Him We Proclaim

The Song of Songs 5:2-6:3: Summary:In these verses, Eden is temporarily interrupted. The ideal is welcomed to 'the real,' even if, perhaps, in a dream. For the first time, the bride and her groom seem to have contrary desires. We don't know why, but he's late to bed, and she's feeling inconvenienced by his overtures. Still, he puts his hand to the latch, and her hesitancy is overcome. She rises to open to him, her heart thrilled, her hands dripping with myrrh. However, by the time she arrives, a nightmare begins. He's gone. She can't find him. She goes about the city again, only this time she's beaten by the watchmen. She adjures those daughters to help her in the hunt, implying (perhaps) that she has done wrongly. They ask what's so great about him (that she pursues him so). The short answer is he's hers and, thus, he's the best. She describes him in divine and Christic terms. Accordingly, they want to join the search-party but, just as soon as they lend their hand, good news! They're together again. Eden is regained. And whatever division there was, for whatever reason it existed, it's all mended; and their covenant-union is reaffirmed. What is your beloved more than another? How might we answer that concerning our spouse? How might we answer that concerning, in truth, the best Husband, Jesus Christ?

Sermon Outline:

The bride's nightmare: Eden interrupted. (5:2-6)

The bride's cross: Eden resumed. (5:7-6:3)

Her self-sacrificial love for her beloved. (5:7-8)

Her effusive praise for her beloved. (5:9-16)

Her covenantal reassertion for her beloved. (6:1-3)

The Song of Songs 4:1-5:1: Summary:The bride and her groom consummate their marriage. He delights in her figural beauty. He sees, and he says. To him, she is altogether beautiful. To be sure, while emphasizing her body, her beauty is more than bodily. She's captivated his heart with her sisterly, marital, romantic love. He can hardly stand to be kept from intimacy, but she is a garden locked, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. She is his, but his desire isn't forcible. It's submissive to her will. She must open to him. Alas, she's given him the key. She invites him to take pleasure in his garden---and he does! The consummation of their marriage is affirmed by holy 'others,' good, right, true, and glorious. Throughout, his descriptions vividly communicate that she (her person, body, and love) are like Eden, the Temple, the Promised Land. Sex according to God's rules is a foretaste of Heaven! It's a blessing from God to enjoy rightly, a signpost to God's most intimate presence with us, a most amazing gift, between husband and wife, that, in the end, always leaves wanting that eternal more. May God be glorified for it---and for the greatest Gift He's given to reconcile us to Himself.

Sermon Outline:

Seeing and sa(y)voring this promised land: covenant-commendation. (4:1-7)

Enriching one's pulse for this promised land: covenant-captivation. (4:8-11)

Entering and enjoying this promised land: covenant-consummation. (4:12-5:1)

The Song of Songs 3:1-11: Summary:What a man, who would so singly love his wife, as the ideal husband in The Song. His love is apparently worth the risk involved in seeking him out, finding him, and bringing him home. There is, perhaps, a healthy sort of separation anxiety between spouses that only togetherness can remedy. Still, until the right time, it is a door best left unopened. When the time is right however, it should abide a season embodying those words, 'to have and to hold until death do us part.' Somewhat mysteriously, the bride describes the approach of Solomon for his wedding day. It is a divinely-glorious display, the Davidic King in His messianic array. As to how this poem connects to the preceding, explanations and applications abound. From this corner, suffice it to say that Solomon seems to use himself as a foil in The Song. He's not the bride's bridegroom. He's not '(the main) character in (the poetic) story, but serves as a symbol.' No disrespect to his office and splendor, but he seems to present himself as 'an ironic contrast to the unspectacular, single-minded, committed love' of the couple in The Song. Her beloved is a 'greater' Solomon, their marriage (as opposed to his many), the true spectacle. Both he and Solomon, in their own ways, then, typify Jesus, the coming King and greatest Lover. Oh to have and hold Him, and be had and held by Him, until death do us...meet.

Sermon Outline:

Poem 1: To have and to hold. (3:1-5)

Separation-anxiety. (3:1-3)

Soulful-union. (3:4)

Second adjuration. (3:5)

Poem 2: The greater-than Solomon. (3:6-11)

The glorious Davidic king. (3:6-10)

Go see him ‘wedding.’ (3:11)

Connecting the poems: Her soul-mate and Jesus.

