Grace, mercy, and peace to you, Church. If you would turn in your Bibles to the Song of Solomon, chapter 4. I promise you, you have not inadvertently stumbled on a marriage conference. Song of Solomon, chapter 4. All of Scripture is about Christ. And hopefully we discover Him this morning here. Song of Solomon chapter four. Let me pray. I'll read. I'll read the text and we'll get started. Lord, apart from your. Illuminating power. Holy Spirit, we your Children born of you would not understand. Not understanding Lord Jesus, we cannot worship the father rightly. And live in a way. In a holy way. in a dark and dying world. So Lord, help us now. Try in God, we need light. Open our eyes. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Song Solomon Chapter 4 will read the first eight verses. Behold. You are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young. Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. Your neck is like the Tower of David built in rows of stone, and on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of a warrior. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my love. There is no flaw in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride. Come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. Well, what if someone knew you? And I mean really knew you. I'm not talking about the surface level social media things, but the deeper things, things that you maybe have never told anyone else, things that you've thought, something you may have done. For most of us, this is the very thing we fear. Fear is a driving force behind much of what we do in society. Fear of failure, fear of being seen as unworthy, fear of being exposed. But what if someone were to drag the waters of your heart? Would you even allow it? I wonder if that sort of thing brings up a sense of anxiety or defensiveness. Fear of really being known is debilitating. In one sense, fear seems to be entirely rational. We live in a broken world. We're all walking around with fig leaves of our own. We live among fellow sinners whose intentions are less than perfect and often so radically self-centered that fear seems to be a rational motivator for our interactions. Lovingly giving myself away to someone I know has fundamentally self-centered motives means they get all the benefits and I get all the pain. There's a delicate balance in all of our relationships between being known and being loved. It seems we have three choices. We can be loved and not known. Now, this sort of love is fake, a facade, really. and it's superficial at best. This sort of love could be accomplished in two ways. On the part of the one who is loving or trying to love, it would leave the more profound things undiscovered, closed off. The things that make the one being loved who they really are, who that person is at the core. It would leave the love on the surface and would not allow it to drink deeply from the fountains that sustain it and make for a meaningful and lasting bond. On the part of the one being loved, it's a constant game of shadows. We're hiding ourselves. It's a continual hiding of things you feel are ugly and undesirable because you fear one thing. You fear rejection. We can be known and not loved, and the psychological effects of rejection are worse than death for some. It is our greatest fear. The polls show that the fear of public speaking is greater than the fear of death. You have 50 sets of eyes looking at you, and you fear being known and not loved. The butterflies, the sweaty palms, meeting new people, public speaking comes from the fear of being known and not loved. It threatens what we want to guard and worship most. our self-righteousness, and our self-worth. Our third option is we can be fully known and fully loved. This sort of love is a love that frees us from every fear and makes us behave in a radically new way. But I would argue that this sort of love is hard to find on earth. As much as we know about one another, our past, our thoughts, our desires. Were these things to be exposed, I doubt that our love would remain untested. But there is one relationship in which we are fully known and fully loved. Our text is one such place that explains this fact. It comes to us in the form of a song, the song of songs. It's a song about Christ and his bride. It's an allegory, and it's a book of love. It's a song that portrays all the changing scenes in a story of love, tenderness, fierceness, intimacy, wonderings, bitterness, and redemption. And what we find is a thing must be first loved before it can ever be lovable. A thing must be first loved before it can ever be lovable. So we're gonna uncover this theme of love using five questions. Like any good five-point Calvinist, I have five points here. The first question is this, where is Christ's bride? Where is Christ's bride? The second question, what does Christ call her? What does Christ call her? The third question, what does Christ see in her? The fourth question, what is the sum of Christ's estimation of her? And the fifth question, where is Christ when he calls her? Five questions to uncover our theme of love. So our text comes on the heels of much darkness and anticipation. It follows a dream, a dream the night before a wedding, a bride's dream. It was a dream of being deserted, sick for love, searching for her groom and desiring his presence. Having sought him and found him in her dream, she wakes. And our text draws us into the private, alluring thoughts of the bridegroom as he draws his bride after himself. He describes her and he describes the anticipation of consummation. We see then the intimate and private thoughts of Christ regarding his church. So that leads us to our first question. Where is Christ's bride? Look at verse eight. