Thank you very much. Well, anyway, it's twenty to ten, just to check up on the time here. Well, much more. What time is the meeting start out today? It's good tonight. Seven thirty. But it's amazing. Some of those things will stick in your mind. You make one mistake once and it's a recording. You'll keep over and over again. But anyway, it's going to be meeting tonight. Seven thirty. We're looking forward to being here again. And then after the meeting tonight, the Lord willing, we're going part way to North Carolina. and then start some meetings there tomorrow night and go on for another few days. Then go to Whispering Pines on Wednesday and Thursday morning, go to Charlotte, North Carolina. Wednesday, Thursday night, Whispering Pines to Sunday and then Monday through Thursday to Whitefield, North Carolina. And then I've got to go up to Fayetteville, get a plane and fly back to Tampa and preach in Tampa Sunday morning, fly back to Fayetteville and then drive to New Brunswick. I don't want to go there in my spare time, but anyway, that's the way it goes. Our daughter and my wife there have a doctor's appointment this morning in Stark. Her porticast, if you know the porticast, has gone to the mainline and to her heart for to feed her and give medication and so on, it would not draw back, which means it may be blocked, and so that's very dangerous. And so we're waiting for the report from that. They may have to operate, but to have an x-ray this morning to see what's happening with the porticast. So pray about that, that the Lord will guide and direct in that regard. We go one day at a time. And one step at a time. And we're trusting him. Right? Great Savior. He certainly is. And it's wonderful. By the way, the weather is nice this morning. That's a heat wave in New Brunswick at this time of the year. I like the weather. By that, for running this morning was nice. In Ireland, of course, they've only got one, actually two weather forecasts in Belfast. Outside the city, there's a hill there called Cave Hill. And when you can see the Cave Hill, it's going to rain. And when you can't see the cave hill, it's raining. It even rains between the showers. That's why it's so green. And so that it used to say there was eleven months of rain, one month of bad weather. Good. Now, I was going to go a certain way this morning, and after I brought it up and said, we were looking for the chorus, Altogether Lovely, Altogether Lovely, and the fairest of ten thousand, this wonderful friend of mine. He gave His life to save me. Now He lives in heaven to keep me. He is altogether lovely. Is this wonderful Savior of mine. Lovely chorus. And when He said that, and we sung, of course, He spurried the lily of the valley, all of that stuff, and it changed my mind. And I've got the right to change my mind. I'm the creature. And so I'm going to take that little phrase, yea, He is altogether lovely. I want you to turn to chapter five of Song of Solomon. Songer Solomon, chapter five, there's a question asked here in verse nine of this one who has her beloved and is excited about her beloved and wants others to know that he's the greatest. And it says here in verse nine, chapter five of the Song Songs, what is thy beloved more than another beloved? O thou fairest among women. It's a question. What is he more than anybody else? And then it says, What is thy beloved more than other beloved, that thou dost so charge us? And then she answers. You see, by the way, when someone asks you, Why are you so excited about Jesus Christ? What is he more than anybody else? Right? Many other prophets. There's other prophets in the world that are honored by other religions. And you ask the question, what about their way? You know, there are people who get the idea, well, you see, the fact is that there's so many religions and so many prophets. What is Jesus Christ more than them? As a matter of fact, the Baha'i faith. You've heard of the Baha'is? They have a nine-sided temple in Wilmot, Illinois, which has got nine entrances. and they represent the entrances of nine religions. And what they do is they put them all together, and they say, we take the best of them all, and we agree with them all, and there are nine ways to get in, see. Well, you see, in the Bible, that's not the way it is. That is not the way it is. You see, when you follow the instructions of the Bible, in relation to salvation, there's only one way in. The way back there, you remember in Genesis chapter six, when the world was filled with corruption, just as it is today, filled with immorality. As a matter of fact, every imagination of the hearts of men and their thoughts was only evil continually. They were fantasizing evil. They're doing that today, by the way. That's the way it is today. And so God spoke to Noah and said, The end of all flesh has come before me. And he told them to make an ark of gopher wood. Now, he didn't ask Noah his opinions. I spoke to a group of preachers just a few months ago on the subject, God is not interested in your opinion. He's interested in your obedience. God doesn't need my opinion. And he didn't ask Noah for his opinion. He gave Noah his instructions. He said, you make an ark of gopher wood. You know what Noah did? He made it of gopher wood. He didn't say now, according to my study of archaeology, that's A-R-K, See? According to my study of archaeology, I'm an authority in arts, and so in my opinion, some other material would do. No, no, no. He made