Could you tell me, please, now to the Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon in chapter 5 and to verses 14 to 16. The Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 14. His hands are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is carved ivory. inlaid with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. The Shulamite, having refused to open the door to her husband and realizing her folly in so doing, has gone out on the streets of Jerusalem looking for her beloved. Her friends, the daughters of Jerusalem, have asked her, well, what is so important about him? What is your beloved more than any other beloved? And she is giving the answer to that question. We've already seen two particular things that come out of that, and particularly in relation to our application of this to our Lord Jesus Christ. If someone asks us, what is Jesus Christ, or who is Jesus Christ, what is Jesus Christ to you? I wonder what our answer might be. A number of different answers, obviously. But what we do see in the Scripture, we already noted two of these as we're looking at this passage in chapter five. We see Jesus Christ as the glorious King. We see him as the wondrous priest, the great high priest. We see him also as the great prophet. And this is what is presented to us, I believe, in these three verses. It may not be immediately apparent, but I trust that as we do seek to look at this, the Lord will enable us and see the glory that is being presented here about that aspect, that character, that mark of our attributes of our Lord Jesus Christ, the great prophet. When we think of the prophet, we think of the prophets in the scriptures, coming back to what was said in the Sunday School about the prophet Isaiah, that that prophecy in chapter 53 is a very amazing, clear prophecy concerning the crucifixion of Christ. But that doesn't in any way at all mean that those words had a perfectly proper, relevant, pertinent application to the people to whom Isaiah was ministering those seven or eight hundred years ago. Because the main task of the prophet is not so much to give prophecy, it is to declare the Word of God. To proclaim that Word. Not everyone had access to that Word, and certainly, of course, the only written word of God that they would have had, and then he might have had that available, were the very early chapters of the Scripture. So God raised up these men that would declare his word. But when you come to think of Jesus Christ, he is a far greater prophet a much more significant prophet, because he's not just been raised up to declare the Word of God, he is the Word of God. John reminds us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then later in that chapter, in verse 14, he says, and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. He is the Word. I would suggest that this is a vital principle that we do need to seek to truly grasp. Now, the Bible, the Bibles we have are the Word of God, the authoritative, infallible, inherent Word of God. But those Bibles are of no use. If in any way at all, they are separated, or as it were, divorced from the living word who is Jesus Christ. And we need to be careful. Satan is the most powerful, subtle enemy that we will ever, ever face. And in a way to make a God of our Bibles that we know the Bible, we read it, we study it, we learn it, but in so doing we can easily lose sight of that living Word of God. And we must never do that. We must always seek to see Him and to know Him, to know that Word that is that true word. That's not that he is going to contradict in any way whatsoever what the word says, what the Bible says, because it is his word. But the two must always go together. We've been thinking recently, of course, about Martin Luther, 500 years ago. We've been thinking in the talk that I gave of how significant the invention of the printing press was in 1440, so that the works of Luther, the 95 Theses particularly, and many, many others, could be printed and distributed. Before that, for over a thousand years, nearly 1,500 years, there was no printing press. There were no printed works. Every portion of the Scripture, every portion of any other part of literature, was all hand-written. And therefore, incredibly expensive. Therefore, totally out of the reach of the ordinary man and woman in the street, as it were. And for those 1,500 years, the people of God had no written Scripture for themselves to read. But they had the living word. They had the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, men sought to teach that word. We saw how Peter Warder and the Wardensians, how he raised up people and he taught people to go around with handwritten portions of the scripture to declare to the people. John Wycliffe, desire to do that. His were printed that it could be distributed amongst the people, but still it was very rare for the ordinary man and woman to have that, and very rare in fact for the ordinary man and woman to read. They were illiterate, but they had the living word. Now, I am not suggesting, in any way whatsoever, that we don't need our printed Bibles or, in these days, digital versions of the Scripture. We do. In fact, even more so. And what we must never forget is that we got a tremendous privilege that those folk never had. Because printing press had been invented. Because there are all these other means of distributing the Scripture and making them available to us. So we have a greater responsibility to learn those Scriptures, to read those Scriptures, study those Scriptures. But what I want us to grasp as we look at these verses in a moment, to see that that living Word who is the Scripture is so vital for us and that living Word is so important. as we seek to honor and serve Him. That word, we are reminded first of all in verse 14, is that which is truly strong. His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires. His arms. the arms of God or the hands of God. It could