Now if you'll turn with me to the fourth chapter of the song. Well, I sat there, John reading that, and I think three times in that chapter, short chapter, the words of Allah came up. The last time that I talked with Brother Avery, before the Lord took him home, he was working on that little word, and had a lot accomplished, but he didn't get through. So I don't guess that no one found that, enough of it to publish. One did get his scattered notes on the 23rd Psalm, which to me at the time were just tremendous. But after his death, and it was only in just scattered notes that they put that little book together. of his notes on that. There's so much in this book. I mean, one word, and he had labored on it for months. All right. The Song of Solomon, Chapter 4. And before I got 10 yards from the house, I had forgotten, of course, not being able to get a hold of him, whether or not I had ever used this text in verse nine, where Christ speaking to his church tells her that she has ravished his heart. So, I'll have to see. And if I've used that title, there's plenty of other things in this that I can use a different title. Before, well, I'm not gonna ask you, we're not gonna start reading here for some time, but before we get into today's, I hope to our Lord it is a message. And that will be only because He makes it so in our hearts. But would you pray with me? Our Father, we do not take lightly the grace, mercy, the gift that you've given your children. And while here on earth that they can ascend into the Holy of Holies. Their calling upon thee, Lord, in Christ, through Christ. I think sometimes we take all this too lightly. Sometimes haphazardly run to the throne of grace. Sometimes it might be necessary to get there quickly due to an unfortunate accident, mishap, or need. but help us to be mindful of the one that bought us, of the one that is the way and has made a way for us. Even while in this old carnal state, this sinful nature, We know You, O God, will always hear us. As we come to open Thy Word, only the Spirit of God can open our hearts, can give utterance, wisdom, Something of clarity, not only in exposition, but in voice, that I be no hindrance to these hearing. Have them. And Lord, our friends that are in difficult straits, painful situations, would ye draw nigh them, O God. And as that mother cradles that little one that is sick, I pray you'll take them up, draw them very near unto thee, and manifest our blessed Savior to them. But we also ask that for us, Father, because there will be no worship here this morning without Thy Spirit and a realization of the presence of our Lord. Help in the pew, in the pulpit, and be Thou glorified, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. When Paul is nigh the last words that he will ever leave the church, right before he was martyred, 2 Timothy chapter 3, he warns us. This know also that in the latter days perilous times shall come. That is dangerous times, fierce times, hard to bear, will be upon the people of God. And then he begins to list men will be lovers, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, Disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth breakers, false accusers, despisers, that is of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, denying the power. And if ever there's a day when there is a form of godliness, surely today is one of those. But in everything that I quoted to you, There is nothing listed, nothing that will make this perilous time. These things have always been. Never been a society, never been a generation in which men and women are lovers of their own self more than God, To say children, well, I don't know, that wouldn't apply to you. I don't think loving your mate would apply to you, but it's there. There's always been a people that have been very greedy. The more they get, the more they want, boasting. Blaspheming the God that made them and the God that provides for them. Always been people that were disobedient to their parents. Very unholy in their life and in their walk and had no natural affections. Could kill a baby in their womb. Think nothing about it. Lie to you, no conscience whatsoever pricked about it. Hate those that are good because they leave a wrong or bad impression. Show them up in their own minds, they think. Having a form. of godliness. These have always been, these always will be, but it is only when society as a whole consists of these. The world won't ever be rid of them until the end of time. But the world has never had to deal with a great number as we are having to today. And when society as a whole can be described by what Paul has listed here, then we're in perilous times. Lot could live in Sodom, live there safely, No trouble. Wife with the other women. Daughters. Nobody ever bothered him until he rebuked the men that were trying to drag what they thought were men but were angels out into the street. Brethren, do not so wickedly. And that's when everything changed for a lot. He even, to my dismay, I don't know, he even offered his two daughters, take them, don't do this to these men. And the men of the city said, who is this fellow? Who made him a judge? I mean, he came down here among us, and now he's judging us. You hear that? If you ever, ever say anything that somebody doesn't like, and they take it as you saying it against or to them, do not judge. Well, when you call, a horse, a horse, or a jack, a jack. I didn't judge either of those, I just