagement, and then I said to my wife, I'll take you a drive and took Joanna with us up to Orange Park and back. We have to be back by such and such a time, and that means you have no time to shop.
But they did. Amazing what you can pick up in ten minutes. And, by the way, there are no bargains. It always amazes me, ladies who come to their husbands and say, by the way, I saved ten dollars on this, and I saved five dollars on that, and I saved two dollars on that, and I usually say to my wife, I wish you wouldn't save me so much money. That's the way it is. I mentioned this morning, I was going to read you a little poem about evolution. By the way, I hope you believe in creation, don't you? Yes, sir, because that's what the Word of God teaches.
But this is a poem written by the man, by the way, who wrote to him, Jesus never fails. And he wrote this as sort of humorous about evolution from the point of view of the little piece of protoplasm in the beginning. And here's the way it goes. They say a billion years ago, I was a protoplasm. However, that may be, I'm told, I had some sort of spasm. I did not longer will to stay a little bit of jelly, so conjured up the brand new stunt of crawling on my belly. From out my watery home I leaped with fearful trepidation and shimmied up the golden sand which caused much irritation.
Discouraged, tired, and somewhat blue, I said, for obvious reasons, I lay me down and take a nap for about a million seasons. And so I slept, but woke again, and found my scales had parted, on some where feathers like a bird's, on others' hairs had started. Now here's a funny thing, said I, which calls for wise decision. Shall I assay to yonder skies, or jump with due precision? I thought and thought ten million years, then jumped, my mind grew stiller, a part of me to foul-aspired, Another part, gorilla.
Believe it or not, the fact remained that something sure had started, and so I kissed myself goodbye with much ado and parted. Another million years I roamed in topmost branches swinging. With all the time within my heart a new idea kept ringing. You lazy ape one day I cried, You're guilty, sir, of shirking. Go bump your noodle on a tree and get that be no working. And so I carried out this scheme, and soon I heard repeating the troubles with your diet, monk. You're all wrong in your eating.
Lay off of herbs and roots and shrubs and start in on albumen, and if you're patient some sweet day, you'll find yourself a human. This second hunch I followed up obeyed the rules precisely. I changed my dress and combed my hair, and now I'm doing nicely. Already I can curse and swear and lie and get quite spunky. I'm telling this old cock-eyed world that I'm no common monkey. In case you do not acquiesce and all this dope acknowledge, just come with me next Saturday and visit my old college. For there you'll see Not one baboon with fur and cuffs and collar.
Pardon me, I left something out here. Let's visit my old colleagues. We'll surely entertain you fine and demonstrate our thunder. We'll leave you shell-shocked, dazed and stunned, amazed and awed with wonder. For there you'll see not one baboon with fur and cuffs and collar, but a hundred thousand more or less. You'll hear the whole tribe holler. With raw, raw, raws, and sea boom, buzz, they'll sway the situation, and you'll believe, you will greatly believe you, me, we're true to our relation. But let me ask before I quit, considering what befell me, what will I be the rate I'm going in a million years you tell me?
And that's stupid. But it's written from a man who said, that's how silly evolution is. It's up a tree eating bananas. That's where the professors who teach it should be. And that's the way it is. You know, isn't it amazing the people who are intelligent and so intelligent they're ignorant of the facts? It's true. They have symposiums on evolution where they pool their ignorance. Tremendous. But I believe what God says, don't you? Word of God is clear, very plain. God spoke and it was done.
He commanded and it stood fast. Now let's turn to the Song of Solomon and get away from the stupidity. Song of Solomon, chapter two again. And already we have seen how this girl addresses this man, her beloved, and how this man, her beloved, addresses this girl, his love. And the other night we showed, the other day showed how he wonderfully romantically said to her, I've compared the O my love to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. What a compliment. I wouldn't dare. You know, nowadays, that's great language, but if you didn't explain what you meant to your wife when you said it, your life you saved may be your own.