be translated either arms or hands. Remind us of his glorious power. Remind us of that great strength that he exercises. Psalm 45 and verse 4 we read, in your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth meekness and righteousness let your right hand teach you awesome deeds and later in Psalm 95 and verse 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts his arm his hand That arm and hand of strength. That arm in which the power of our Lord is seen. That hand from whom we are told no one will be able to pluck us. He holds on to us. The living word is so strong. and not only his arms or his hands, but his whole body, his whole demeanor shows forth that great power. You know, this was evident with our Lord Jesus Christ when he was on earth. There were times before he actually came to his crucifixion where he willingly gave himself over to the authorities. There were times when those authorities wanted to stone him and actually took up stones. But just his presence prevented them because of his great power. And that is our Lord, that is the living word, who has that great strength. One commentator says this, the polished whiteness of ivory is combined here with the azure blue of the choices sapphires. Beauty, perfection, symmetry, form are suggested, even that of one who says of himself to mankind, You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. John 8 and verse 23. He is not of this world in that sense because he is the Lord. He is the King of glory. He is the creator. John again reminds us in that first chapter of his gospel, speaking of the word, that he tells us that all things were created by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. This is our Lord. This is our beloved. And this relates to his word. The Word of God is full of strength. It's totally reliable. Never be afraid of that Word. You know, Satan is delighted when we're having conversation with people and we get into various debates, perhaps debates about creation and evolution, debates about this sense, whatever. Now, those things are important. We need to declare the truth in relation to those things. But we need always to emphasize the Scripture. Thus says the Lord. We find that phrase repeated time and time again throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. This is God's Word. We do not preach the Word of man. That's what I was saying earlier on. This is why, when the things happened with Hugh Collier last week, and us dealing with the same sorts of things, it is because it is the living Word, and by God's grace, He is going to use us in proclaiming that Word. And if the same thing comes over time and time again, you can rest assured, that's what God wants you to hear, and that's what God wants you to act upon. We need that. And thank God that that is the case. You know, that Word that is so strong and so powerful and so effective, there's no greater force that we can present apart from that living Word. And the second thing we see about that is that that Word always stands firm. As she speaks of her beloved, she says this in verse 15, his legs are like alabaster columns set on bases of gold, his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars. His legs are like alabaster columns. As our building continues to progress at Homerton, the external bits are virtually finished now, What you don't see, and what you will never see, that a few months ago, there was a special machine there digging deep, 18 to 25 meters deep into the ground. And as that corkscrew type thing worked and the soil was brought out, so concrete was poured in. And that whole shaft as it were, was filled with that concrete. Because if that wasn't there, this building, no matter how nice it might look, no matter how attractive it becomes, that building would never last. It must be on that solid, that firm and strong foundation. And, as I say, you never see that. If you go down there, you'll see there's quite a high tower crane. I had no idea how they put those in place until I went to see that one and they dug out a massive part of it, deeper than many of the columns that were going down and there's a great slab of concrete being placed there and the crane is attached to that. It will be taken off that when it's all finished. Okay, that will be never seen. And there's a sense with the Word of God that it is that sure and strong foundation that is absolutely trustworthy. It's not going to fall. The Word of God is never going to be found to be wanted. It's never going to be seen as something that is just the ideas of a few strange people all those years ago. Now, that's what the world thinks, of course, because they just don't like the Word. They stand against the Word. They don't want to know what God actually says. But that foundation is sure. Psalm 33 and verse 11 we read, the counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his heart to all generations. It always stands. The word is always relevant. The word is always true. That same word that Luther saw It's the same text that Hew Collier took last Sunday and it's still as powerful. It's not changed. Because the Word of God does not change in one sense, but in another sense it does because it is relevant to every age and every society and will continue to be so until the Lord returns. because it is his authoritative, all-powerful, all-effective word. Psalm 18 and verse 30, this God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord proves true. He is assured for all those who take refuge in him. His word's perfect. It is sure. We can rely on it. And God never forgets that word. Psalm 105 and verse 8, he remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations. So there's that strength, his legs standing firm on that word. When I was at Bible College in Barry, one of the lecturers was talking about the book by Wickham and Morris on creation and evolution. And it was all the rage at that time, it had just been