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride. Come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Sinir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. I want you to notice first that Christ calls her from a distant land. It should never cease to amaze us that Christ calls the church to himself. As one theologian said, a person so beneath him and at such a distance from him and so unlovely and unlikely in herself. Yet here she is again at a distance from him, yet Christ calls his bride to be close to himself. Now when Christ first called his bride, he called her before time began. He asked of her from his father, Psalm 28. Ask of me, the father says to his son, and I will make the nation's your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. The church is God's church, and it's God's right to give his church away. And God, the father, gave his son his heart's desire. The calling of Christ's bride happened before time began in an eternal decree. Here it is seen that Christ calls his bride from Lebanon, from Amman, from Sinai, Hermon, the den of lions, the mountain of leopards. He calls her from a place far from himself. He calls her from the distant land of the nations. But he calls her also from a rich yet wicked place. The den of lions, the mountain of leopards, indeed carries with it the imagery of a wild wilderness, unhewn, untamed, and where unruly men live. David said in Psalm 54, my soul is in the midst of lions. Have you ever felt that as you walk out into the world? My soul is in the midst of lions. I lie down amid fiery beasts, the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. Men are like brute beasts, unfeeling, malicious, who pursue the things of the world to their own destruction. This wicked place is where the bride lives. But he also calls her from the peak of Amana, in these other mountains, Indeed, the bride resides on the heights of these rich mountains. She could look out over all the delicacies of the world and have her choice. There was much to attract her, much to keep her there. The bride heard the voice of the world, and she is shown all its kingdoms. The bride heard the voice of the serpent. All these I will give you. if you will fall down and worship me. But Christ calls her from her natural state to genuine riches, true holiness. Wicked men have their portion in this life. Psalm 27 makes that very plain. But Christ calls his bride to something better. So he calls her from a rich yet wicked place, but he also calls her in a certain way. He calls her to himself in a kind manner. He's already called her before in chapter two. If you've ever read this, this book of wisdom on love, he's called her before in chapter two. But here he calls her my bride for the first time. He who was full of the spirit without measure is full of the fruit of kindness. Here, with all the tender affection, he calls his bride with kindness. He patiently draws her after himself. and he calls her to himself. He calls her into communion with himself. He calls her to greater happiness, greater pleasures, and he bids all the lesser longings of her heart to be still. Lesser lusts, he says to his church, be still. Lesser riches, be still. Lesser love, be still. This is the weightiest of all persuasions for those who have been called out of the world and one in which in the final analysis is the only one that by faith is useful to shake off the things of the world and knit us to our beloved. He calls us to himself. Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will satisfy. What are some observations we can draw from this first question? I think first and foremost, we need to admit the world has its own delicacies. The world has its own delicacies. But the most beautiful things in the world, those things that seem to call to our very souls, are nothing in comparison to the beauty of Christ. Longing must be fought and conquered with greater longing. Desire must die at the hands of a greater desire. The beauty and attraction of the world can only die one way, by more extraordinary beauty, by seeing Christ. Have you heard the hymn? Hast thou heard him, seen him, known him? Is not thine a captured heart? Chief among 10,000, own him. Joyful, choose the better part. The world has its delicacies, but we must be captivated by the beauty of Christ. Also, we have to understand that Christ understands this about the world. He understands this about our hearts, and by many words, he draws us to himself. We are his bride, the one in whom he confides in most intimate thoughts and most intimate communion. We are loved by him. He gave us Himself in life and in death. Could it be that Christ is more ready to commune with you than you are with Him? Could it be that when we die, Christ will be more prepared to see you than you are to see Him? It's humbling, but it's true. And because we're called to himself, we are called to cling to him, to own him, to claim him. His company, his fellowship, his love should carry more weight for us than anything in the world. You lose nothing, beloved. Listen, you lose nothing when you lose your affections for the world. You lose nothing and you gain Christ. Well, this begs the question for those who have not owned him who sit in this room today. Do you know Christ? Folly is loud. It calls loudly in the streets, and especially today in our culture. It's ceaselessly calling to you, young people. It has its delicacies. It's going to promise you the world. It's going to take you to the high mountain and show you its kingdoms and say all these you can have if you'll bow the knee to me. For what is your soul longing? Have you heard him? Have you seen him? Do you know him? Or is Jesus boring? Are you only here because your parents made you come? Or maybe you fear losing social respectability. I pray you hear his voice. Well, secondly, what does Christ call her? We've seen where the bride is when he calls her. Now, what does he call her? And what consideration should she make of herself? Verse one. Behold, you're beautiful, my love. Behold, You are beautiful. Christ calls his bride beautiful. Christ calls his church beautiful, not because of her own works of righteousness. Scripture makes it clear that all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Isaiah 64 verse six. But he calls her beautiful because she's clothed in the righteousness of Christ. She is washed in His blood and sanctified by His Spirit. She is dark, but she is lovely to Him. You are beautiful to Christ. So He calls her beautiful, but He also calls her to behold what He says. Look at the verse again twice. Two times He calls her beautiful. Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are Beautiful. But why the persuasion? Why the repetition? When Christ persuades her to behold who she is, he means a few things. She needs to make a note of attention here. This is how we ought to think about the bride of Christ. Christ's bride ought to take more seriously her beauty. because Christ calls her to do so. You can see the word twice there, behold. That's like God grabbing your head and saying, focus in on this. This is what I want you to get. Christians are very prone to see only their blackness, their sin, their imperfections before God. No doubt, no doubt, this consideration is necessary. We must call sin what it is. It's needed for the humility of our souls. We cannot lie. However, to stay there brings the Christian into an odd and defeated frame of mind. We sorrow and we begin to shrink in faith. But when we lift our eyes and consider him who was our wisdom from God, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption, then we begin to behold our completeness and beauty and behold it rightly. You are beautiful to God. We must make a note of attention here to this fact. He said it. We must believe it. Church believed that. When we look at each other, if you turn your head left and right, there's a lot of scars in the room. There's a lot of history. Okay. We see sin. But do we see the beauty of redemption being played out in each other's lives? Is the church beautiful to you? it is to God. So make a note of attention, but also make a note of admiration. When Christ tells us to take time to behold her, it says that Christ is in awe and wonder at his bride. He considers her praiseworthy, excellent. He regards her with esteem, with pleasure, with enjoyment. Her perfect beauty draws him into wonder. There are very few times in scripture that Christ marvels. Very few times. Once at the unbelief of those in Nazareth in Mark 6. Once at the faith of the centurion, Matthew 8. It's recorded there that Christ marveled. But here, and I would argue in this entire book, and many times throughout the book, he marvels at his bride. And we should marvel. We should marvel. We should marvel that we who are by nature children of wrath are now united to him in peace. Marvel at that, beloved. Marvel. We should marvel that we who are corrupt and depraved, deformed, with sin as black as night are now tender, fair, and captivating to Christ, ravishing even in His eyes. Marvel at that. Marvel that we who were cast out into an open field, abhorred on the day we were born, are now covered. he covering the shame of our nakedness and bathed and clothed with fine cloth and linen. We should marvel that we who have betrayed him for a thousand lovers in this world, with our on again and off again kind of love, we've been bought back by him, brought home to him and loved by him steadily, patiently, tenderly, time after time after time after time. Oh, love of God, how strong, how true, eternal, yet ever new, uncomprehended and unbought, beyond all knowledge and all thought. Oh, love of God, how deep and great, far deeper than man's deepest hate. self-fed, self-kindled like the light, changeless, eternal, infinite. That the God of the universe would be pleased and enjoy us is worthy of our admiration. Never forget it. When Christ bids his bride to behold herself, she must also be assured With such unbelievable grace, it's no wonder that we doubt. Every true believer's experienced it. That moment when you're all alone with yourself and the memories of past sins creep in and they seem to overwhelm. But then the sweet truth of God comes to your soul to reassure you that you are His and constantly loved by Him. He removes the fear of not owning us. for himself. He strengthens our faith to understand we are his, and unbelief seems to disappear. What do we do at that moment? Do we stand up and puff out our chests as if we've somehow earned it? No. The love of Christ breaks us, and we weep for the grace that we found. We wonder how it could be true, but it is true. And Christ speaks here to reassure you that you are accepted by Him and beautiful to Him. Say that to a mountain of unbelief and you'll find it cast into the sea. Thirdly, what does Christ see in her? We've seen where the bride is when He calls her. We've seen what He calls her. Now we come to see a particular about what He sees in her. What does Christ see in his bride? There are seven particulars mentioned from verse 1b all the way through verse 5. Now, this number seven is a little bit exceptional in the Hebrew Bible. It's used in unfolding revelation over 600 times in passages in one way or another, and many places where it's found contain something pretty extraordinary. Most broadly, it signifies the idea of perfection, completion, a thing that lacks nothing. Now think about this. Seven was the number of completion at the creation, a holy Sabbath, Genesis 2. Seven was the days of unleavened bread and the Feast of Tabernacles. Seven was the Sabbath year, a year of freedom. Seven times was the sprinkling of the blood on the day of atonement. Circumcision took place after seven days. Seven woes were pronounced on the Pharisees, and John records in his gospel the seven I am's of Jesus Christ. Here, Christ examines his bride in seven particulars, and his examination is perfect. It means one thing. He sees her in perfection, in flawlessness. It's before the eye of omniscience that is bright as seen. We know in Hebrews 4, nothing is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him with whom we must give an account. and every part of his bride, every part of his church, every particular grace under examination gets Christ's special praise and approval. He delights in every part of the church, and each of the parts are the subject of much meditation. Suffice it to say this, that Christ describes his bride in comparison to those things in nature that we, the reader, could most associate with beauty. The particulars given here in verses one through six are not meant to be a literal image. That would be a really weird-looking bride. But it's meant to give us a spiritual impression of the effects produced by the grandeur of the natural world. The majesty evoked in your mind as you peer across the Grand Canyon or gaze up at the Milky Way on a dark, starry night. the awe and wonder you feel at the birth of a child, the sublime and restful joy of seeing an old couple love each other even till death, the things that make your soul satisfied. This is the spiritual impression which Christ seeks to evoke in us, and he relates it to us by what he thinks about us by examples of nature. So each thing about his bride is a particular perfection. Far from being loved and not known, here we see the church fully loved and fully known. It's a spiritual reality which really no earthly analogy can rightly communicate. So what does Christ see in her? He sees in her perfection and flawlessness. Fourth question. What is the sum, if we were to sum up those particulars, what is the sum of Christ's estimation? Verse seven. You are altogether beautiful, my love. There is no flaw in you. Lest anything should be missed and his bride feel the possible anxiety of disapproval, Christ sums up his intentions. He tells her what he really means. She is altogether beautiful. There is no flaw in her. If you remember, David, when he dealt with Mephibosheth, it's a funny name to say, saw nothing lame in Mephibosheth for love's sake. Now, Mephibosheth was a visibly impaired person, but love did not notice. He only saw, David only saw in him the features of his father Jonathan, someone to whom David's soul was knit. So Christ, beholding his bride in love, sees nothing other than beauty. Now, under the unescapable eye of God, his bride, his church, you and I are the sum of beauty. You're altogether beautiful and without flaw to the Lord Jesus Christ. But it begs the question, how can this be? It almost seems too syrupy. Here we reach the touch point of the matter. And here we must contemplate the deep things of God. God needs nothing. He is utterly happy and satisfied in himself. One theologian wrote this, God does not have to become anything, but is what he is eternally. He has no goal of satisfaction outside of himself, but it's self sufficient and all sufficient. He receives nothing but only gives all things need him. He needs nothing or nobody. He always aims at himself. because he cannot rest in anything other than himself. Inasmuch as he himself is the absolute good and perfect one, he may not love anything else except with a view to himself. He may not and cannot be content with less than absolute perfection. Here's the point. When he loves others, he loves himself in them. his own virtues, his own works, his own gifts. Beloved, we do not know the deep, deep love of Jesus because we have not plumbed the depths of the being of God. God declares us altogether beautiful, not because of what we are in and of ourselves, but because what he has declared us to be by virtue of himself living in us. Are you beautiful in the sight of God? Are you flawless before the eye of omniscience? How can that be? Only because he's content with nothing less than the absolute perfection of himself. He in you, you in him, God loving himself in you, nothing more. God does not love me because of me. Do we get that? God does not love me because of me. God loves me despite me. God loves me because of God. This fact means he cannot cease to love me. He cannot cease to love me because he cannot cease to love himself. He has set his very own beauty upon the church. He has clothed her with his righteousness. This beauty is the beauty of the gospel, beloved. Herein is the gospel according to Solomon. God calls you what you are when you are not. It's the imputation of his beauty, the beauty of justification. Just as he called light out of darkness, he set on you a beauty that is not your own. You are rugged, you are dirty, you are as black as night, wavering, wandering, residing in a wild and wicked land. And to Christ, you are flawless beauty, the beauty of his own love. And he's calling us constantly to communion with him. How could he ever reject you? How could he ever reject you? This is the radical grace of God, that God would clothe you in his very own beauty to give you a weight of glory beyond all comparison. It's a soul arresting fact. It is the love of Christ that controls us, that captivates us, that arrests us. We just have a poor understanding of what that means. It should control us. And if it did, beloved, I think the world would look a lot different. Everything flows from this fact. How could God delight in anything else? Well, I think this fact brings a few observations to mind. The fact that God loves us because he loves himself in us has several profound implications. That means, number one, God's love for us is independent of us. God needs nothing again. All that God is, he is in and of himself. No one adds to him. No one takes away from him. God is love. No additions, no subtractions, pure being. Therefore, when he loves us, he loves us independent of us. God must love us, not because of us again, but because of himself in us. He cannot love anything other than Himself. His holiness will not permit it. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 7 really quick. Show you a pretty profound passage. Deuteronomy 7. God puts Israel in their place. It's a strange verse, but it's a verse I think that brings home what I'm trying to say here. Deuteronomy chapter 7, verses 7 and 8. Let's start at verse 6. Deuteronomy 7 verse 6, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possessions out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other than any other peoples that the Lord has set his love on you and chose you for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Why does God love me? Because he loves me. You see that? See that in verse seven? It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord has set his love on you and chose you. Verse eight, but it's because the Lord loves you. Why did God redeem Israel? Why did God lead him out of the land? Why is God keeping you and sustaining you all the way home to heaven? Because of you? No, because God loves you. Because God loves you. Mystery, mystery of mysteries. It's the most profound and deep thing, but it's true. It follows then if God loves us, then his love is immutable. needing nothing from the creature, perfectly content in himself, God is therefore immutable, unchangeable. Think of it. Sinners hate God. They hate the fact that God is holy, that God is perfect and separate from themselves. They hate his omniscience. God sees everything they do. They hate his omnipotence. They can't overpower him. But they also hate that he does not change. if they could maybe outsmart him one day and he would change his mind. But he is immutable. He may be holy and omniscient and omnipotent, but maybe just maybe we could persuade him one day to change. But his holiness will not change. His knowledge will not change. His power will not change. His wrath and hell will not change. He will not be moved. What a tragic day judgment will be. But think of this. What does it mean for us, beloved, that God's love is immutable? What does that mean for you? What comfort can the bride of Christ draw from this fact? Here's one for your consideration. He will bring you home. His love will not change for you, and he will bring you home. He'll bring you home to himself. The immutability of His love brings you home. If you've ever had a prolonged trial in the Christian life, you know how profound that is that God will bring you home. You're going to make it. Not because of you, but because of Him. What a comfort in our doubt when we wonder if we'll make it. What a comfort in our trial when we cry out if God really cares. What a comfort in our fight against sin. For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you are not consumed, O children of Jacob." If God's love is independent, and it does not change, then that means God's love is infinite. Time may change my ugly face into a more ugly face. And I may find myself in many places in this world, but time can never tarnish the love of God and his love can never cease to find me. Your hardest boss said this. If I were to ever get a Christian tattoo, it might be this one. The best proof that God will never cease to love us lies in the fact that he never began. The best proof that God will never cease to love us lies in the fact that he never began. He chose us in him when finish the verse before the foundation of the world. When did God's love begin? It didn't. It's eternal. It's infinite. The psalmist cries, Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. God's love for you never began. Therefore, it will never end. It is infinite. Well, fifthly, where is Christ when he calls her? We're in our final question. Where is Christ when he calls her? Verse six. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. So he's called his bride from the wilderness and unformed places. He has set his immutable and infinite love upon her, calling her what she is when she is not. And he's calling her to himself. But where is he to be found? Well, it follows that is a plain fact that if he is satisfied in himself and he has set his beauty upon the church, then he can be in no other place than where his beauty is found. Where is his beauty found? Right here. Right? Right here. His beauty is found in the place where his presence specially resides. He's found dwelling in his church. And when God met with his people of old, he never met without the rich fragrance of frankincense and myrrh. Malachi 111 even prophesied the fact that this would be the case even to the return of Christ. From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, prayers to God and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. So having pronounced her beauty and the longings of his heart, Christ now dwells with his bride in complete satisfaction and intimate fellowship through the church. He dwells in the place for which he died. Ephesians 5, 2, Christ loved us and gave us himself, gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. So that's where he is beloved. He's in our midst among us. But how long does he plan to stay? Our text says until the day breathes and the shadows flee, that is every day until his return. If his love is unchanging and infinite, then he has purpose to be with us for all time and eternity of all the places Christ could choose to be in the world. The church is the place in which Christ chooses to reside. Matthew 28, 19, Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. A few observations from these facts. We've kind of come full circle now. We began by asking the great question, what if? What if someone really knew you? To be loved and not known leaves love feeling superficial. To be known and not loved leaves us with the psychological damage of rejection. But to be fully known