stated what they were. And when we see fierce, incontinent, traitors, heady, high-minded, lie to you in an instant, we're in trouble. Now, if we did not know, if we did not know what was coming next and Paul's writing there in that third chapter, We would all assume, since he is listing things at the end of time that will make a perilous condition in which we live, we would all assume that the next thing he's going to say is there's going to be wars and rumors of wars. And you're going to see nation rising against nation, some of them gathering together against what has been the world power for A couple of centuries now, they aim to take over the spot that America has claimed. Well, you'd expect that when he's talking about perilous times. He might even mention that one half of the population will die due to starvation or disease. There will be a food shortage, drought, pestilence, destroying the food, or as we hear in our day, you can't fertilize like you used to. We've got to be careful about the climate. Maybe even Paul would have mentioned the ice age or the global warming age, but that's not important. That's never an issue with the children of God. I mean, 30 years ago, we heard about the next ice age and they were telling us all it's gonna happen. Now they're telling us about global warming and the rise of the oceans and those near the ocean ceasing, losing a lot of their landmass. He didn't mention that. Our Lord listed some of those things when he was asked about the end of time. But after he told you of wars and rumors of wars, he said, this is only the beginning of sorrow. Has nothing to do with the end of time. Nothing to do with the Lord's coming back though that is imminent. Anything you can see out there or put your hands on or focus in, you can't use that as a sign that our Lord is about to return. As a matter of fact, Paul and Peter both said that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Now, dear ones, that being true, no thief has ever entered a house where the lights were all on or a house that was well-guarded. No thief has ever done that, not even venturing the daytime into stores unless Now you live in one of these cities that the DA will not punish shoplifting. Give them free reign up to 900 or less than $1,000. No fine, no punishment, no jail time. The thief's not gonna go. He's not gonna go in the middle of the day to a home and break in if he knows that the owner might be there. He's not even going to do it at nighttime if he knows that the owner is watching. If you saw visible signs of the Lord's coming, but since there will be none of those, And you now have that within. The Spirit of God has been teaching, showing, preparing you. And you felt like that the end of time, the Lord's return, was just around the corner. If we felt like that as a church, and it very well could be. I know one thing, I do not believe that the world can exist much longer as we are going. If you believe that, then beginning now, your life would change. This book, the scripture, the infallible Word of God would become important to you. Your closet would be the most valuable time that you have, be it morning or be it night. and the house of God would not be forsaken, or truth declared not taken lightly. And if you believe that the Lord is soon to return, then you would make preparation prior to entering that you might get one more word from God that would help you in being prepared to meet the Son of God. Everybody knows he's coming. but it doesn't affect us, nothing changes about us. When the godly, I mean godly young man, David Brainerd, had only a few weeks to live, Jonathan Edward, that at one time was going to be his father-in-law, great theologian, brought him to his house and he said that he would not trade that time for anything in the world. For that young man spent time, day and night searching his heart. Godly young man. McCain died also at that age and was very anxious about being ready to meet the Lord. He was making certain, making certain of his calling and election, making sure that his old heart was not deceitful, not lying to him, and that he was actually that that he claimed to be. Now children, there's never been a time when more truth is available to you than now. I mean, you can go out there and you can find anybody on any subject in the scripture. All over this land, men declaring truth, a lot of good men declaring truth. with little to no results in the spiritual realm. Don't see it, you don't hear about it. And I meant to have brought a preacher's name to you for you to look up. I just thought in getting a shower that I would listen to him because he was on the signs of revival. And I wanted to hear what he had to say. And I became a little skeptical within 10 minutes of where he was going and what he might say. And I decided, no, I'm gonna see him through this. For in that first 10 or 15 minutes, he was talking about the revival there in Kentucky and in other places. And I've never heard a message more truthful, more honest, and from scripture showing what revival was and how that what we've heard in these days as revival was the father from the truth. When the spirit of God moves, there is an awareness of his presence in the assembly. You do not need, as they had, a few instruments with a couple on the stage, working up the people into a frenzy. For true revival brings men back to where they were when they first began serving the Lord. Excellent job, but