Sermon #18                                   The Song Of Solomon Notes

 

          Title:                     The Excellence

and Supremacy of Christ

          Text:            Song of Solomon 5:10

          Readings:     Office Ron Wood Auditorium: Merle Hart

          Subject:       The Flawless Perfection of Christ

          Date:            Sunday Evening - October 4, 1998

          Tape #         U-87a

          Introduction:

         

          Our text tonight is the Song of Solomon 5:10.

 

Song of Songs 5:10  My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

 

          Let me begin by showing you something which should be obvious. The glorious, intimate, loving description of our Lord Jesus Christ given in verses 10-16 is given in response to the question of the daughters of Jerusalem in verse 9.

 

Song of Songs 5:9  What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

 

          In his commentary on the Song of Solomon, Pastor Roger Ellsworth makes a tremendous statement about this. Let me read it to you.

 

          “The question of the daughters of Jerusalem puts squarely before us a thrilling possibility – it is possible for God’s children to so love Christ, and as a result to live in such a way, that they arrest attention and arouse interest. The reverse side of the coin is somber. It is also possible for God’s children to live in such a way that they never stimulate in others any thought about their faith or provoke any consideration of it. The apostle Peter tells his readers to ‘Always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you'’(1 Peter 3:15). He expected them to live in such an arresting manner that they would frequently have to explain why Christ meant so much to them.”

 

          May God give us grace to live in such obvious devotion, love, and consecration to Christ that people are aroused to asked us about him. But that is not my message tonight. Tonight, I want to talk about “My Beloved.” I want to show you THE EXCELLENCE AND SUPREMACY OF CHRIST.

 

Song of Songs 5:10  My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

 

          There is a sermon in these first two words of our text - My Beloved.” It is of utmost importance that our hearts’ affection be really and truly set upon Christ.

 

Colossians 3:1-3  "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

 

We must trust him; and we must love him. Christ on the cross saves us when he becomes to us Christ in the heart.

·        It is of little value for us to know about Christ, if we do not really trust him and love him.

·        It is meaningless for us to talk about Christ, unless our hearts are truly welded and knit to him.

·        The orthodoxy of our doctrine is but a mockery of Christ, if we do not love Christ.

Therefore, I must ask a question. It is a question which I ask of myself frequently. It is a question I asked myself over and over again as I prepared this message. Is the Lord Jesus Christ my Beloved? Can I call the Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on Calvary and who now reigns at the Father’s right hand my Beloved? Can I truly call him my Beloved?

 

You will never be asked to consider a more important question. It would be far better for you never to have been born than for you to live and die without true love for Christ (1 Cor. 16:22).

 

1 Corinthians 16:22  "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."

         

·        Religious morality is not enough - Do I love Christ?

·        Religious zeal and devotion is not enough - Do I love Christ?

·        Religious works are not enough - Do I love Christ?

 

          Love for Christ is not the grounds of our salvation. Only the righteousness, and shed blood, and sovereign power of Christ can save me. Love for Christ is not the means by which we obtain salvation. Salvation comes by grace through faith. But true love for Christ is essential to salvation. If there is a heart here in which there is an absence of true love for Christ, that heart is void of God’s saving grace.

 

‘Tis a point I long to know,

Oft it causes anxious thought -

Do I love the Lord, or no;

Am I His, or am I not?

 

May God graciously settle that question in your heart and soul. Do you love Christ, or do you not? His children do love him. “We love him because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

 

·        His love for us precedes our love for him.

·        His love for us causes our love for him.

·        His love for us infinitely excels our love for him.

·        But if we know him, we do love him.

 

1.    There are several things which give me some comforting assurance that I do truly love the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

·        I trust Christ alone for my souls entire acceptance with God.

·        I do willfully and joyfully submit myself to his dominion. Jesus Christ is my Lord.

·        His commandments are not grievous, but delightful.

·        His will is not irksome, but satisfying.

·        I love the gospel of his grace and glory.

·        I love his people (1 John 3:14; 5:1-3).

 

1 John 3:14  "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

 

1 John 5:1-3  "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. (2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. (3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."

 

·        I rejoice in his honor, his glory, and his exaltation.

 

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine,

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou,

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

 

2.    If truly we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we delight to speak of him.

 

·        Love speaks of its object.

·        Love defends the honor of its object.

·        Love is never ashamed of its object.

 

3.    Now, let me give you this admonition, if you want to grow in the love of Christ, or if you desire to know the love of Christ, study Christ.

 

·        Try to understand the glory of His Person.

·        Seek to know the purity of His character.

·        Study Christ in all His sacred offices.

·        Think and study much about the cross, the blood, and the atonement of Christ.