it of gopher wood because God said, make it of gopher wood. And he said, Rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and what he did was he put rooms in it. And he said, Thou shalt pitch it within and with art with pitch. In other words, put pitch on the outside and put pitch on the inside. He only did he put pitch on the outside and put pitch on the inside. By the way, folks, if all else fails, read the instructions. That's the way it is. And then God told him the dimensions of the ark, and he made it those dimensions. And then he said, A window shall be put in the ark, and in the cubit shall thou fashion it above. In other words, the window was to be in the roof. Now Noah could have given his opinion there and said, How in the world am I going to see else? If the window is in the roof. Well, God didn't want them to see out. He wanted them to see up. By the way, God wants you to see up too. Look up. Set your affections on what? Things above, not on things on the earth. And Noah put the window in the roof. And he said, You'll put a door. A door shalt thou make in the ark. Now remember... that there were going to be elephants and other animals and so forth, big and small, go into that ark, but there was only one door and only one. And Noah obeyed God and put one door in the ark. Now, these animals may come from a variety of paths and places from the air, from the sea. They may come all those directions, but there was only one way to enter the place of salvation. It was the door. and there was only one door. You don't have to be confused then. One door and only one. And yet its sides are two. Inside and outside on which side are you. And so Noah built it. And what happened was he put one door and every occupant of that ark that was saved from the judgment of the flood entered one way. And if they didn't enter one way and go through that door, then they were lost. They perished. That's the way it is. Now, you may look at all the world and say, man, there's so many denominations and there's so many religions, and there are. That's true. But, you know, you don't have to be confused about how to get to heaven. You don't have to be confused about how to enter into salvation because Jesus made this clear. Listen to it now. John ten, verse nine. He said, I am the what? Door. By me, if any man, enter in. He shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Do you know what that means? It means what it says. It always amazes me in talking to people that They say, you know, this is a matter of interpretation. Right? And I usually say to them, by the way, let's not interpret it at all. Listen to it. Jesus said, I am the door. I look at them and say, you know what that means? It means that Jesus is the door. And when Jesus said, by me, if any man enter in, do you know what it means? It means by him, if any man enters in, through Christ. He shall be saved means He shall be saved. That doesn't complicate it. See, God made it simple because of us. We need it simple, don't we? And so that there's one door and only one. And then, you remember in John fourteen, when Thomas said to the Lord Jesus, Lord, We know not whither thou goest. Jesus was going away from him. He was going to the cross and going to heaven. And he says, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? That's a good question. You're sitting here today. How can I know the way? There's so many ways and so many ideas and so on. How can I know the way? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Now that's as plain as it knows on your face. There isn't any other way unto the Father except through Jesus Christ. There isn't any. That's the whole thing. And so when someone comes to me and says, What is thy beloved more than another? I just look at them and say, Have you got an hour or two? And I'll tell you what he is more than anybody else. He's the only one that can provide salvation. He's the only one that can save you from your sins. He's the only one that can take you to the Father and to heaven. He's the only one that can give you peace. He's the only one. There isn't anybody else. And by the way, if you're a Christian, he's the only one that can satisfy your soul. There isn't any other way. And so when this girl is asked, What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? Then she says, Let me tell you, let me tell you what he is. And she describes him. See, this girl knows her beloved. And she says, My beloved is white and ruddy, the cheapest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters washed with milk and fitly set. I'd noticed this, by the way, and I was running around this area. Everything is flowers and fruit and birds. Right? He knows that. Nightingale Street. Dove. sleep. Those are boids. You're from New Jersey, they're boids. They're birds. And also you've got citrus, don't you? And you have azalea place. And you have palms circle. And then all around here, of course, we are biblical. We've got Hebron. All of those. But you see, around Keystone Heights, You see birds and flowers and so on. And so she describes his eyes and said, they're like the eyes of doves, fitly set. By the way, he's got good vision, doesn't he? He sees straight. He sure does. And so she's describing him. And she had the details here. Starts off with the fact that his head and his locks and his eyes... and his cheeks are as a bed of spices as sweet flowers, his lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh, his hands are