0:07 We just praise God that we're able to have a conference this year with the craziness that's going on in the world. And as much as there are different political opinions about what's happening in America and across the nations, one thing is for certain, we are experiencing a dress rehearsal for the end times. You better believe it. And Jesus said something to the religious leaders of his day. He said, you know, you can tell when the summer is coming when you study the the fig tree.
0:37 You see the leaves budding, and you know that the time is near. He's like, but you couldn't you couldn't tell? You couldn't see the signs for the coming of the Messiah? With all the prophecies and all the specific articulations concerning my arrival to this earth. You couldn't see it.
0:57 And I believe in the same way this generation is not interpreting the signs correctly. And if they miss the first coming, don't you think that it's possible for believers to miss the second? I think it's possible. And that's why we must be grounded in the word of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
1:20 If you have your bibles, please turn with me to the book of Song of Solomon chapter five. Again, we're so blessed that you're here. We're so thankful for every single person that contributed to making this conference happen. If you notice, there's new chairs this year because we want you to feel a little bit uncomfortable and feel what the persecuted church gets to feel all the time. But they're not concerned because they're just caught up in the glory of God.
1:46 No, I'm just kidding. That's not the reason why. But we're appreciative of your understanding. The book is Song of Solomon, who here has read it? It's an interesting book because it is unlike really any other book in the scriptures.
2:03 The reason being is that the content doesn't present itself as redemptive history. You don't see a storyline of events taking place that describe God's working in the world that lead up to the coming of Jesus Christ. It's also not a book about prophecies, whether judgment or the coming of the Messiah or the second coming of the Messiah. And it's it's not a book like we see in the epistles and even the gospels where we get direct teaching and commands about our faith and practice. The book of Song of Solomon is a romantic dialogue between a man and a woman who are pursuing marriage, pursuing that covenant with one another, and you and I get a glimpse into their passion for one another.
2:45 And this book, many don't read it for different reasons. And one of the reasons is it makes them blush, really. And teachers shy away from teaching from it because it doesn't seem to offer much except that one facet of your life where you are pursuing a woman or or being pursued by a man to come into that relationship of marriage. And if you read it carefully, you understand at least one thing. God cherishes this gift called marriage, and he actually wants it to be enjoyable.
3:14 I know that's a hard thing to understand. Especially for those who are in marriage, they they kinda lose that wine as it happened in the wedding of Cana. They lose that joy and that celebration, and this book contradicts all of that. This book shows us that you can actually know true desire for someone else, and you can cherish one another in the understanding that God has provided that person as a gift to you. But is that it?
3:43 Is this book just all about giving you some language? Man, if you're not good at communicating your emotions, this book will help you, but is that it? No, it's not it. I am of those who believe that you can find Christ in every book of the bible. Because we are told in the last chapter of the gospel of Luke, when Jesus had a personal bible study with two people on a seven mile journey to Emmaus, that beginning with Moses and the prophets, he began to interpret all the scriptures concerning himself.
4:21 Beginning with Moses and the prophets, he began to draw out of Not some of the scriptures, all of the scriptures concerning himself. Can you find Jesus in the book of Song of Solomon? You sure can. With wisdom, you sure can. With a balance, you sure can.
4:38 Here's a here's a simple illustration to help us understand that this is not such a difficult idea to grasp. Did not the Holy Spirit inspire the Apostle Paul to describe the relationship with Christ and the church through the imagery of what? A passionate bridegroom pursuing and cherishing a bride. And so in some sense, you can come to this book, and you can see some, not all, because some people get wild and crazy with interpretation, right? But you can see some shadow and some kind of indication of how we can relate what we see in this book to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
5:13 And the principle of all of that is this, you and I have something called, we tell it to people all the time, don't we? A personal relationship with God. Personal, not corporate. Not a relationship through your pastor who spoon feeds you sermons. No.
5:28 A personal relationship with the living God. And one example I believe we see here is in chapter five of this book. Here's what's happening. At this point, the woman, the unnamed woman, apparently has a dream in this chapter, and she is describing the dream that she has. And the description of this dream really centers around this experience, that her beloved, Solomon, approaches her door, approaches her room to to be in close proximity with her, but she ignores it and she misses the opportunity, and she realizes the foolishness of her laziness to not answer that door, and so she's on a quest now to find him.