·        Meditate upon His resurrection, ascension, exaltation, and intercession.

·        Feed your soul’s hope by contemplating the Lord’s glorious second coming.

 

          Study Christ! Study Christ, so that when any ask you, “What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved?”, you may be ready to answer easily, quickly, and forcibly (1 John 1:1-3).

 

1 John 1:1-3  "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (2) (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) (3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

 

Proposition:         The better you know the Lord Jesus Christ the better you will love him, speak of him, and praise him.

 

Divisions:   My purpose in bringing this message is very simple - I want to inspire our hearts to study Christ, to praise Christ, and the tell others of Christ. I have just two divisions:

 

1.     The Excellence Of Christ.

2.     The Supremacy Of Christ.

 

I.     First, I want to talk to you about THE EXCELLENCE OF CHRIST. “My Beloved is white and ruddy.”

 

          It seems to me that these words call attention to the two primary characteristics of our Lord’s Person. Solomon had often seen the snow-white lambs, those emblems of purity, brought to the temple to be offered in sacrifice to the Lord. So he compares Christ to the white lamb of sacrifice. “My Beloved is white.” He had also seen the priest slit the lamb’s throat, and then seen the ruby red blood of the lamb poured out in sacrifice to God. So he puts the two together and says, “My Beloved is white and ruddy.” The white represents his immaculate purity. The red represents his sacrificial blood.

 

A.  Our Lord is in himself white.

 

1.    He is the eternal, immaculate Son of God (1 John 1:5).

 

1 John 1:5  "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

 

          Jesus Christ truly is God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity (1 John 5:7).

 

2.    Whiteness represents the purity of our Savior’s life as a man (Heb. 7:25-26).

 

Hebrews 7:25-26  "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (26) For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;"

 

 

          Both perfect Godhood and perfect manhood are essential for him to be our Mediator and sin-atoning Substitute.

 

B. Redness refers to the sacrificial character of our Redeemer.

 

          Let us never be turned aside from the old gospel message of substitutionary redemption. It is the foundation and the cornerstone of our faith (Rom. 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 2:1; Gal. 6:14).

 

Romans 1:16-17  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

 

1 Corinthians 2:1  "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God."

 

Galatians 6:14  "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

 

          Explain:      Substitution

                             Imputation

                             Satisfaction

                             Redemption

 

The excellence of Christ is seen in His Person - His work - And the fullness of grace in him (1 Cor. 1:30).

 

1 Corinthians 1:30-31  "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

 

II. Secondly, I want to say two or three things about THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST - “My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.”

 

          These words suggest a comparison. The Lord Jesus Christ is higher, lovelier, more excellent, and greater than all others.

 

·        He is the greatest Angel. He is the Messenger of the Covenant.

·        He is the greatest Friend. He is the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother.

·        He is the greatest Bishop,. He is the Bishop of our souls.

·        He is the greatest Shepherd. He is the good, chief, great Shepherd.

·        He is the greatest Physician.

·        He is the greatest Advocate (1 John 2:1-2).

 

The angel said to Mary, He shall be great.” And I want you to know that he is great. There is none to compare unto him. Christ alone is Great!

 

A.  To say that he is the chiefest among ten thousand is to say that Christ is the Head, the Ruler, the Prince, the King, the Lord over all things (Psa. 2:8; Isa. 53:10-12; John 17:2; 2 Pet. 2:1; Psa. 69:18; Eph. 4:18). Christ is the king!

 

          He is head of all things.

 

Ephesians 1:22  "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church."

 

·        The Universal King.

·        The King Of His Church.

·        The King Of Our Hearts.

 

B.  These words might be translated, “He is the chosen one out of ten thousand (Psa. 89:19).

 

Psalms 89:19  "Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people."

 

·        Chosen Of God.

·        Chosen By His People.

 

C. And our marginal reference suggest that it should read - “He is the standard bearer among ten thousand” (Isa. 11:10).

 

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

 

          An ensign, a standard bearer is one who holds the banner, around whom the battalions rally. With a valiant heart he leads the army from victory to victory.

 

·        Our Ensign is Christ himself.

·        Our banner is the cross.

·        Our weapon is the gospel.

·        Our triumph is sure.

 

          What more can I say? MY BELOVED IS FLAWLESSLY PERFECT IN ALL THINGS!

 

·        In His Person

·        In His Works

·        In His Doctrine

·        In His Salvation

·        In His Dominion

 

Application:

 

1.     We bid all who will to rally around the banner of the cross.

 

2.    Now I speak to you who both trust and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

·        Do you see his excellence?

·        Do you see his supremacy?

·        Let us go out of this place to make him known.