and fully loved should ground us. It should strengthen us and set us free. God pronouncing such love and beauty over us should do several things. So I'm gonna do something an old pastor of mine used to do. He said, start a list. No list is exhaustive. So I'm gonna give you four things. Just start a list here and I want you to add to this list. So God's pronouncement of love over us and beauty over us should do several things. Number one, it should free us from the superficiality of being loved and not known. It should free us from the superficiality of being loved and not known. We no longer have to hide from God. He knows us and he loves us. This allows us to open up to others. Secondly, it should free us from the fear of being known and not loved. The love of Christ frees us from self-righteousness. He loves us and he knows us. We are far worse than we could ever imagine, but being accepted by God allows us to enter into true fellowship with one another. Number three, it should challenge us to believe the things Christ says to be true about the church. And maybe that's been the challenge of your heart this morning. Maybe you've been listening and you've read this book and you're like, what in the world is this about? And what is this guy talking about up here? He's talking about the church and the love of Christ, but I'm just not getting it. It should be a challenge to us to believe the things Christ says to be true about his church. This proclamation of your beauty, when you know your ugliness, is the challenge of the gospel. Right? You know who you are, but what does Christ say about you? That's the challenge of the gospel. We are always in need of fresh discoveries of Christ's love for us. And the Bible hits us from every angle. Your sin is ugly, but God calls you what you are when every fiber of your being knows otherwise. We've all looked at that stranger in the mirror, right? We've all seen that stranger. How could I have done that? I can't believe that about myself. Do we have the attitude of David, however, about the church? Psalm 16.3. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. When we understand what Christ esteems and his estimation of our fellow Christian, then can we not delight in one another and believe those same things? I pray the Lord granted to us in this local body more and more. But finally, number four, being loved as such by Christ should free us to love others as Christ has loved us. I had a old pastor say one time, you'll never have to love anyone more than Christ has loved you. You'll never have to forgive anyone more than Christ has forgiven you, and you'll never have to serve anyone more than Christ has served you. Let that be a banner over your house. Married people. That's hard, but it's true. It should free us to love others as Christ has loved us. Love risks. Love risks. Listen to what C.S. Lewis said. We're about to close it out. To love it all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries. Avoid all entanglements. Lock it up and in a safe in the casket or in a coffin of your own selfishness. But in that casket safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable. and irredeemable. Investing your life into sinners is risky business. Investing your life into the church is equally dangerous and not without the possibility of scars. But we must risk loving her. She is worth it. She is worth it. I also want to urge you to weep for to reach out to and to lay down your life for the souls of lost men and women around you. Maybe wrestle with these big questions. I've wrestled with them myself. Are you burning in your heart to see lost people saved? Is your life worth more than another man's salvation? Is your life worth more than another man's salvation? Since Christ has called us to bear witness, are we striving by grace, gripped by love to reach out to lost people? Being so loved by Christ should make his bride bold and risky. Why? Because she's secure. She's always loved by God. Love should embolden us. It should grip us. It should push us out of our comfort zone. The love of Christ made the apostle Paul say this, I am not ashamed of the gospel. He went on to say, I do not count my life of any value, nor as precious to myself. If only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Maybe the love of Christ can compel us to intentionally reach out to our neighbor with the gospel or make that uncomfortable phone call or that hospital visit to speak the words of life. There's no reason to blush, no reason to blush when we love others as Christ has loved us. How then shall we live? How then shall we live, brothers and sisters? Well, beloved, one day we will all bear a weight of glory that defies any comparison, a glory put upon us when this lowly body, this shell of clay, shakes off mortality and corruption and ugliness and puts on fully and finally immortality and the imperishable beauty of Christ forever. And maybe then we'll believe that about one another. For now, for now, let us believe the nearly unbelievable. You are all together beautiful to Christ. There is no flaw in you. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, these are hard things, things put in terms that we're maybe not even familiar with. Your love for us is deep and profound, Lord, and we have stretched our minds and our hearts to try to believe these things this morning. And if we've grasped onto any little thing, Lord, would you help that to grow in our hearts, to grip us even more, to know your great love for us? Your love is free. It's unchanging. It's infinite. Let those things grip us, Lord, that we may live lives in the church as people loved by God, but also live lives in the world, Lord, as people calling out to lost people to come to Christ, to be reconciled to God. The love of Christ compels us. Come to him. Come to him, Lord. Please help us in Christ's name. Amen.