6:12 And so she gets up, she leaves her home, and she goes to the city. This is all the dream that she's describing. She goes to the city, and she begins to desperately and frantically try to find this man, and she is so panicky that she begins not to kinda go to other people. Have you seen him? Have you seen him?
6:30 Have you seen him? Finally, there's this group called the daughters of Jerusalem, who observe this woman's passion and her distress, that they they put her aside and they inquire. There's something there's something about this man clearly that is making this woman act this way and say these things. And so finally, these outsiders inquire of this woman and come to verse nine and see what they say. What is your beloved more than any beloved, other beloved?
7:04 Oh most beautiful among women, what is your beloved more than another beloved that you thus adjure us? Let me read it one more time. What is your beloved more than another beloved? Oh most beautiful among women, what is your beloved more than another beloved that you thus adjure us? In essence what they're saying is, hey, what's so special about this guy?
7:28 What's, what about him that is making you so crazy running around in these streets and trying to find out where he is? Why leave the comfort of your home? Why come in the middle of the night? Why are you going up to strangers and are asking them for their direction? What about this man is causing you to be this way?
7:48 And I can't help but read these verses and immediately examine my own heart and ask, how would I answer these types of questions if somebody were to ask me about my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? What's the big deal about Jesus? Why do you choose to worship him among other gods? I see your social media, I see what you do on weekends. Why do you center your entire life around someone that you can't even see?
8:20 Why have you surrendered your way of life? I know who you were before this whole thing called being born again. I know who you were, why are you different now? Why are you letting go of your friends? Why are you letting go of your past patterns?
8:32 Why are you not going where you used to go? Why are you not being with who you used to be with? What did this man do to you for you to speak this way and act like this? How would you answer that? How would you answer that?
8:49 I think some people would answer it this way. Well, you know, I I grew up in the church and, you know, just grew up in the church and mom and dad knew Jesus and I just thought, you know, this is what I'm used to, this is what I know, so yeah, just I go to church. Are you able to respond in such a way in which you don't have to parrot someone else's words? Are you able to actually are you able to actually express who he is in a manner in which it would cause people to question their unbelief in your Jesus? What does he mean to us?
9:29 Or is he just theology? Is he just doctrine? You know there are a lot of people who are theologians that will be in hell one day. You can have your theology on blackboard and have your heart empty of the holy spirit. Doesn't take much to memorize some truths and be able to share with others passionately.
9:48 You gotta know the person of Jesus Christ. Who is he to you? What has he done for you? And this woman here is about to answer. She's about to answer in a specific way, but hear me in this, as we begin this conference.
10:05 Many people, perhaps even in this room, have reduced their Christian experience to do's and don'ts. That's what it is. But I would ask this, if we're going around telling people that Christianity is not a religion, it's a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, let's humbly ask this question to ourselves. How much of the person do I know, do I claim with others that I have a relationship with? He's a person.
10:33 He's a person. And it's amazing how this woman answers. Look what she says in verse 10. My beloved is radiant and ruddy. Distinguished among 10,000.
10:46 His head is the finest gold. His locks are wavy, black as a raven. His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool, pool. His cheeks are like the beds of spices, mounds of sweet smelling herbs. His lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.
11:05 His arms are rods of gold set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires. His legs are alabaster columns set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon. Choice as the cedars.
11:20 What an answer. What an answer. She could have just said, you know, we're planning to get married. He's my fiance. Have you seen him around?
11:30 No. Nothing of the sort. The moment these people ask, who is this guy that makes you do this and feel this way? She explodes. She explodes.
11:43 You just you just twisted the tap now, and I'm gonna let it all out. Let me tell you how wonderful he is. And you know what she does? Read carefully. She describes him from head to toe.
11:57 She goes from his hair to his eyes, to his cheeks, to his lips, to his arms, to his body, to his legs. From head to toe. Let me tell you just why he magnetizes me and how wonderful he is. And what's so amazing about this is that you can clearly tell that this woman studied her beloved. She didn't give some quick insignificant answer.