Now, We talked about the apple tree among the trees of the wood this morning in verse three of chapter two. It says, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. What a great verse. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our beloved, stands out among the sons of men, absolutely unique. There is no one like him. And there's no one above him. And there's no one who is equal to him. Jesus is the greatest. And he's our Savior.
Lives in us. And we talked about what he provides. We were able to find rest sitting down under his shadow. We were able to find refuge sitting down under his shadow. And at the end they played that hymn under his wings. I am safely abiding. And even though it may be dark, and we may be sometimes terror-stricken, under His wings there's safety, there's security, and there's refuge. And then it says with great delight, that rejoicing, a wonderful place to be, a happy place to be. And as I said this morning again, that's the way Christians ought to be. Now, it doesn't mean that you don't have pain.
It doesn't mean that you never cry, because I do. It doesn't mean that you're not concerned, but it does mean this, that in spite of your sufferings, in spite of your trials, which may be various in their number and in their kind, we can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Isn't that a Christian? That's the way it ought to be. Whom having not seen you, what? You love. In whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. And then it's a place of refreshing as we reach up to him.
And he brings down to us that wonderful fruit which is sweet to our taste. And it's like a banquet. A place of satisfaction and refreshment. And I trust that this week together around the word of God has been a piece for us. as we've thought about him and we've reached up to him and we've taken something into our lives which will sweeten us up. Right? Don't be a sourpuss. We ought not to be. That's the way it is. Now let's go on down this chapter. After let's go down to, we'll go to verse four. He brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me is love.
then stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples for I'm sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. Do you like that? He puts his arms round us. And one of the marvelous things about the virtue of my beloved is in relation to the one that he loves, and we are the bride that he loves. that he puts his one hand under our head. Do you know something I believe today, that Christians need support for their head? Isn't that true?
I mean, not some of you. We need support for our head. It's true. And one of the sad things today is, did you remember years ago, I mean a way back, I'm talking, you know, forty, fifty years ago. You probably don't remember that far back. Most of you do. And back then, do you remember it was certain people at all who are having trouble with their minds? And they're going to see psychiatrists and consulting other people and so on. And having this whole business of troubled minds. Listen, today it's Christians. Now I believe this, that my beloved is able to give me support from my mind, don't you?
He's able to do that. Thou will keep him in what? Perfect peace whose what mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. But a wonderful thing to know that his marvelous hand, his arm, is around my head, under my head. And I need support like that because, I'll tell you this, many times we act wrong because we think wrong, right? We need support for our minds. Not only that, but we need support for our emotions, for our hearts. And what's happening is this. He says she not only puts his arm around our heads, but around our hearts.
And you remember that great verse over in Philippians, we referred to the other day in Philippians chapter three, where it talks about the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall what? Keep your hearts and minds. Through who? Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. My beloved soul, such a virtuous person, the virtue of my beloved, that he gives me with his loving arm. support from my head and my heart that's a great life isn't it now we're moving on from that now listen to this in verse eight not knowing to read about the virtue of our beloved but the voice of my beloved i was thinking about this today and i actually walking across the grounds here and the hymn came to me i come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.
And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joys we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. Reminds me a little fellow when home from Sunday schools And the mother said to him, What were you talking about the Sunday school today? Well, he said, We were actually have found out what the Lord's name is. And the mother said, You did? Said, Yes. Said, What is it? It says Andy. He said, We sung about it.
Andy walks with me. Andy talks with me. Andy tells me I... Kids pick up things, you know. By the way, you're a Sunday school teacher. Make sure you explain things properly. Because kids picture in their minds. It's like a little fellow going home and his mother's saying, what happened Sunday school today? Well, he said, I'll draw it for you. And he drew a car. And there was a chauffeur in the front seat and a man and woman in the bank. And they said, what is all this? The mother said, what is this? She said, was he... the Lord God driving Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.
That's a picture in your mind. Well, I'll tell you this. The Lord's voice is wonderful, isn't it? Oh, I love to hear his voice saying you belong to me. You are not your own with the price you're bought and your mind eternally. He's got a great voice. a great voice. As a matter of fact, such a voice that actually what happens when you're saved that spiritually through the Word of God, it's His voice that brings you to life. You know that? That's what happens. He's got a great voice. Turn over to John chapter five, the voice of my beloved.
In John chapter five, you remember that the Father has committed all judgment unto the Son in that particular chapter. And listen to this. Look at verse twenty-four, very well-known verse. Matter of fact, this was one of the verses that came back to my remembrance the night I became a Christian. I've memorized it as a little boy in that Sunday school class in Ireland, and that little mission hall. He that heareth my word, verily, verily, I say unto thee, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Great Gospel verse, isn't it?
Then it says this, verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is. You see that little phrase, now is. Now he talks a little bit later on about in the future the dead which are in the graves hearing his voice. But here he's talking about the hour coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall what? Live. When I got saved I was dead before I was saved.
spiritually dead wasn't it and just as God commanded the light the shadow of darkness in the beginning as we referred to the scripture in second Corinthians four verse six last night that in the salvation of a sinner he speaks and the sound of his voice through the word of God because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the what the word of God then those that hear what live That's a great voice. A great voice. A great voice by which we pass from death unto life, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God.
What a voice. It's a great voice. And you remember over in the book of Revelation, not only does we speak and have that great voice reach us in our salvation, But in Revelation chapter one, as a matter of fact, we were thinking, Jim, we were talking about this this morning somewhere. Wasn't you, Jim, was it? We'll blame you for it anyway. Good amount as any. No, we're talking about the voice of God, right? And taught by the still small voice. Some conversation we had anyway. And we refer to this chapter, turn to Revelation chapter one. And in Revelation chapter one, we have that tremendous vision of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of the golden candlesticks, which represent the churches in Revelation.
Now turn to Revelation chapter one. And it says in verse ten, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me, what kind of a voice? A great voice. There was no whisper here. This was a great voice. as of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book, and send them to the seven churches which are in Asia under Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
And when he turned, he saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the pups with a golden girdle. His head and his hers were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. Boy, that's a tremendous description, isn't it, of Christ. By the way, the eyes of Christ in the midst of the churches can see right through you they can see he can see through everything that's being done in the assemblies of God's people right he knows why they're being done he knows what is being done he knows how it's being done he knows our hearts as a matter of fact In the back of my mind, one day when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, when the fire tries our service, right?
Boy, he'll see through us then, won't it, because he's the master of the servants and burning right through everything we've got and everything that we've done. Here in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, he sees through all that the churches were and were doing and all the way through these letters in the in Revelation chapter two and chapter three you see him saying I know I know I know and tonight he knows you knows why you're here knows why I'm preaching knows our motives and in this particular chapter It says in verse fifteen, and speak like unto a fine brass as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Because he's going to expose the true condition of these churches. I wonder tonight. We sometimes think about the voice of our beloved and the wonderful things he says to us and so on. But you know, the voice of the Lord needs to be heard today, doesn't it, in the assemblies of God's people. A great voice which can bring to us the correction we need, the guidance we need, the loving, everything we need.
The voice of my beloved, it's a great voice. And in this book of Revelation, if you read those seven letters to the seven churches, you'll learn a lot from that voice as he speaks. He that hath an ear, let him what? Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, and the message comes from him. the one who walks in judgment with his feet like fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. He wants to bring them back to their first love, right, and to live for God.
By the way, he's here tonight, isn't he? He's here tonight. And he speaks tonight, doesn't he? he wants us to listen to him tonight he's our beloved he's got a great voice now he only has a great voice but he got a very gracious voice particularly when you find for instance in not only in John chapter five that great voice speaking to the dead and David here shall live but in John chapter eight remember that story where Jesus came into the temple early in the morning and the Pharisees brought a woman who was taken in adultery in the very act.
And they came to Jesus and said, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Amazing piece of information to give to the Lord that one person was caught in the act of adultery. These hypocrites We're not only religious hypocrites, they must have thought the Lord was stupid. How can you catch one person in the act of adultery? It takes two, doesn't it? Must have been a Pharisee.