as gold rings set with the burl, his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires, his legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold, his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars, his mouth is most sweet. I would say that this girl knows this man. Wouldn't you? She knows him. And when she's asked the question, What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? Why do you so charge us his head? Let me tell you. Because I know him from head to foot. And she ends up this by saying this. Yea, he is altogether lovely. Do you know how many words there are in that phrase? Five. Do you know how many points there'll be in my message? Five. That number right there. Because I'm going to speak on every word. All right? Yea, he is altogether lovely. That summarizes the whole thing. Now, you see, if you left out the yea... It doesn't sound the same. You see, yea is a positive exclamation. What you're saying is there's no doubt about it. There is no question here. She says, yes, positively, without any doubt, without any question. He is altogether lovely. I'm glad the yea is there, aren't you? That's what you're doing. It's a positive exclamation. And, you know, there are certain words in the Bible, and particularly in the King James Version of the Bible, and other versions have been left out and so forth. Now, I'm not going to go into the arguments about versions and so on because of the King James was good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me. But I'm not going to argue about that. But I think there's something beautiful about the language of the King James Version of the Bible. That's lovely. There are words, for instance, little simple words like the word O. Right? O. And you see some other versions, left art, and it takes away the feeling. It takes away the positiveness. For instance, O! Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. You see, the O? There's feeling in that, isn't there? O! O! O! That men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works. to the children of men. When you read in the Word of God, oh God, right, there's feeling there, there's something positive there. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good for his mercy, what? endures forever. And when you go down that psalm over and over again, you'll find for His mercy endures forever, for His mercy endures forever, for His mercy endures forever, for His mercy endures forever, for His mercy endures forever. And before you get to the end of that psalm and the King James, you know His mercy endures forever. But you see some other person says, well, it's superfluous. Put it in once. Oh, no, no, no, no. He is the principle of hermeneutics. Many of you know what hermeneutics is. It's something like dermatitis. No, no, not as disease. I used to teach hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the principles of Bible interpretation. That's what the subject is. The principles by which you study the Bible. One of them, for instance, is the first-mentioned principle. That is, the principle by which God, in the Word of God, in the first mention of a subject, gives you the truth with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God. The first time a thing is mentioned in Scripture, which carries with it the meaning, it will be carried all through the Bible. It will not change. So when you find the first mention and what it means, you'll know what it means all the way through the Bible. That's the principle of Bible interpretation. For instance, Genesis chapter three, the serpent was more what? Subtle in any beast of the feet which the Lord God has made. Guaranteed, as you go through the Bible, you always find that Satan is what? Together? Subtle. From Genesis to Revelation, he's subtle. We're not ignorant of his devices, right? Go through the Scriptures, and you'll find he's like that. He's a liar, too, right? In the first mention. He's a liar, and he's always a liar, and he's still a liar. You see, that's first mentioned. Now, in the Word of God also, you've got the repetition principle. You'll find words repeated, verily, verily, right? Verily, verily, truly, truly. That gives you emphasis, doesn't it? And you'll find when something is repeated over and over again, God is underlining it. See, this is important. This is true. This is real. And, of course, when you read phrases where you've got, oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Yay, he is altogether lovely. It puts on that thought something positive, something definite, something exciting, something with feeling. And by the way, we need to get an O in our prayers, don't we? You imagine you're praying, oh God. It's the effectual what? Fervant prayer of a righteous man availeth much. When you get God's people crying to God, oh, God, or saying to God, yes, God, you know, yay, he is altogether lovely. That is a positive exclamation in which you're saying there is no question about it. There is no doubt about it. And she's making it clear he is altogether lovely. I wonder you like that. Are you positive? When you talk about Jesus Christ, when people leave you, they've got no doubt whatsoever about what you think about him. that you can say to them, listen, talking about my beloved, our beloved Jesus Christ. Yes. After knowing him all these years, and some have known him for a long time, after knowing him all of these years and examining him, from head to foot in his walk, in his