12:23 No. She began to tell you spontaneously without preparation who this man is. And I'm afraid that modern Christianity, especially in the West, because of our biblical literacy, we know how to give general answers. I knew how to do it. I'm telling you, I've come to conferences like this, maybe a younger age, and we would break out into groups and they would And I would answer those things like, I would even give scripture references.
12:48 But there is no reality. There is no praise. There is no worship. There is no devotion. And I wonder how much of Jesus do we really know.
13:03 How much of Jesus do we really know? With all the facets that we are given in the scriptures, with all the angles that we are provided. See what this woman is saying is, whether you're from far up close, you'll realize something, he is beautiful from head to toe. He is incomparable. In fact, she says, he is distinguished among 10,000.
13:21 There is no one like this man. How much of Christ do we know in terms of him being savior? And saving work. Oh, he died on the cross. Great.
13:33 What did that mean? Why did he die on the cross? What did it mean for him to die on the cross? What did it do for humanity for him to die on the cross? What did his blood do in your life?
13:43 He saved me from hell. That's wonderful. He doesn't just save you from hell, he saves you from sin. What did he save you from? What sins did he save you from?
13:50 Can we stand before an unbelieving world and say, look, I wanna tell you what Jesus Christ saved me from. This is who I was before, this is who I am now. I'm not perfect but I'm walking in victory. Do you see what I'm trying to say? I hope I'm trying to communicate this clearly.
14:05 How much do we know of him as high priest? His priestly work now, we think Jesus' ministry is over. No, he's actually high priest in heaven as we speak. When was he ordained as a high priest? Why high priest?
14:18 What does it mean for Jesus to be king? What will it look like when he does come to this world and rule and reign for a thousand years? What does it mean for Jesus to be king in my life now? What does he do for you as king? Who is he as healer?
14:31 What does he heal from? Is he able to heal? Does he heal all things? What does it mean for him to keep his promises? What kind of promises has he given you?
14:37 What kind of promises do you see what I'm trying to say? She begins to just ramble on, on and on and on. And then it's almost as though she runs out of language and just comes to this point in verse 16. His mouth is most sweet and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved.
14:59 Look what she's saying. This is my beloved. I didn't learn this in seminary. I didn't just get this from my favorite teachers on YouTube, though they help. This is my beloved.
15:10 And this is my friend. Mine. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem. And like with Christ, take any angle. Look at any aspect of who he is, and you will come to this conclusion.
15:28 He is altogether lovely. He is altogether desirable. Look at him in his holiness, look at him in his love, look at him in his mercy, in his grace, look at him in his judgments. You know, a lot of people today are uncomfortable with the doctrine of hell, with the doctrine of God's wrath. Do you realize in the book of Revelation how much of the themes of worship songs are his judgments?
15:52 You know, in heaven, people are actually going to be singing and praising God with hallelujahs for him judging the wicked. Because no matter what point you take, just like a diamond, no matter what face you turn it towards, it will radiate his beauty and his majesty. He's infinitely glorious. He's altogether desirable. I mean, you can use any example.
16:15 You can go to any portion of the scripture and you will find something of just how wonderful he is. Let me give you an example with the genealogies of Jesus Christ, the things that we skip over. The genealogies of Jesus Christ. You can see his majesty right there. How?
16:30 Matthew. And what's the other book? Luke. Correct. Matthew.
16:37 Why did Matthew give us the genealogy of Jesus Christ? Well his audience was a Jewish audience. And he wanted to show the people, he wanted to show the nation of Israel that Jesus Christ, son of Joseph, son of Mary, Jesus Christ is what? He is the legal heir to David's throne. And so he reels back the lineage through David to Abraham to show that he is a Jew and he is, in fact, a descendant of David.
17:04 Therefore, as a descendant of David, he must and he will occupy the throne, and he will deliver the people of Israel. He will deliver the Jews. Not politically. One day he's gonna do it in a real sense where he's gonna come into this world, and he's gonna occupy a throne in Jerusalem, but more importantly, for the soul. He will liberate your soul.