The man wasn't there. And they said Moses in the law commanded that such an one should be stoned. No, Moses commanded that both of them should be stoned. And Jesus, as he sat there and they were bringing this woman to condemn her, took his finger and wrote on the ground as if he heard them not. And by the way, the finger that was writing on the ground was the finger of God. And, you know, the finger of God brings conviction. Did you know that? It did in that eighth chapter of John.
You see, when Jesus, you remember one time in Luke chapter eleven, talked about what the Pharisees accused them of, casting out demons, casting out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Jesus, in answering what they charged him with, said this, He said, If I cast our devils by beams above the prince of the devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? But he says, If I, with the finger of God, cast our devils. And you say, What was the finger of God? Well, you see, the finger of God is the Spirit of God. Because Matthew, in Matthew chapter twelve, speaking about the same occasion, says that Jesus said, if I were the Spirit of God, cast out devils.
Which means if you put Luke eleven with Matthew twelve, you'll find out that the finger of God is the what? The Spirit of God. And by the way, when the Spirit of God points out the sin of sinners, brings conviction. And what has happened here? Jesus wrote on the ground as if he heard them not. And then he lifted himself up and said, Peter is without sin. Let him cast the first stone. And the Bible says they being convicted by their own conscience walked away one by one. You see, they were in the presence of the light of the world and the finger of God exposed them.
and the poor woman standing there. She knows that she's guilty. She knows that they had condemned her. And Jesus looked at that woman and said, Woman, where are those thine accusers? And she said, No man, Lord, there's no one here anymore. And Jesus looked at her and said, Can you imagine that voice coming across to that sinner? neither do I condemn me. Go and sin no more. That's a lovely voice, isn't it? It was a wonderful time when the night that I became a Christian and I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior to know that there's no condemnation anymore.
It's gone. Neither do I condemn thee. No more judgments. See, Jesus knew he was going to go to the cross and pay for all of that lady's sins. And in fact, by the way, folks, he's got a gracious voice. He's got a gentle voice, too. In the chapter in John twenty-one, when Peter and the other disciples went fishing after the crucifixion and after Christ rose again from the dead and appeared on the shore that morning and met with those disciples He could have said a whole lot of things, which were not very gracious.
He could have said a lot of things, which were not very gentle. As a matter of fact, Peter, who had boasted, if everybody else forsakes you, I will never forsake you. I will lay down my life for your sake. He denied the Lord three times. Listen to this. Now, if it had been one of us, Irish preachers, Maybe not on me. If I'd stood on that shore, and I'd known what Peter did denying his Lord, and knew that the other disciples now had gone with them, gone fishing, and they'd fished all night and caught nothing, I would have probably said, it serves you right.
Right? It serves you right. Peter, you're a knucklehead. You are blowing about the fact that you would lay down your life for His sake and so on. You are filled with self-confidence. You deserve what you get. Well, thank God that Jesus isn't that kind of a preacher. Now, he does expose sin. Oh, yeah. Remember, he walked in judgment among those churches, didn't he? But you see, when you're a backslider, Do you know what backsiders need?
They need the gentleness that would bring them back. Right? Brethren, if a man be overtaken and a fault, right? Ye which are what? Spiritual. Restore such and one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. And Jesus gently said, Children, have you any meat? They said, No. And he showed them how to fish and catch fish. Isn't that gracious? Isn't that gentle? The voice of my beloved. He speaks.
And the sound of his voice is so sweet. The bird's voice, they're singing. I like those words. And the melody. that he gave to me within my heart keeps ringing got a question for you did you talk with him today through his word did he talk to you did you hear that great voice that gracious voice that gentle voice of your beloved It's encouraging us to have a savior like that.
Wonderful thing. Now, let's go back to Song of Solomon. And after showing us the virtue of our beloved and putting his arms around us under our head and embracing us and giving us support for our heads and our hearts, and he talks about the voice of, or he talks about the voice of my beloved, listen to this. Behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hill. Bart Maestro, I'll stop right there. Leaping and skipping on mountains. I would say that my beloved's got vitality, wouldn't you?