by the time I got out, they had already removed him from the front page of this website. I should have stopped then and wrote his name down before I would have given anything for you to hear it. You can hear truth, but you can't find truth anywhere producing any results. Oh, there's a lot of visible results that they have come up with in the physical realm, but are true Christ-centered, God-exalting, sinner repentance, Christians pleading with God to get back that that they once had in walking with Him. And for the most part, we all are laboring with very little workings of the Spirit of God. To my sad, bleeding heart, I wonder about us. What effect is the word of God having on you? Now, God listed preaching, the preaching of the gospel as a means of sinners being saved. So without that, You don't have salvation. But just us. Is there any change made on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning or any time through the week because God had a word for you when we gathered? Listen, Paul did say there'd be perilous times For there, men will have a form of godliness, but they will not have any power to go with that form. I don't know if we've got enough power of God about us to keep fleeing from sin. Have we got enough power about us that is continually drawing us to that place in our private time where we get near unto the Lord of glory. I don't know. I mean, just look at it in the whole, is lives being changed here? Are things continuing as they have been. No godly living. I mean godly, sincere, hard, devoted living. Knowledge is increasing, yet no power with it. It's not changing us. The Lord Jesus said, a wicked and evil generation seeketh after a sign. but there shall be no sign given except that of Jonah three days and three nights in the belly of that fish. No sign given, but he did say this, be ye also ready for the son of man will come in an hour that you think not. When's the thief coming? When you're not ready. What the... What did the penman of most of the New Testament say the return of Christ would be like? He'd be as a thief. Now in Hosea chapter five, you don't have to turn. Our Lord said, will be unto Ephraim as a moth and unto the house of Judah as rottenness. You don't hear a moth or moth making noise. Just pull out your good dress or your best outfit that you really like one day and the holes are in it. Rottenness begins in the sinner. That's what I'm going to be, God said, to two very choice tribes of Israel. They won't know that I'm destroying them. They won't know that the foundation that they have constructed out there is all of rottenness. No sign given to either that the destruction of God was taking place. Not gonna be to us. You're just gonna become so busy with life I'm not talking about working for a living, you gotta do that. But so busy with life, so desirous of things, more money, a greater pursuit of happiness. Gotta make more money. And we're working ourselves to death with God on the outside. And we're being destroyed with little old tiny moths. And your house, your building, could be crumbling from within because of rottenness. Well, what am I to do? Watch. What is it that keeps drawing your heart? Ephesians 6.13, and having done all to stand, Matthew 10, he that endears to the end shall be saved. We're good Baptists now, and we certainly believe that once we got saved that that's forever. We're always saved. We know that, and that's one of our crutches. I got saved back then. He that endears to the end It's not how you started, it's how you finish. We are made partakers of Christ if we hold, if we hold the beginning of our confidence. That's Paul in Hebrews 3. Confidence, substance, person in one place. And foundation, if we If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast, how long? Until the end. Now, how can I do this? I mean, everything in the world, everything, society as a whole is against you. Everything is against you, child of God. So how can I make certain that moths or rottenness or me being, me building on a faulty foundation, how can I make certain that these things are not taking place and that I will be steadfast? By you, by you looking, now you're with me here in the song, by you looking, into the very heart of the Son of God. Now in the Song of Solomon four, chapter four, down to verse five, he describes her. In verse nine, thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast ravished my heart. Didn't take two eyes with one of thine eyes and with one chain of thy neck. Now in chapter five, she beginning with verse 10 through the end of chapter five describes him. Sometime go and compare him describing her to her describing him in chapter five. But back here in four, this fire, lovely, of the Lord Jesus. She's got a single eye and as she looks into his face, it is reflecting his heart. She knows where she stands with him. It is manifest in his face. I know how he feels. evident when I look at him. Now in chapter seven, and I'm not going to read any but verse 10. Song of Solomon chapter seven, verse 10, I and my beloved My dear child, you can say that. But now what about this next statement? His desire is toward me. Because of the corruption, television, airways, billboards, I cannot handle that publicly. But any of you, with any ears at all, you know what he's talking about, what she's talking about. When I look into his face, I see that I am the prized one in his heart. And I know this, his desire is toward me. And