mind, in his heart, in his eyes, and so on, examined him spiritually in our spiritual lives, we have no doubt, when we look at the ungodly who say to us, what is he any more than anybody else? He look at them and say, I want you to know that after examining him in the Word of God, examining him in my life, examining him in experience, yes, yay, he is altogether lovely. Haven't you come to that conclusion? That's what he is. So yea, that's the first word, is a positive exclamation. Now, second word, he. You see, it isn't just anybody she's talking about. It's him. It's he. You see, when you're talking just about anybody, there may not be any better than anybody else. By the way, in relation to your relationship with your husband, or wife and so forth. Now, other people may not think they're a big deal, you know what I mean? But you should think they're a big deal. Right? Don't be so excited, but we should do. The fact is that actually when people come and say, God, that's his wife, you know what I mean? I want to tell you that my wife is special to me. She's special. And she's not here, but I can tell you I'm special to her. I'll speak for her. And in a relationship, that's the way it ought to be. The way it ought to be is this, that that person you married is a special person, right? Above all others. They're special. And you're talking about them, that's your beloved and your love, and the fact is it should be expressed that way. Right? He's special. And when you talk about Jesus Christ, that's the way it is. It isn't just anybody you're talking about. You're talking about Him. There is a person exalted in this place. First of all, there's a positive explanation, which is, yay, but there's a person exalted, He, is altogether lovely. Now, if you've read through the Gospels about the Lord Jesus Christ, I want you to know that you have to come to the conclusion that He is different, isn't it? All that He did, all that He said, all that He was. You know, one of the descriptions given in the offerings back in Leviticus chapter one, which are pictures, by the way, of the Lord Jesus as it points forward to Him. In Leviticus chapter one, you have the burnt offerings. and so forth. Remember, they cut off its head, and they cut off its legs, and they took its insides out. And they made sure that that offering, when it was put on the altar and ascended as a sweet cigarette to God, everything was clean, right? Those offerings had to be without what? Lamech and without spot. And when you examine in the New Testament hymn, His head, Second Corinthians five twenty-one. He knew no what? Sin. That's lovely, isn't it? By the way, I couldn't say that about yours. You couldn't say that about mine. Because, you see, we live in a dirty world, and in the midst of this dirty world, there are some sinful thoughts go through our mind. Isn't that true? We could not say that concerning any other man, anywhere he knew no sin. He's lovely in his head. And if you look in the inside, and first John chapter three says, in him was no what? Sin. He's lovely in his heart. What a heart he had. When I look at mine, I look at the word of God where it says, the heart of man is what? Deceitful above all things and desperately what? Wicked, but not his. He's different. See, we can lift him up, exalt him and say, listen, you examine his head, examine his thoughts, examine his mind. It's lovely. You examine his heart, you'll find no wickedness there. It's lovely. And then the legs, Peter said in First Peter chapter two, he said he did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth. And in the habits of his life, every step he took and on this life's journey, everything he did, everywhere he went. The only way that they could bring an accusation against him was false accusation. But there is no question about it that even the devil had to admit he was the Holy One of God, isn't that right? The demons, when they was casting him out in Mark chapter one, they said, We know thee who thou art, thou Holy One of God. And when they examined him at the crucifixion, as he stood there accused wrongly, and Pilate, by the way, who, as he listened to the cries of the crowd, if you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. Give us Barabbas, crucify him, Christ. Pilate brought Jesus out after examining him, and he said, by the way, I brought them out to you that you may know that I find no fault in this man. Now I know today the man that you may be married to, and if you ladies are married and your husband is still living and so on, or the man you were married to may be a nice person, but you couldn't say I find no fault in him. Right? And he couldn't say that about you either. You see, there's imperfections in us, isn't there? There's false in us. By the way, sometimes we're very unlovely. Isn't that true? It's true. But not him. Not him. all of the habits of his life, in his life. And the only one of whom, you remember in Matthew chapter three, when Jesus went down into the river Jordan and John the Baptist baptized him and the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove, landed on Jesus Christ. I want you to know that was a perfect resting place for the dove on Jesus Christ. Remember back We're talking about the flood at the beginning of the message when Noah opened the window of the ark and he let out the dove. It says it could find no place for its feet to rest in this corrupt world which is under judgment. By the way, the dove find a perfect place to rest in Matthew chapter three. It rested on him. And the Father spoke from heaven. And here's what he said. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am what? Well, please. In other words, he's lovely. He's lovely. And one of the marvelous things is this, that we who are the bride of Christ, and he's our beloved, can look at the world whom I ask us and say, what is thy beloved more than any other man? You can say, listen, I want you to know. that if you examine all of the people of the world and all of the men in the world and all of the leaders of religions, none of them are like him. Because if you examine him in his head or in his heart or in his habits, you'll come to one conclusion. He's lovely. There are no spots, no blemishes, no faults in him. He's our beloved. And so she says, yea, that's a positive exclamation. He, that's a person, exalted, and our person is Jesus Christ, our beloved, and we need to exalt him and let the world know what he's like. Because he'll never disappoint you, right? No matter what way you examine him. Wonderful, wonderful person. So, the first thing is a positive exclamation, yay. He is a person exalted. Now, he is. Is. is a present experience. You see, so many times, I travel a lot now, for some reason, among seniors. It's because I am a senior. I like being a senior. Twenty cents, twenty-seven cents, coffee and McDonald's. Showies, Tuesday morning, special, all you can eat for two ninety-nine. You know what I mean. Ten percent off an airline ticket. It's got some benefits. But anyway, as I travel a lot about seniors, you know what happens? We do a lot of talking about what used to be. Reminisce. Do you remember the old days? Right. The great meetings we had back then. Great fellowship with God, the meetings done. I wonder what happened. Right. And everything is past tense. Now, it doesn't need to be past tense. The fact is that, by the way, Jesus Christ is, not was or will be he is, right? Is altogether lovely. What is he to you today? You say, well, mine and I have a great fellowship with God forty years ago, and it would be wonderful to be in heaven with the Lord one day. What about today? Right now, that you can say honestly from your heart, yea, he is, present tense, altogether. lovely because you see one of the things that happens also in marriage relationships you see this book of Song of Solomon is a book in which you find someone who's called my love talking about my beloved and so on and their expressions toward each other and this girl is saying that present tense when they ask to the question that he is right then at that particular time altogether lovely now in marriage in marriage many times it's everything it used to be and we talked about that the other day about your first love and so forth and it's a marriage is the fact that a honeymoon lasts two weeks or how much you can afford right let me give you a little funny story an older couple were lying one night reminiscing reminiscing And as they reminiscing the love of this man said, Do you know, do you remember, dear, you used to run your fingers through my hair? And so he reached over and ran his fingers through her hair. He said, Thank you. He was used to. And then she says, Dear, do you remember you used to give me a little in the cheek? And so he leaned over and said, That's a little speck on the teeth. Good thing. And then she said, Remember, dear, you used to nibble at my ear. And he jumped out of bed and took off. And she says, Dear, did I offend you? No, he says, I'm going to get my teeth. That's what time does. You need teeth for that. But you know, there's an awful lot, that's funny, but the fact is there's an awful lot in Christian circles about reminiscing, isn't there? The way things used to be, great meetings we used to have, great times of that. The times when people were excited about Jesus Christ, I want you to know that right today, thirty-first of March, nineteen ninety-five, Jesus Christ is altogether lovely, right? That's the way it ought to be. It's present tense. And when you read about the grace of God in Second Corinthians twelve nine, Paul said, My grace, God said to Paul, My grace, what? Is sufficient for thee? Is. That's what's important. Is this one thing to say, man, I enjoyed the grace of God ten years ago in a circumstance I came through. But my circumstances today demand that I know that God's grace is present tense sufficient for me. It's God's grace. That's powerful grace, isn't it? It's His. And God's grace is its present grace. It's sufficient. That's perfect grace. And it's for you, it's personal. For thee. Present sense. And so she says, My grace is sufficient for thee. I remember one time speaking... about this word is in present tense and I spoke a whole message on it and at the end of the message we went to the dining room at this particular camp and as usual you know people pick on Irish people I don't know why it's because we're so easy going but anyway they were picking on me and having fun and this dear Irish lady who happened to enjoy the message that morning and she turned to these people and she said you leave him alone She was taking my part. I like that. She said, she was narration one. She says, you leave him alone. She says, it's not every preacher could preach an hour on his. He preached an hour on his. Well, it's his. It's important, isn't it? It's the fact that you have a present experience, up-to-date testimony, that