Introduction…
F. W. Boreham in his book, “Mountains in the Mist” writes,
“Ian Maclaren has a lovely story of John Carmichael that I somehow think would have been very much to Paul’s taste as he thought of Timothy and his peril at Corinth.
Now, Carmichael was like Timothy, very young, very shy, very sensitive, and very shrinking. He entered upon his first charge. But he felt-painfully, acutely, constantly-the awful chasm that yawned between his radiant dreams and his actual achievements. And he felt that the people must be regarding him either with pity or contempt.
One Sabbath, as he was sitting in the vestry, all the elders filed solemnly in. He felt that they had come to tell him that they could tolerate it no longer.
Then the sagest and kindliest of them all addressed him. They had noticed his fearfulness, and nervousness, and timidity, and wished him to be completely at his ease. Was he not among his own people? They would have Timothy among them without fear.
“You are never to be troubled in the pulpit,” the old man went on, ”or be thinking about anything but the word of the Lord and the souls of the people, of which you are the shepherd. We will ask you to remember, when you stand in your place to speak to us in the name of the Lord, that as the smoke goeth up from the homes of the people in the morning, so will their prayers be ascending for their minister, and as you look down upon us before you begin to speak, maybe you will say to yourself, next Sabbath, ‘They are all loving me.’
“Oh, yes, and it will be true from the oldest to the youngest, we will all be loving you very much.
“And that,” Ian Maclaren says, “that is why John Carmichael remained in the ministry of Jesus Christ, the most patient and mindful of ministers.” And I, for one, can easily believe it.”
(Mountains in the Midst – F. W. Boreham)
Theme… The love you show is the love you have received. You can’t give what you don’t have.
The people out in the world, those who are not born again, cannot reflect God’s love. When the world talks about love, sings about love, writes about love, it is basically animal instinct. I know that is a harsh thing to say, but the proof is all around us.
When we are born again, we come into the arena of God’s love. This is where we begin to truly experience the love of God.
And even though this is true, many Christians are living on the “animal instinct” they call love. Few really tap into the resources of God’s love made available to them through the new birth.
One of the last times that Jesus was with his disciples, he challenged Peter (John 21:15-17).
“15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”
One point Jesus was getting at with Peter was simply, if you love me then out of that love will flow ministry.
“Feed my lambs.” “Feed my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.”
Nobody can truly love the Lord and be passive in their relationship towards other people. I want you to see that the focus Jesus gave to Peter was on “lambs” and “sheep.” This represents the body of Christ.
Our love for God will be demonstrated in our love for brothers and sisters in the Lord. Our love outside of the Fellowship is one thing, but it cannot compare to our love within the brother and sister fellowship.
Very simply put, this true love flows both ways. It flows from God to us and also from us to God. Only the person who has been born again and cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is able to send back to God acceptable love.
This is why Jesus said, “I am come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The question that I put before us this morning is simply how can I truly experience this love from God and how can I give back to God love that is worthy of him?
I believe there are three aspects to this if we are going to grow as Christians in the body of Christ and if we are going to be able to live the life that blesses the Lord and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. The Bonding.
All true love has a bonding stage. That is, it begins at a certain point and it grows more intense and more intimate.
How would you characterize this spiritual bonding process in your life?
Look how Solomon addresses his bride in this passage. Four times he says “my sister, my bride.”
Song of Solomon 4:9
You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride. You have made my heart beat faster with one look from your eyes, with one piece of the beautiful chain around your neck.
Song of Solomon 4:10
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the sweet smell of your oils than all kinds of spices!
Song of Solomon 4:12
A garden closed and locked is my sister, my bride, a garden shut up and covered over.
Song of Solomon 5:1
[ King Solomon ] “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my perfume with my spice. I have eaten my honey and the comb. I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat and drink, friends. Drink much, O lovers.”
Why does he use both phrases?
Is she his sister or is she his bride?
