Oh, Where To Look For Peace, Joy And Love?

Introduction: A car salesman was sure he could make a big sale to me if he could just get me inside one of their new computerized cars. This model came complete with a computer generated voice that told you everything. The salesman noted the little voice would tell me how much gas was left, when I needed to turn on my lights, how far I had traveled, and how fast I was going. In an attempt to close the sale he said, "Sir, there’s nothing this car won’t tell you." To his surprise he lost the sale. I quietly walked away and said, "Why would I need one of those? I’ve got a wife!"

I was in my office at the church one day when the phone rang. "Is the preacher there?" a man asked. I explained that I was a minister. The man wanted to know which Scripture verses applied to funeral services. I gave him several references, and he jotted them down."What about the `ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ part?" he asked. I read it to him slowly. Then, intending to offer him some sympathy, I inquired, "And who is the deceased?""My daughter’s pet turtle," he replied.

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As people go through life they look for happiness in some strange places. It is a popular subject in many churches. Where can you find the love of your life, Who can show the way to it. Is it possible at all to really experience a real discovery. Well, I want to look in a book of the Bible that is not often preached out of, The Song of Solomon, also known as Songs. The Song of Solomon is a love song written by Solomon and full of metaphors and oriental imagery. As we look deep into The Song of Solomon we see a depiction of life finding it’s highest fulfillment in in the love of man and woman, so spiritual life finds it’s fulfillment in the love of God for His people and Christ for His church. As we read The Song of Solomon we see the book is arranged like scenes in a drama with three main speakers: the bride (Shulamite), the king (Solomon) and a chorus (daughters of Jerusalem). Today’s text shows the bride (Shulamite) searching for her true love and in that setting is where we begin today.

Song 3:1-4

1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

I. We all look for the eternal things

A. We see the bride relaying things about the search for her true love.

1. The search for her true love was not going well.

a. The search was not going well in her present condition

b. Inside of Her was a desire that couldn’t be quenced

2. The issues off the heart can’t be quenched by mere sleep.

a. The bride would have probably wanted to rest from the quest.

b. There is never rest when you don’t have things of Jesus.

B. We are no different from the bride

1. We will look for the eternal love of our life

There are three huge gates that lead into the Cathedral of Milan. Over one gate there is an inscription in marble under a beautiful flower bouquet that says, "The things that please are temporary." Over the second gate, there is a cross with this inscription: "The things that disturb us are temporary." However, over the central gate, there is a big inscription saying, "Eternal are the important ones."

2. It is a built in trait.

Jer 31:33

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

a. you can’t run from it

*nothing will let you hide from it

b. It’s a promise

c. It is an ingrained truth

*all the world points to the law of God

*It is because of this that none will have an excuse.

Deion "Prime Time" Sanders, outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, is the only athlete to have hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week. Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself. He explains: "I call them Idas. ’If I’da done this, I’d be making three million today...If I’da practiced a little harder, I’d be a superstar.’ They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t went straight to the streets and never left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don’t need any more Idas.