today, right now, that you can say, honestly, in front of the whole world, yay, positively, he, the person, is present tense. Altogether, lovely. That's the third point. Now, fourth point. What's the fourth word? Altogether. No, no, that's the fifth one. Fourth one is altogether. Don't jump the gun here, child. Altogether. Now that's a particular examination. You see, when we read this portion, we know that this girl has examined her beloved. Is that right? Because immediately she turns around and says, By the way, I can tell you what his head is like. It's just like most fine gold. I can tell you what his hair is like. His locks are bushy and black as the ravens. I can tell you what his eyes are like. There's the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters. washed with milk and fitly set. Well, she's looked closely, hasn't she? She's examined him closely, right? And she sees that it's got fitly set eyes and it's just like washed with milk and so forth. And she looks and says his teacher is a bed of spices, a sweet flowers. I'd say this girl's in love, wouldn't you? She appreciates this person. And every detail, there's a particular way in which she examines him. And she says, dropping sweet, swelling mirrors. Lips are like lilies, dropping sweet, smelling mirrors. Hands are as gold rings set with a barrel. His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of coal. And his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. She has examined this man. And she knows in a particular way all the details about him. By the way, you know what they, when you study the Bible, day by day, you're getting to know more about your beloved. Is that right? That's what you do. You see, the purpose of the Word of God is not just to give you theological information. That's not the... You see, a lot of people, they study the Word of God like sort of a book where they get a lot of information and sometimes... Too much information can make you a flathead. That's true. There's so many people that they get so many theological terms, know all of the theology and so forth. By the way, there's nothing wrong with theology and there's nothing wrong with doctrine either. We ought to know what we believe, but I'll tell you this. There is no substitute for getting to know the person, getting to know him. And the whole purpose of the Word of God is to what? Exalt who? Him. Jesus said, you remember he spoke to the Pharisees, And he said, Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. So that when you're examining the Scriptures, you're examining who? Him. And you're getting to know Him altogether. And you're getting to know more details about Him in His life and His person and so forth and His work. And the more you get to know Him, the more you realize He's lovely. And the more details you're able to talk to people about in relation to Christ and His person and His ministry and His coming. Wonderful, wonderful details. And she's saying, by the way, I've examined Him and I've examined Him in a particular way. I know Him. And I can assure you He's lovely. Now some of us have studied the Bible for a long time. And someone, even in the Song of Solomon, will come to me and they say, you know, I find it hard studying the Song of Solomon. I find it hard reading the Song of Solomon because they read it purely from a physical point of view. Isn't that right? And when you stick just to the freshly side of things, in a mixed company would be hard to preach, wouldn't it? Now be honest, isn't that true? It's true. But I'll tell you this. When you find Christ in it, it isn't hard to preach. When I find Him whom my soul loveth in this book, it isn't hard to preach. Now, there's nothing wrong with the book as it stands, and it's a good, there's a lot of good advice here for those of us who are in love and are married, right? Very much so. But I'll tell you this, when you find Him, and you examine Him, and you learn more about Him, that's what makes the difference. That's why that hymn writer wrote the hymn, More About Jesus Would I Know. More of His grace to others show. More of His saving fullness see. More of His love who died for me. More, more about Jesus. Tell me more about Jesus. More of His saving fullness see. More of His love who died for me. More about Jesus in His word. holding communion with my Lord, hearing his voice in every line, making each faithful saying mine. More, more about Jesus. That's what it's all about. And when you're reading the Scriptures, you can find Jesus in Genesis chapter one. You can find Jesus in Genesis chapter two. You can find Jesus in Genesis chapter three. You can find Jesus in Genesis chapter four. As a matter of fact, as you go through the scriptures, if you're searching for him, right, you can what? Find him. And when you find him, it makes all the difference. It isn't just a matter of getting information or learning more about doctrine. It's finding him and loving him and honoring him and being able to say to others, listen, I want to tell you about him. Tell me more of Jesus and of heaven. Tell me more of Jesus and his love. Tell me how he's coming soon to take me to be with him in heaven above. I've got a question for you. Are you making a particular examination in the Word of God of your beloved? so that when the world comes and when others come and say, What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? You're able to say, Yea, positively, he, the person, his present