Sermon
#21 Series:
Song Of Solomon
Title: Inward Conflicts
Text: Song Of Solomon 6:11-13
Readings: Office:
Larry Criss Auditorium: Merle Hart
Subject: The Believer’s Inward
Struggles
Between The Flesh And The Spirit.
Date: Sunday Evening - November 1, 1998
Tape # U-91b
Introduction:
Song of
Songs 6:11-13 "I went down into the
garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like
the chariots of Amminadib. 13 Return,
return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye
see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies."
In
these verses our Lord speaks to his church, not in her time of doubt and
despair while she was seeking him, but he speaks here to his church in her very
best condition. She had just begun to again enjoy his blessed fellowship.
Christ has now returned to his spouse. The breach she had made by her neglect,
he had healed by his grace. There was now a sweet renewing of love and
fellowship.
In verse 11 our Lord speaks to
his beloved church and says - Though I had withdrawn myself from you and gave
you no comfort for a while, even then I had my eye upon you, even then I was
watching over my garden with tenderness, love, and care. Though you did not see
me, I saw you. I will never forsake the apple of my eye or the work of my
hands.
In verse 12 our Savior tells us
how that he was overcome by our broken, aching hearts and how anxiously he
returned to his people who cried after him. It is as though he said - I could
hide my face no longer. My love for you compelled me, with irresistible force,
to return to you. Almost before I knew it, “my
soul set me on the chariots of my willing people” (See margin).
Illustration: Joseph hid himself from his
brethren, because of their evil actions, to chastise them. But he could no
longer refrain himself. His loving heart broken, he burst into tears, and said,
“I am Joseph” (Gen. 45:1, 3).
1.
We ought to be a willing
people, seeking Christ always in love, faith, and hope. These will be like
chariots to bring him to us.
2.
If we continue seeking the
Lord, he will return to us in due time. “No chariots sent for Christ shall return
empty” (Matthew Henry).
3.
Our Lord will return to us,
because of his own grace, love, mercy, and faithfulness. We can do nothing to win
his favor. He is gracious, because he will be gracious. He loves us, because he
will love us. He returns to us, because he will return to us. He is faithful!
In verse 13, the Lord Jesus,
having returned to his beloved church, courts her, wooing her heart, and
invites her to return to him. “Return,
return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee.”
1.
Solomon chose his bride and
espoused her to himself, giving her his name. “Shulamite” should be translated
“Solyma”.
The Hebrew word is the feminine of the name “Solomon.”
The
Lord Jesus Christ has made us so thoroughly one with himself that he has given
us his name. He is our Solomon, and we are his Solyma. (Compare Jeremiah 23:6
and 33:16). All that our Lord Jesus Christ is, he has made us to be by divine
imputation.
·
This
name “Shulamite” or “Solyma” means “Perfection.”
We are perfect in Christ. We
are complete in him. Being washed in his blood, we are spotless. Being robed in
his righteousness, we are glorious, holy, and pure.
·
This
name “Shulamite” or “Solyma” also means “Peace”.
“Therefore, being justified, by faith we
have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are no longer at
enmity with God. Our consciences no longer accuse us. Peace has been made for
us with God. The warfare is ended. God’s sword has been sheathed in our
Savior’s heart. Justice no longer cries against us, but for us.
2.
Our Lord graciously calls for us to return unto him. Four times he says, “Return, return, O Solyma, return, return.” So
you see how willing Christ is to have us in his fellowship and communion?
·
Return
to me.
·
Return
to your first simple faith.
·
Return
to your first tender love.
·
Return
to the place where we first met - The cross.
3.
Now catch these next loving words. Our Lord says to his
beloved, he says to you and me - “Return,
return, that we may look upon thee.”
Our Lord seems to say, “You have not been
with me much alone lately. You have neglected reading my Word and hearing it. I
have seldom heard your voice, or seen your face. Return, return unto me, that I
may look upon you. If you return, I will look upon you again. I will show you
my face again.”
·
I
will look upon you in love.
·
I
will look upon you in forgiveness.
·
I
will look upon you in kindness.
·
I
will look upon you in pleasantness and satisfaction.
But then, in the second part of verse 13,
we hear the bride, the church, the people of God speaking. Being convinced of
her own sin, being full of shame, she confesses her frustration with herself.
She thinks that there is no beauty in her, nothing in her that he could want to
see. “What will ye see in Solyma? As it
were the company of two armies.” She is saying, “There is nothing in me but
conflict and confusion. In my heart two armies are at war. If you look upon me,
you will see a raging battle, good fighting evil, light contending with
darkness. I am not worth looking upon. I am a house divided against itself.” Is
there something in that language that you can relate to, something that is true
to your experience?