That's the vitality of my beloved. Mountains don't bother him. You ever faced mountains? I remember just after I became a Christian, going to a meeting one night with a Bible study and just was a beginning, they started to sing a chorus just before the study. Here's what they sung. Got any rivers you think are uncrossable. Got any mountains you can't tunnel through.
He specializes in things thought impossible. He can do just what no other can do. Now you may not be able to handle the mountain, but he can. He comes leaping upon the mountain. skipping upon the hills. He's got the vitality that we need. He can handle the mountains. By the way, not only can he leap over the mountains and skip over the hills, but he can carry us with him, can't he?
Does the wonderful thing about it. I can't listen to it now. Listen carefully. You say, man, I've got things which are insurmountable, big things that face me, big decisions to make. And by the way, I know this because I'm getting older too, and that people get older, and somehow or other than some big things face you, right? Financially, security, or your family, a whole lot of things, you say. I don't know how I'm going to handle this, how I'm going to get over this. Right? The Apostle Paul put it very, very clearly in Philippians chapter four, verse thirteen, didn't he?
He says, I can do what? All things through Christ which strengthen me. You see, I may not have the vitality, the spiritual vitality, and I don't. And I don't. I know sometimes you may look at preachers and say, well, they're different breeds. You know what I mean? They somehow naturally or humanly speaking have abilities that other people do not have. They're not as weak as you are. I want you to know this, that as never before in all of the history of the church, you need to pray for God's servants. They're under attack, right?
And they are falling into sin. and they're facing situations that they can't handle, right? Every time I, for about a year there, every time I turned around and told me like some great preacher, fail. And people could have said, how could a man like that fall? I'll tell you why he could fall, because he is a man of like passions as you are. That's why. And there isn't any of us that could live the Christian life. Before I became a Christian, when people witnessed to me and they came along and said, Listen, why don't you get saved? And I drew my answer once.
One time when this man asked me to get saved in the shipyard, I said, Lucid, you might as well ask me to go out there and fly. That's for me to get a convertible. I couldn't live a decent life for a week. I'd expect me to live a Christian life. It's impossible. I could never get saved. I could never live the Christian life, and I don't want to be a hypocrite. And I was telling the truth. I didn't have the spiritual vitality to live the Christian life, and I still don't in myself.
Neither do you. Right? Neither do you. But isn't it great to have a Savior? one who is my beloved and he has the vitality he has the ability he is able right he's able and when you realize that then knowing this that he is able to carry me through and carry me over the mountains as they come and the difficulties as they come and the problems as they come Are my beloved has that kind of a vitality which leaps from the mountains and skips on the hills?
And I'm in him and he's in me. Does the Bible teach that? Here he does. It's the secret of living the life that I now live in the flesh. Remember the Apostle Paul in Galatians two twenty said those wonderful words, I am what? Crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I lived, yet not I, but Christ liveth what? In me. Now, if Christ lives in me, then all that's in him is in me. Is that right? That power that he has. All that vitality that he has spiritually is in me. And now what I do is I trust him. And I can go over the minds, Rupert.
Many, many times in Bible school, young people have come to me and said, Mr. Dowie, I'm having trouble living the Christian life. How can I become spiritually mature? How can I grow as a Christian? How can I be victorious in my life? And I've said this to them. How did you get saved? And they say, I got saved by faith. How did you get saved? I got saved by grace. Who performed a miracle of saving you? The Holy Spirit, right? And they'll look back at them and say, Listen, the very same principles by which you got saved are the same principles by which you grow and be victorious.
You're saved by faith and you're kept by what? Faith. And you live by faith, and you grow by faith. It's a sad thing, isn't it? So many Christians will stand up and say, you know, forty years ago, fifty years ago, I trusted Jesus Christ to save me from hell. And they're not trusting him tonight. Isn't there something wrong with that? There's mountains that have come. They say, I can't get over this. Listen, the same beloved who died for you to save you from hell and from judgment can carry you over the mountains and the hills.