17:24 He will set you free once and for all. The nation of Israel must realize through that genealogy, Jesus Christ is, in fact, the descendant of David, the son of David, also the root of David. He is king of the Jews. Luke. Now, Luke comes in with a genealogy, and Luke is not concerned necessarily about a Jewish audience.
17:42 You read Luke carefully in Luke chapter three, and you realize that he does go through Mary's line. Some debate that, but I believe that is to be true. He goes through Mary's line because Mary also is a descendant of David, but through a different son of David. You gotta read that carefully to see it. But Luke is not concerned about how Jesus was a Jew.
18:07 Luke reels the lineage all the way back to who? Who? Adam. He goes all the way to the garden, to the first man who have ever existed, and he's saying, Son of Adam, Son of God. Why did Luke do that?
18:26 Again, Luke is not concerned about a Jewish audience. Luke wants to show the the humanness of Jesus, yes, but he goes back to Adam to declare what? Jesus didn't come just to save the Jews. He came to save the whole human race. Jesus came to redeem man from the curse of Adam, and he is the last Adam.
18:46 And he will reverse everything that has happened in the garden, and he will establish a new garden for all eternity. He is the greater and the final Adam. What about the other genealogies? There isn't any. Why?
18:59 That's by divine design. You come to the book of Mark and you realize, where's his genealogy? Doesn't he deserve another one? Maybe so. But what's Mark's concern?
19:11 Mark's concern isn't necessarily to show the humanness of Jesus or that Jesus was the king of the Jews. Mark's concern is to show the world that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the suffering servant in Isaiah. And this is how you know it. You read Mark, and if you've read Mark, there's a there's a word that occurs over and over again. Does anybody know the word?
19:33 Immediately. Go to your room tonight and just scan through the book of Mark, and you'll see this word over and over again. Immediately. Immediately. Immediately.
19:42 Immediately. Immediately. Mark isn't concerned about showing the depths of divine truth like in different gospels. He's not even concerned of giving parables as much as Matthew and Luke. He wants to show how Jesus was eager and willing to serve the father.
19:57 So immediately he heals, and immediately he goes to this place, and immediately he returns, and immediately he walks on. Immediately, immediately like a good servant. No hesitation in his obedience. But here's the thing, in that humble estate, we have to understand that even in ancient times, servants were not worthy to have their genealogies recorded. There was nothing significant about who they were.
20:20 There was no great inheritance to pass down. So Jesus, as a humble servant, is irrelevant concerning a genealogy. He's just a good servant. John. What is John's concern concerning Jesus?
20:40 Is it the show that he was a king? Is it the show that he was a son of man in terms of being a human? Was it the show that he was a suffering servant? Where is John's genealogy of Jesus? Well, John's concern is to demonstrate one thing.
20:52 He's the son of God. He is God in the flesh. He's the eternal one who came into this temporal world and he radiated the divine nature. We know that in the book of John, you see those wonderful I am statements. So you wanna know where the genealogy of Jesus is in John?
21:10 There isn't any. Why? Because he's God. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. No need for a genealogy.
21:19 He always was, he always will be. Jesus Christ is for every God. Genealogy. Does not your heart burn within you just to realize the masterpiece of the genealogies of Jesus Christ and we haven't even got to his work and his words yet. He is altogether desirable.
21:41 He's altogether wonderful. And that's the point of this conference. This is the greatest enemy to a preacher by the way. A giant clock. How wonderful.
21:51 Nice to meet you again friend. Every year I see that thing I'm like, oh great. This is the whole point of the conference for one single purpose, one single purpose, prayerfully to be understood that you and I would fall in love with the person of Jesus Christ. Because that is the whole crux of the matter. And when you real if I can use this language, when you see him head to toe, I mean, this weekend will not do justice.
22:22 Because here's what it is, when you come to the realization of who he is, it's like entering into a door. When you come to a certain portion of scripture or you hear a certain truth, you enter into a door and hear this room filled with jewels and gems and diamonds, and you examine them. And I can tell you this from just ten years of walking with the Lord. And you think you figured it all out. You memorized them.
22:41 You place them in nice little cases. You memorized certain thing, and you're like, wow. This is amazing. What a wonderful discovery. And then all of a sudden, you look up and you see a wall, another door.