tense, all together. I have particularly examined him, and I can assure you that he's what? Lovely. The last word is lovely. Isn't that nice word? That's a precious expression. Lovely. It describes him. Lovely. As I said before, we can be so unlovely. And sometimes we get occupied with men, get occupied with preachers, get occupied with others, and we find that as we examine them very, very carefully, we sometimes get a wrong evaluation of them. You know, I was thinking, just can come into my mind just now, in Mark chapter eight. Remember the blind man that the Lord Jesus was brought to the Lord Jesus and he took him out of the town and he took spittle and put it on his eyes. And then he asked him if he saw anything. And what he said was, he said, I see men as trees walking. Now that's a confused vision, isn't it? It's a confused vision. He said, I see men as trees walking. By the way, that's seeing men out of all proportion to what they really are. And one of the sad things in our society today, and even in Christian circles, we see men too big, don't we? Bigger than they really are. We're confused in our vision. And the Lord touched them again. And the Bible says that when the Lord touched them again, he said, now what do you see now? He said he could see every man clearly. Now that's a clear vision. What do you say? That's good. Well, it may be, but I want to tell you this. If I see you clearly, I'm going to see you warts and all. Right? I'm going to see your faults. I'm going to see your bad points as well as your good points. And so when you see every man clearly, that can be very discouraging because you'll find that men have failures. You'll find that men will disappoint you. You'll find that men can fall. That men can be defeated. That men can be wrong. Right? So, first of all, he had a confused vision, and then he had a clear vision. He saw every man clearly. But isn't it interesting that Mark chapter eight is followed by Mark chapter nine. And in Mark chapter nine, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John. He goes up to the mount of transfiguration. And he's transfigured before them. And appearing with him is Moses and Elijah. And you remember, Peter didn't know what to say. And so when Peter didn't know what to say, he just said something. And so he says, Lord, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elias, and because it says he wished not what to say. By the way, I'd be stammering too if I'd been in that situation, wouldn't you? To see that transfiguration. But you know what happens? The Bible says that Moses disappeared, was taken out of the picture. Elijah was taken out of the picture. And a voice spoke from heaven and said, This is my beloved son, hear him. Right? And you know what happened? The Bible says they saw no man but Jesus only. That's a Christ vision. And God doesn't want us to have a confused vision concerning men. And God will give us a clear vision of what men really are. But he wants us to move on from that to a Christ vision where we see no man anymore. But Jesus only. Many, many times in meetings I've heard the chairman of the meeting praying, Oh God, tonight, hide the preacher behind the cross. Help us to see who? Christ. And now, that's very difficult because whether I like it or not, I'm up here. And you can see me. And by the way, that's why it's very important that preachers practice what they preach, isn't it? That's true. Someone said one time they listened to a preacher, and when they were listening to him preaching, they wish he could stay there right in the pulpit. They wish he would never be out of it. It's a wonderful preacher, expounder of the Word of God. But when they saw the way he lived, they wished he was never in it. By the way, it's important that all of us be living in the enjoyment, right, of what we believe. And so here's the phrase, yea, that's a positive exclamation. He Not just anybody, he, the person, Jesus Christ, my beloved, is exalted. Is, is a present experience, a present tense. I'm living in the enjoyment of my beloved, and I know what he's like, and I'm able to share him with others. Altogether, a particular examination, as she has examined him from head to foot, she's able to testify about what she's found. And he's lovely. A precious expression. There's a world out there who need to know that he's what? Lovely. And the people who know that he's lovely are us. Because we're his bride, right? We're examining him. We know him. And our testimony ought to be, I hope it is today, he's what? He's lovely. He's lovely. And we ought to love him for that reason, right? Because he is lovely. No question about it. He's lovely. Let's bow down a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you today for the Lord Jesus Christ. And like this one in the song of Solomon, our testimony is, yea, he is altogether lovely. This is the one who is our beloved. This is the one who is our friend. He's the one who is our Savior. We thank you again for saving us. Thank you, Lord, for loving us. And so, oh God, our dear, as we testify to the world, may they realize there is only one like this, Jesus Christ. There's only one way to heaven, is Jesus Christ. There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only... You could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in. Bless these things to our hearts today. Send us out of here thrilled that we're saved. We pray in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.