He's got the vitality. And we sing a hymn to sinners at the end of gospel meetings. What is it? Come every soul by sin oppressed. There's mercy with the Lord and he will surely give you rest by trusting in his word. And we sing, only trust him. Only trust him. Only trust him when. Now, he will save you. He will save you. He will save you. What? Now. All right. Now, as a bit of singing to sinners, that's a bit of singing, come every soul, come every saint.
Right? By problems depressed. Right? And then sing to the saints. Only what? Trust Him. Only trust Him. Only trust Him. When? Now. Tonight. Now. I need to trust the Lord tonight. I've got circumstances tonight. I'm trusting Him for, right? By the way, He's still able, isn't He? He still has that vitality. He still has the ability to leap on the mountains and skimp on the hills.
Because in your Christian life, somewhere along the line, you're going to come up against it, right? You may have all your plans married. You may have all the decisions you're going to have in your life. And I'll tell you this, God can change them in a hurry against it. He's done that with me. And tonight I need to trust him. And tonight I need his grace. And tonight I need his vitality. And thank God because he never changes. My beloved is able also to save me to the uttermost. I've come unto God by him because he ever loveth to make intercession for me.
And he keeps me. Hermann Hemberg also says he keeps me singing, doesn't he? Imagine skipping over the mountain singing. That's Christian living. One more thing. Let's go back to the song and songs. Read about his virtue and his voice and his vitality. Verse nine, my beloved is like a roe or a young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our wall. Right? And then it says, he looks forth at the window, showing himself through the lattice, the vision of my beloved.
By the way, everything that happens in my life as a Christian, he stands behind us. You know that? Another old hymn I learned years ago. Standing somewhere in the shadows, you'll find who? Jesus. He's the only one who cares and understands. Standing somewhere in the shadows, you will find him, and you'll know him by the nail prints in his hands. And behind everything it comes in your life, every barrier you come up against, and you come up against the wall, by the way, And you're a runner, and have you ever done any long-distance running?
One of the expressions that runners use is this. And in marathon, I'm talking about long-distance running, a marathon is twenty-six miles, three-hundred-and-eight-five yards. That's a long way. And I've run a few of them. The long run I ran on was now sixty-two years old. I run thirty miles. I'm good over at you. And I'm not going to do it again either. But you know, when a runner is running a marathon and those fellows are going, and it amazes me that they run at the speed they do for that distance, five-minute miles, four-and-something-minute miles, for twenty-six miles, and they come what they call the twenty-mile mark, and they call it the wall.
And it's like they come up against the wall and their muscles are sore and it feels their legs are going to fall off and they want to quit. And there's pain. But they want to finish. And they've got to get past the wall in order to finish. And good runners, instead of fainting in their minds, They get their mind on the goal, I'm going to finish. And in spite of their pain, in spite of their suffering, they go on another six miles and finish the race.
By the way, the Christian life is a long-distance race, isn't it? And as you go on with the Christian life, you're now going to come up against it, too. You're looking at a wall. But if you look closely at anything you come against in your Christian life, your beloved stands behind him. And if you'll see through it, you'll see him. That's what she says here. He's looking through the lattice, and she gets the vision of her beloved through the barrier, through the wall.
He sees her, and she what sees him? That's a wonderful thing. My beloved stands behind our wall, and he's looking through, showing himself up to lance. Do you see him? some of those old hymn writers knew they were writing about Brutonley when they wrote this turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth all the problems of earth all the difficulties of earth the things of earth will grow strangely what dim in the light of his glory and grace.
Maybe you're coming up against it tonight. Maybe you're feeling depressed tonight. You've got problems tonight. Jesus, our beloved, stands behind all that comes our way. And he wants you to see him He wants you to look unto Him. And in Hebrews chapter twelve, where it talks about the race, it says, looking unto Jesus. The author and finisher of our faiths.
Keep going. Keep running. Keep leaping. Keep skipping. Because your eyes are fixed on Him. When the road is rough and steep, Fix your eyes upon Jesus. He alone has power to keep. Fix your eyes upon him. Jesus is our beloved friend, one on whom you can depend. He'll go with you to the end. Fix your eyes upon him.