published. But he was saying what we must be very careful of is that we don't stand with one foot on Wickham and Morris and the other on the scriptures, because Wickham and Morris can fail us. We stand with both feet firmly planted on the Scriptures because they were never, ever failures. They're always true and always real. And she likens them to the cedars of Lebanon, those glorious trees. Solomon of course knew the cedars of Lebanon, he used those to build his own home, he built the temple. And it's the ideal wood. for that purpose. There is a strength, a stability, a lastingness in that timber. This is what the Word of God is. It is that that lasts. As I said, it is demeaned, it is rejected There are many ways in which people would do this. I remember some years ago watching an interview with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on TV and he was quoting an answer to one question, a bit of a debate was going on. He was quoting from the Apostle Paul. I can't remember what the verse was. Let's see. The person chairing this interview said, look, you know, that's okay, but we really should rely on what Jesus says. Every text that the doctor quoted from that moment on were the exact words of Christ from the Gospels. Because this is what the Word of God does. There's no contradiction in that word. You know, people often say, I don't want to, I don't believe that, I don't like Paul. Well, I'm sorry, whether you like him or not is not the point. because what he says is what Christ has said. As someone said, the Old Testament points us to Christ, the Gospels tell us about Christ, the letters and the rest of the New Testament point us back to Christ. And that is always the case. He is in every word. And we trust that because it is, as I said at the beginning, that living word. The wisdom of the world He just doesn't like this, rejects it. Paul reminds us because things haven't changed in 2,000 years. Paul could be writing this about our society today in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 17. He says, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to have preached the gospel with the words of eloquent wisdom, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, sorry, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart. There is no wisdom in this world. No matter how mighty the people might be in the eyes of the world, No matter how wonderful their words might be, there is no true wisdom. The wisdom, the only real wisdom, is that which is God's Word, God's living Word. And this is why Paul says to the Thessalonians in chapter 2, 1 Thessalonians 2 and 13, He says, we also thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accept it not as the Word of men, but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you, believers. That Word, that Word that works so much That Word that changes lives. That Word that awakens the dead to know that true life in Jesus Christ. That Word. What a glorious privilege we have in having that glorious Word of God. We were reminded again in the Sunday school this morning You know, why do we sin? Do we forget? It was suggested and it's true. You know, we forget what God has done. We forget the price that he paid and we give ourselves to sin. It's a similar thing in relation to the Scriptures. You know, we can so easily start to put in our own ideas, our own philosophies. We see that all over the place. When I was talking about this particular verses a few weeks ago to Angelo in Alberta, he said that Angelo, he's the one with the strong arms, he's the one with the strong legs. He volunteered to say, I'll come up in the pulpit and show it. Someone who should remain nameless said, no way, he'll break it. Which may or may not be true. But, what is true, and this isn't Angelo, there are those today who go in the pulpit and break it, because they break God's Word, because they deny God's Word. You see the Archbishop, Justin Welby, and the Cardinal, the Roman Catholic Cardinal, all coming together, all nicely saying, well, you know, these things that brought about the Reformation, that's all been done away with. We're all nice and friendly, we're all straight, we believe in the same thing. That's perfectly true, because by and large, the Anglican Church does believe the same as the Roman Catholic Church. Both truths are anti-Scripture. And we see this word within the churches, within those professing Christians denying it. We see experience becoming the word. Because someone experiences something and they find it's very joyful and they find it makes them happy and it gives some sort of release or whatever, that's what they rely on. That's not the word. The Word of God can give us release, it can give us joy, it can give us happiness, but the Word of God can really hurt us. It is that sharp duet sword that plunges to the very depths of our being, exposing all that we are and all that we have done before God. The Word can hurt. I mean, He'd often that Word to hurt. But that doesn't deny its reliability. It does not deny its power. its stability. But then the third thing, she thinks more particularly of the word that is spoken. She says in verse 16, his mouth is most sweet and is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. There is a sweetness in the Word of God. I read that psalm, Psalm 19. It reminds you of those words from verse 7 in Psalm 19. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even the much fine gold, sweeter also than honey. and the drippings of the honeycomb." That's the glory of God's Word. It is sweet. You know, the Word of God is so effective. I've said before, and this is always true, that I'm preaching and everyone else is preaching the Word of God. Those who are listening Find that word affecting them in different ways. What the word of God is saying to you as an individual at the moment is not necessarily saying the same thing to someone sitting next to you or in another part of the church because the word of God is like that. It speaks to what we need. As I was just saying, it may speak harsh things but we're now thinking of that sweetness, and that delight and that joy that that word brings. Psalm 119 and verse 103 we read, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. The sweetness of his word. When Madeleine and Steve first heard Geoff Thomas preaching at Aberystwyth, it was the Abba conference, the thing that they always remember, remember quite a bit, but the one thing, if you've ever seen Geoff Thomas preach, if he's got a big pulpit, he uses it all, he goes from one end to the other quite often, moving around. But he was there clutching his Bible saying, I love my Bible. I love my Bible. I love my Bible. And this is how we should be because the Word of God is so sweet. And when we think, you know, we're looking at history in some ways and when you think of what many have done in order to bring the scriptures to us, it's incredible. People dying, people burnt at the stake because they produced the scriptures. We have them so freely. You know, you don't even need to take this with you, do you? If you've got a phone, a smartphone, if you've got any sort of device, it's all there. I can sit at my computer and I can bring up, I normally use the SV, but if I want to look at the New King James or others, click, goes there. If I want to look up a particular verse, click, it goes, it's so amazing, so, you know, I find it incredible every time I do this. Do I love my word and the word any better? So we need to love that word and it is desirable. She says that he is altogether desirable or altogether lovely. Is the Word of God truly desirable? Do you desire it more than fine gold? Do you desire that Word and really feed upon that Word? You know that hymn that we sang before I preached, break thou the bread of life to me. You know, how important that is, that that Word may feed us. And if I might, I'll put in another bit of a, what I feel a bit of a warning here, is that we need to approach the scriptures in that way, that they feed us. You know, we need to study the scriptures, we need to work the scriptures, we need to, if we're able to, look at the original languages, all these sort of things. All that's important, but I get the feeling sometimes that that is done in preference to letting the word feed us. Letting the word just speak to us. You know, I don't know what you're having for dinner today. I don't know what you're having. I'll go back and be cooking something when we get back home. You know, isn't it so often the case that we sit down and have a dinner, we eat it, we enjoy it. We don't examine every little bit. We don't want to know exactly what the recipe is. We don't know how long it took to cook it. We eat it. We enjoy it. And we're fed by it. And I think there are times, I remember Hugh Morgan who, as I've mentioned before, took lectures in Pastoralia at Barry, used to say to us, in the ministry for your own reading. Get out of the study. Go somewhere else. Just read the word and let that word truly feed you. That's what we need. We need that bread of life and to have that desire for that word to truly feed each one of us. Remember, in the early days in the New Testament church, there was a problem. There were those in very real practical need and they needed food, they needed money, they needed help in many different ways. What did the apostles say? They said, you appoint seven people, seven men, who can take on that task because they say in Acts 6 and verse 2, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. It is not the task of the pastor, the preacher to feed the hungry. It's not the task of the pastor to seek to deal with practical problems in that way that people have. There is an element of that. But what they found was that was taking precedence. And the Word of God was not being preached. And that will affect the ministry. That will affect the church. That will affect God's people. It is the task of those who preach to preach that word. Others can do the other things. And we must concentrate on that, to make that word to have the right place it should in our lives. And in that same chapter, just two or three verses in chapter 7 later, we read this, And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith." Because of that word of God. So the Shulamite says, this is my beloved, this is my friend, is this how we see Christ? Is this the Christ who is our beloved? Is this the Christ who is truly our friend? The one who is ever with us? The one who is always there helping us? The one who is leading us and guiding us? The one who is strengthening and enabling us? He has done such glorious things for us. Last Sunday, Sunday evening, Hugh Collier was preaching so healthily on those words of Paul, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And he showed us that shouldn't be our desire. This is her desire and this must be our desire, that we live for Christ. and in Christ to die is gain. I was asked by someone just very recently, am I worried about dying? No. I've had three and a half years nearly of borrowed time. I've got no worry for I know that when I die I'm going to be with Christ. Alright, there's going to be a few tears shed when I go but I won't shed any. It's going to be so wonderful. I don't want to, with all due respect to everyone here, with all due respect to my family, my wife's not here so I don't get told off. I love them all, of course I love them all. But I love the Lord more. And that's where I want to be. And shouldn't that really be the case for each one of us? She wanted to be with her beloved. She'd lost him for a moment. She wanted to get back to that and it was so vital that she got back to that. She'd been so utterly foolish. Do you really want to be where your beloved is? John says, and I close with this, in 1 John 8 and verse 2, Beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. Amen.