22:50 And you open that door, and you enter in, it's a bigger room, and you thought, I thought I was over. I thought I realized all that I need to realize. And then you see all these brand new jewels and gems and diamonds and coins and chests, and you open them up. And and you think after a few years, I think I got it. I think I understand.
23:03 Then you look up and you see another door. And you open that door, and there it is, another big room filled with all these wonderful things. That's what it's like to know him. And you think, well, where does it end? Well, I'll tell you where it ends.
23:13 One day, you'll come to a room, you'll open that door, and that door is gonna lead you into a place called heaven. And when you get to heaven, it's not gonna have a door, it's not gonna have walls, it's gonna be an endless space where you will discover the divine glories of God for all eternity. A thousand years will pass by, and you will only scratch the surface of just how wonderful he is. But we need help. We need help because we're clogged with so much dirt and filth and distractions.
23:47 I'm telling you this generation will have it on its tombstone, death by distraction. We need help and Paul himself knows that the church needs help. That's why he says in Ephesians one sixteen seventeen, I do not cease to give thanks to you. Remembering you my prayers, That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Church of Ephesus, I am fully aware that you and I need the power of the Holy Spirit, his wisdom, his revelation to come to the knowledge of who he is.
24:26 You see, tonight, the Holy Spirit is eager to glorify the son of God, because that's what he was sent to do. But the Holy Spirit meets a heart that is hungry. See, Paul was hungry not just for him, but for the church to understand him. So he prays and the Holy Spirit, when he sees a heart that says, I want to know him more, he'll meet it and he'll do it in different ways. I'm telling you, he'll do it in your personal reading, he'll do it through a sermon, he'll do it through conversations, he finds marvelous ways to reveal the majesty of the person you and I claim to be savior.
25:03 What's the result? I'm closing now. What's the result of this? Many things. You'll know a deeper worship, a deeper devotion, and something happens in the world.
25:12 Things begin to get strangely grim and gray, and they lose their flavor. You know, once in a while, I hear about trends and stuff and I just kinda wanna peek into what's, you know, happening in the world so I dip my toe in it. And I look into it, I'm like, this is what people are all crazed about, this stuff? This is what people are obsessed with and millions of views are going towards. I'm like, No thank you.
25:36 And I close that door, and I go back to that room that Jesus opened. So yes, you will know a deeper love for Him, a deeper revelation as near sense of His presence. But look at chapter six verse one. Of Song of Solomon. Look at what the people who initially asked this woman, what's so What's the big deal of your beloved?
25:54 Look what happens to them. Where has your beloved gone, oh most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned that we may seek him with you? You see what happens here? So you have these inquires, you have those that are asking, and then the moment the woman describes the man, they are now persuaded to search for him as well.
26:20 They are now not just curious about this woman's relationship with this man, they are now curious to discover the man for themselves. You know what this generation needs more than anything? Real Christians. Like real Christians. Real Christians.
26:38 Possessed with a love and an obsession for this person, Jesus Christ, to the point where it's contagious, to the point where it actually makes people wonder, why is it that you don't do all these things and you're so consumed with this person? And you seem like a person who's mentally stable, you seem like a person who's educated, you don't seem like you're off the grid, you seem like a sensible person. So why is it that you are so different? And perhaps it's possible that you and I can come to a place where we are so so captured and enthralled by him that evangelism is just a natural outcome of our personal worship. And people wonder what is happening here, and then they begin to wonder, and they begin to make their own quest.
27:19 You wanna see happening in the New Testament? I assure you, this is over after this. Matthew chapter two. What happens in Matthew chapter two? Look at verse one.
27:28 You're familiar with this? Matthew two one. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem Of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying Look at this, where is he? Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.
27:55 Contrary to the manger scene that you see up in Christmas, there is I believe more than three. There is enough wise men to come into Jerusalem and cause a ruckus. It says, all of Jerusalem was disturbed by these men coming in and desiring to know where the Messiah is. So they come and they say, where is he? We wanna know where this king of the Jews, we're ready to worship him.