These two phrases indicate the bonding process of the bride’s relationship with the group. The “sister” represents the beginning of this process while the “bride” represents a more maturing aspect of this process.
The thing to keep in mind here is that this is an ongoing process. The bonding phase does not stop at conversion. In fact, conversion is the beginning of this bonding phase of our Christian experience.
It is like a couple when they get married. In the beginning, there is that friendship phase and then it develops into the intimacy of a married couple. This intimacy is an ongoing process.
The bonding process is the anchor that solidifies our union with Christ, the groom.
Little by little, every aspect of our life is growing in this relationship that we have with the groom. Very soon, our relationship with people out in the world becomes very strained. This is as it should be.
When a man or a woman get married the relationships outside of that marriage is quite different and in a good marriage, the couple will never allow an outside relationship to compromise their marriage.
This is the way it is in the bonding process between me, “my sister, and my bride, and the groom.
II. The Blessing.
When we first become Christians, we are looking for God’s blessing in our life. Just like a little child is only thinking about themselves and what they can get.
As we mature through the bonding process, we begin to realize that God is blessed from our life.
In verse two it says, “All have given birth to two lambs, and not one among them has lost her young.”
These two lambs blesses the shepherd, not only the mother ewe.
What God is doing through my life is to bring me to the point of producing blessings for him.
Then look at verse 12 and 13, “A garden closed and locked is my sister, my bride, a garden shut up and covered over. Your young branches are a garden of pomegranates with all the best fruits, henna with nard plants.”
And then verse 15, “You are a garden well, a well of flowing water, and rivers coming from Lebanon.”
Then look at 4:16; 5:1.
This all refers to the fact that the bride’s life brings blessing to the groom. There is the aspect of pleasure giving.
It is hard for us to understand that our life is a blessing, or at least it can be, to God.
Our life is beneficial to the God who created us and then redeemed us.
When I begin to understand this blessing phase of my Christian experience, I begin to have a different attitude about my Christian walk.
No longer am I so focused on the trials and tribulations of my life.
No longer am I obsessed with the problems and circumstances around me.
I am now focused on the fact that out of my life God is being blessed and I and a blessing to him.
What is it that you allow to define you?
Your trials or your relationship to Christ, the Groom?
III. The Behaving.
As I begin to understand and experience the bonding phase of my relationship with God that brings me to the blessing phase that affects my behaving.
This is what is really important in my life.
Everything I do is based upon something. As a Christian, my behavior is based upon my relationship with God.
A single person acts differently in a group of people than a married person. That single person may be looking for a relationship where as the married person already has that relationship.
As I go out into the world, I act differently because I am in a relationship with God and I will not allow that relationship to be compromised by any behavior that contradicts the holiness of God, my groom.
My conduct out in public needs to be in such a fashion as to be a blessing to the God I am serving. If I do things that compromise my relationship with God, I am going to suffer for it.
It is interesting to me that in Hollywood who exemplifies living the wild and woolly life are greatly offended when their spouse is unfaithful. Most marriages end in divorce because of one of them being “unfaithful.”
Isn’t that strange coming from a group of people whose morals are slightly higher than an alley cat? But even they know that unfaithfulness carries with the consequences.
My behavior out in the world is an opportunity for God’s love to be demonstrated to people who do not know about God’s love.
Christ was the incarnation of God.
The Christian is the incarnation of Christ.
Conclusion…
The effect of my bonding is to bring me to an understanding of what a blessing I am to God, which then carries with it an obligation to behave Christlike out in the world.
My challenge is to look at these three aspects…
The bonding…
The blessing…
The behaving…
And make sure that my life is of such a nature that God brags about me to Satan himself.
Job 1:8, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?”
If I am benefiting from being the bride of Christ the people of the world will be uncomfortable around me. I know this is not something that we hear about today day. I just challenge you to study church history and see that what I am saying here has value to it.
If the world is comfortable around you, there is something wrong with you.
I want my life to be so filled with the presence of Christ that that becomes all that really matters in my life.