The Song of Songs 2:1-17: Summary:Spouses, is our love the love worth waiting for? If single, and desiring marriage, are you waiting for it? Are you trusting God for it? And what does a love worth the wait look like? What does it involve? Welcome to chapter 2 of The Song. We're given two of the most beautiful poems ever penned. In them, we're given descriptions and depictions of heavenly love between the bride and her bridegroom. In between these two poems, the bride speaks to a group of ladies coming into the age of marriage. Her counsel to them? Wait for this kind of love! Trust me, the wait is worth it! And that love finds its climax in the love of Christ to us. Are we sick with love for Him? Is His love incomparable to us? Are we catching all the 'foxes' that threaten to ruin our resurrected walk with Him? Are we putting off immediate gratification (sin) by the eternal satisfaction promised us? It is a Love that's worth the wait.

Sermon Outline:

His banner over me is love: poem 1 on love worth the wait. (2:1-6)

Arise, my love, my beautiful one: poem 2 on love worth the wait. (2:8-17).

The bride's adjuration: wait for this love. (2:7)

Reflections on the most excellent love of Christ.

The Song of Songs 1:1-17: Summary:In the Song of Songs, the Holy Spirit, by way of wise-Solomon, gives us 'the most sublime song.' It's the greatest love-song in existence, and it starts rather steamy. The bride longs for the physical intimacy overflowing from the experience of the bridegroom's most precious love. But in light of that, she is, perhaps, quite the opposite of what we might think at first. Properly understood, there is not a hint of impropriety. She's not a lusty dame. She's a bridegroom's beloved, and he's loved her with love-winning particularity. Alas, she is humble and hard-working, modest but motivated to be with her 'shepherd-king.' And as such, he meets her insecurities with his reassuring words. She longs to be with him, and he longs to be found by her. The way made, the embrace renewed, he adorns her with his tender words. She is his queen. And their shared affection for one another, their mirrored love, finds, as a good and lovely effect, a 'green couch.' Their love and devotion to one another, soul and body, is aromatic of Edenic love and life. They breathe each other in with the sweetest (and most fiery!) intimacy, the curtains close (for now), and so begins The Song of Songs, a song that ultimately preaches to us, as biblical marriage and marital intimacy do, about the relationship of love, the best and most soul-satisfying love, between Christ and His church, between us and our loving Lord. With respect to it, is it our prayer: draw me after You, let us run?

Sermon Outline:

The greatest Song. (1:1)

A Romanee-Conti love. (1:2-4)

A shepherd's touch. (1:5-11)

A green couch. (1:12-17)

Draw me after You, let us run.

1 Kings 3:3-15: Summary:King Solomon has recently ascended to the throne of Israel. As he remembers all God has done for his father, and reflects on the task ahead, he recognizes he is in desparate need. God's people need God's wisdom to live in the promised land. They need a wise leader to provide continuing security and peace for them. So Solomon, rather than seeking his own glory, pleas for discernment to govern well. In this way, he points to Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God that created everything, and the presence of God, mediating for God's people. Despite Solomon's many failures as a king, he points us to the the value God places on his people, and the benefits of wisdom worked out for their good.

Sermon Outline

Reading the story

Engaging the story

The good

The bad

The ugly

Redeeming the story

John 10:31-42: Summary:Jesus having just declared himself one with the Father, the Jews intend to kill Jesus on the spot. But Jesus keeps his head, and points to his actions, done in broad daylight. As the Jews respond, Jesus confronts their use of Scripture. But more than that, he shows them that their judgement is flawed. They don't hear the shepherd's voice, and they are blind to his good works. They may know the Law but they are oblivious to its application and worse, unresponsive to its judgement of them. And so, Jesus departs the scene unscathed, and the people he soon finds are an additional indictment of the Jewish leaders' failure. The shepherds have fared no better than their fathers, but these people are prepared to hear his words, see his actions, and respond in faith.