28:19 Here's my question, How do these wise men from the East have any understanding of a Jewish king who would be born at this time? I understand if Israelis at this time would say, hey, where is he? We we've we've studied the books. We realize that he can be coming any moment now, and we wanna know where he's at. We wanna worship him.
28:39 You have men from the East traveling miles upon miles to come to Jerusalem to inquire. What's the relationship? How do these wise men, these Magi have any comprehension that there would be a Messiah born as a child? Here's what I believe. If If you scan scripture, you realize that there is a heavy load of evidence of these people called the Magi, the the wise men in a specific book in the old testament.
29:05 Which one is it? The book of Daniel. The book of Daniel. And what's amazing about Daniel who was taken from Israel with his friends because of God's judgment upon the nation, brought to which place? Babylon.
29:19 They're brought there right before Babylon, and Daniel has such an influence. He is so filled with the spirit. He is now promoted early on in the book of Daniel to be chief of who? The Magi. Chief of the wise men.
29:35 And I believe Daniel had gained such respect, such authority, that those who were under his tutelage, those who are under his supervision heard about this Messiah through his own lips. Read Daniel. How much does he get about the revelation of the Messiah to come, the son of man, the one who's about to come in a certain amount of years? And I am sure that what Daniel passed along to the Magi, as a person of great impact on their culture, these Magi passed it down from one generation to the next, one generation to the next, one generation to the next. To the point of this generation where the Magi realized he should be here any moment now.
30:15 And they come because of one person who worked in a governmental position that had the audacity and the boldness to speak about the wonders, the coming kingdom of the true king that would destroy all other kingdoms and governments. Imagine that, one man's testimony had generational effects. I'm sure Daniel, though he was prophetic, didn't understand the implications of what he would share in his office, and what he would share in those courtrooms. And all for a sudden you have these men of the East that says, that great teacher Daniel hundreds of years ago told us about this Messiah, now we wanna come and see him. Where is he?
30:52 We wanna worship him. And so you and I have an opportunity to deepen our understanding of Christ, to worship him truly, to love him, to see him through the lens of the scripture in such a way that when we go back into that world, we will have a new fresh zeal and sharpness to our testimony of Christ that other people would say, I've been pretty miserable my whole life. Where is he? I wanna know him more. I'm excited for this weekend.
31:26 I hope you are too. This is a deep well that never runs dry, never been disappointed. Sometimes this word punches me in the gut with conviction, and other times it showers me with comfort that the living God is watching over me. He's for me. He's with me.
31:44 He will lead me to the end. I would like to say so much more, but we'll leave it for this weekend. Let's pray together, shall we? And just set your heart to ask what Paul asked of the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Lord, help me see Christ.
32:14 My eyes have been dulled for a while. My heart has been hard. Lord, your word, if I'm honest, has been collecting dust instead of collecting my affections. Heavenly Father, Lord, we're humbled in this place. Lord, we wanna partner with you to know the depths of who Jesus is.
32:51 Lord, we don't wanna just know general things. Lord, take us up close. Help us see him in his humanity. Help us see us see him in his divinity. Help us see us in him.
33:03 Help us see us without him. Lord, in this place, you know the hearts that know you. You know the hearts that have yet to come to know you. But we pray that together in this place, we would all have an encounter with Christ and that we would all get in our cars and leave this place by the end of the weekend knowing that we have met with the living God. Lord, we pray against the works of Satan.
33:28 We pray against the things that would distract people from seeing Christ and that could be as simple as sickness. Lord, we pray that every person in this place would be heavenly minded with all the joys of fellowship and games and all these wonderful things. We pray that one thing would be true, that you would be the supreme desire of our hearts. And Lord, if that's not the case, win our hearts this weekend. Transform us.
33:56 Because Lord, we know that when we see you rightly, we see other things, everything, the way we're supposed to see them. And so Lord, in this place, we commit this week and every session, all the times in between that you would be in the midst. We pray for profound fellowship. We pray for life changing sessions. We pray, Lord, that if this book is true, that we would we would love you the way you deserve to be loved.
34:22 And we know that you're able to to bring us there. We commit these things into the hands of the living Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. God bless you.
34:32 Let's stand and worship the Lord together.