Proposition: This is a true and accurate description
of the people of God. All of God’s elect experience Inward Conflicts
between the flesh and the Spirit continually.
Divisions:
I
want to talk to you tonight very plainly and honestly about these Inward
Conflicts which cause us so much pain and trouble.
1.
These
inward conflicts are facts in every believer’s life.
2.
This
conflict is caused by and begins with regeneration.
3.
These
inward conflicts do have some good effects.
4.
These
inward conflicts will soon be over.
I.
THESE INWARD CONFLICTS ARE
FACTS IN EVERY BELIEVER’S LIFE.
The believer’s life is not all sweets. It is
not all joy and peace. Faith in Christ will bring some bitter conflicts, which
will cause God’s child much pain, much toil, and many tears. All of you who are
God’s children know what I am talking about. The struggles between the flesh
and the Spirit are evident enough to you. To the unbelieving, unregenerate religionist,
true Christians are confusing paradoxes.
·
We
are the happiest and the most mournful people in the world.
·
We
are the holiest and the most sinful.
·
We
are the richest and the poorest.
·
We
are men and women who possess perfect peace, yet we are always at war.
A. You see traces of this conflict throughout the Song
of Solomon (1:5; 3:1; 5:2).
Song of
Songs 1:5 "I am
black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as
the curtains of Solomon."
Song of
Songs 3:1 "By night on my bed I sought him whom
my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not."
Song of
Songs 5:2 "I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that
knocketh, saying, Open to me, my
sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the
night."
B. You see these inward conflicts throughout the Psalms
of David (Psa. 42; 43; 73).
C. You see these inward conflicts in the writings of
the Apostle Paul (Rom. 7:14-25; Gal.
5:16-18).
D. You see these terrible inward conflicts in your own
daily experience.
The people of God throughout the centuries
have had the same struggles that you and I now have.
Bunyan
wrote a book about his conflicts of heart and soul - The Holy War. Richard Sibbes wrote another book entitled - The Soul’s Conflict.
1.
We
all have a corrupt nature within us, which would drive us to sin.
2.
We
also have within us a righteous nature, which would draw us into perfect
conformity and union with Christ.
3.
Between
these two forces of good and evil there is no peace (1 John 3:7-9).
1 John
3:7-9 "Little children, let no man deceive
you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the
devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is
born of God."
II.
THIS CONFLICT IS CAUSED BY
AND BEGINS IN REGENERATION.
Spurgeon said, “The reigning power of sin
falls dead the moment a man is converted, but the struggling power of sin does
not die until the man dies.”
A. A new nature has been planted within us; but the old
nature is not eradicated.
Do
not think for a moment that the old nature dies in regeneration, or even that
it gets better. “Flesh is flesh.” (Noah, Lot, David, Peter.)
B. We need no proof of what I am saying beyond an
honest examination of our own hearts and lives.
·
Our
Thoughts
·
Our
Prayers
·
Our
Bible Reading
·
Our
Worship
·
Our
Love Of Self
·
Our
Love Of The World
From
time to time we have all found by bitter experience the truthfulness of the
hymn -
Prone to wander,
Lord I feel it!
Prone to leave the God I
love:
Here’s my heart, O take and
seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts
above.
God could remove all evil, but he chooses not to!
III. THESE INWARD CONFLICTS DO HAVE SOME GOOD EFFECT.
Without question, we will look back upon
these days of great evil with gratitude, and see the wisdom and goodness of God
in all of our struggles with sin.
A. Our struggles with sin humble us and curb our pride.
B.
Our struggles with sin make
us lean upon Christ alone - “Salvation is
of the Lord!” “Christ is all!”
C.
Our struggles with sin cause
us to prize the faithfulness of our God (Lam. 3).
D.
Our struggles with sin upon
this earth will make the glorious victory of heaven sweeter.
E.
Our struggles with sin make
us to rejoice that salvation is of the Lord.
NOTE: It may be that we will one
day see that God allowed us to fall into one evil to keep us from a greater
evil; or to make us more useful in his hands.
IV. THESE INWARD CONFLICTS WILL SOON BE OVER (Phil.
1:6; Jude 24-25).
·
We
shall be free from sin.
·
We
shall be perfect.
·
We
shall be triumphant.
Jude
1:24-25 "Now unto him that is able to keep you
from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever.
Amen."
Application:
Children of God, so long as we live in this
world we will be “as the company of two
armies.” So I give you this one word of admonition - “Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of
life” (Prov. 4:23).
1. Keep your heart tender.
2. Keep your heart in the
fellowship of Christ.
3. Keep you heart full of the
Word.
4. Keep your heart in prayer.
5. Keep your heart full of the
Cross.
Rest your soul upon
Christ. He is our Sabbath!
AMEN.