Sermon Outline:

Recalling the works of Jesus, vv.31-32

Recalling the words of Jesus, vv.33-36

Recalling the mission of Jesus

Revealing the glory of Jesus, vv.37-38

Separating a people for Jesus, vv.39-42

John 10:22-30: Summary:It's Hanukkah! And while Israel celebrates the recovery of rightful worship in the hope of Messiah's advent, Jesus returns to the temple and is seen walking in Solomon's colonnade. Folks gather around Him and ask Him to tell them plainly whether He (thinks) He is the Christ or not. But the problem is not with Jesus. He's told them. He's shown them. They just refuse to believe. Jesus attributes their unbelief to the fact that they are not of His sheep. Without erasing their responsibility, He focuses on God's sovereignty in the matter. God has given Jesus a fold. He calls them. They hear Him. He knows them. They follow Him. He gives them eternal life. They shall never perish. But it's not so much the power of the life itself that keeps as it is the power of the One exerting, holding that power. Christ's sheep are in Christ's hand and, as it is no less than the hand of God, and nothing is greater than God, Christ's sheep are utterly safe. They will be brought Home! This is the Father's will, and Jesus will execute it. As then, before 'it is finished,' all the more assuredly now. At the Feast of Dedication, Jesus reveals His dedication to His sheep. In return, may we be increasingly dedicated to Him. If we cannot perish, what have we to fear ultimately?Sermon Outline:

Unbelief exercised against Jesus. (10:22-24)

Unbelief explained by Jesus. (10:25-26)

Belief in Jesus explained by Jesus. (10:27)

Believers in Jesus encouraged in Jesus. (10:28-30)

John 10:1-21: Summary:Jesus takes aim at the blind guides of Israel. Fulfilling passages like Ezekiel 34, He declares that He is the Good Shepherd. He is the Christ-Pastor of God's flock. He speaks first to clarify God's true shepherds for God's true sheepfold and, especially, that He is and has always been the Door, i.e., the focal point of all their relations. Any who seek to enter into His ministry by any other way are thieves, imposters, a danger to the flock. In giving a point of discernment, He gives attention to the elevation of His peculiar voice. Good shepherds echo it, and true sheep recognize it, and heed it, chief among ten thousand beside. Ultimately, as He continues, Jesus lays claim to being both the Door and the definitively Good Shepherd. He is the Chief Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. His primary pastoral emphasis is gracious self-sacrifice. He lays down his life for the sheep. He is their Savior from first to last. His cross defines His care, His knowledge, His use of authority. This is why the Father loves Him chiefly. Christ's heart is pure love to God and to His people, even to the point of a triumphant death on a cross. The hearers have an opportunity to prove themselves sheep or goats. Just so, the matter is put to us.

Sermon Outline:

Christ's good shepherds. (10:1-6)

They enter the sheep-pen by the Door. (10:1-2)

They identifiably profit Christ's sheep. (10:3-6)

Christ, the Good Shepherd. (10:7-18)

His primary uniqueness. (10:7-10)

His pastoral emphases. (10:11-18)

The self-sacrificial protection of His sheep. (10:11-13)

The self-sacrificial knowledge of His sheep. (10:14-16)

The self-sacrificial use of authority for His sheep. (10:17-18)

Respond better to the Good Shepherd. (10:19-21)

John 9:1-41: Summary:

Jesus leaves the temple on those words, 'I Am,' and 'passes by' a man born blind. True spiritual sight is the conviction that Jesus is the all-glorious Christ. This miraculous account is an acted parable intended to press home this spiritual reality. We all need this sight, and Jesus gives this sight. God has given Him works to accomplish in confirming His identity as the climactic self-disclosure of God, i.e., the Light of the world. Thus, He regenerates this man's eyes. The man goes through a string of questioning in which the Pharisees become integrally involved. Contrary to them, he sees Jesus with increasing clarity. Contrary to his own parents, he's willing to speak in favor of Jesus with increasing courage. In the end, he teaches and convicts the learned scribes. Arrogance offended, they rebuke, revile, and discard him---but as he's 'given glory to God' by speaking boldly for Jesus, Jesus finds him and 'closes' with him. Cast out by his own, Jesus makes him His own. Let the seeing heart take comfort and courage! The man believes in Jesus and worships Him! Jesus receives it. He then publicly introduces the plain truth: light exposes darkness and, as such, judges it to be so. Insofar as one admits spiritual blindness, Jesus is happy to give them the sight that saves. Insofar as one admits spiritual sight, while rejecting Jesus, Jesus condemns them as being, in truth, spiritually blind---and therefore liable to the judgment of God.

Sermon Outline:

The working Light before the coming Night. (9:1-7)

The seeing man interrogated. (9:8-23)

The seeing man giving glory to God. (9:24-34)

The seeing man believing and worshipping Jesus. (9:35-38)

The judging Light exposing spiritual Night. (9:39-41)

Memory passage: John 9:39

Benediction: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6