folks, one of the most difficult truths to become settled in a true believer's heart, one of the most difficult truths is how the Lord Jesus feels toward his bride. I'm not talking about these that have misused and abused his love. You as a believer, and you didn't become a believer until you found out you were a sinner. And as you walk with Him, instead of getting holier, you see yourself more sinful. It's not that you're becoming more sinful, you're just in more light now. And I don't like what shows up in a mirror. But she knows. And if you're going to endear in these perilous times. And you're going to stand, might not be but one or two of you. All of you might stand and you might be hiding out somewhere, but if you're going to stand, it's got to be that your heart knows how he feels about you. Get settled in that and everything will be all right. before we wouldn't know anything about the bride and the bridegroom. We wouldn't know by what he said to the disciples that we were his friends if we did whatsoever he commanded us, we wouldn't know that. But had not Paul been carried to the third heaven, there wasn't a one of us ever known that there was a relationship between the people of God and the Lord of glory as close as husband and wife. I forget one time when the Spirit of God was drawing in our land, when he was bringing conviction in hearts, the question, not then would, well, he's gonna save you, just call on him. The question back then when the Spirit of God was making sinners, Wasn't. If I accept him? No. No. Back then the question was, could there possibly be mercy in him that would be manifest to me? And one of the things, Missing even in the true church is the richness of fellowship and communion with the head of the church. Today we've set rules. We have our little devotion. We have our little reading in the scriptures. We have our little time of prayer. But you are a rare person if in these you are seeking communion. I want to know how he feels toward me. I want to know why the Spirit has become quiet to me. Why am I not hearing his voice in reading or in preaching? Well, as our little list of duties, become our Christianity? Or when I perform these things, am I looking, tell me Lord Jesus, tell me about your heart. And let me tell you, how my heart fluctuates and rises far above this old world when I am communing with thee, Lord Jesus. How refreshed my old, dead, careless heart becomes when reading, and I have a word from thee. Now in this book, our Lord said of himself, talking about his church, a little garden enclosed is my sister. Well, if we are the sister, then it must be he and I have the same father. My beloved, my spouse, he called us. Well, that's one in holy communion with God. And he's enclosed us in this little fence built around this garden, enclosed. That is that he might keep out the little foxes In my early years, when my grandmother had all her chickens and they were all free, back then everybody's were, we had a fenced-in garden. It was at least half an acre. It come springtime and my job was to patch up all the holes and replace the fence if the post had rotted. It took a good while to get around a half acre of five foot wire. But we had to have something or we wouldn't have gotten anything from the garden. Well, when Christ here in chapter four describes her and he lists the plants in this orchard, pomegranates, fruits, spinach, saffron, cinnamon, frankincense. You know what her prayer was? Awake, O north wind, come thou south, that is, spirit of God. Whether it be that chill coming up from or down from the north, or that warm breeze blowing up from the south seas, come. All I want is that my spices, that that he has planted within, to flow out. And her reason for that was that it was for her bridegroom. Let my beloved come into his garden. The gardener planted. That's our father. But he uses so many of these things in describing. It'd be like an artist on a large canvas sitting out And up close to him, he's got the flowers out there, wildflowers. And then his paintbrush moves on to the small, small brush, their leaves, their colors. And then on to the taller, And in that one painting, you've got this beautiful scene of a low place at the foot of the mountain with these beautiful things blooming. And this and that and the other as you go up, and she tells him, This is for you. This is for you. All that the garden is for, its beauty, its fragrance. What does that have to do with perilous times? What? What does a fence have to do with perilous times? What does his desire toward me have to do? Well, in his garden, only plants that he has planted. All within an enclosed space. That's his spouse. That's how she'll blossom. That's how her fruit, as it blooms, will bear those rich fragrances. How'd you get in this place? God birthed you, God planted you. In Matthew 15, the disciples came, well, they were with the Lord Jesus when he was teaching the Pharisees. And after he got through, they said, Master, don't you know that you offended them? He said, every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. So I've told you about perilous times. You all, there is that deep sense within you that you know that's true. And you know just what's around the corner in our nation. I don't know what came up in the conversation last week with Joe, but I said, and you will live to see some of these things. He said, my, you would make such a good motivational speaker. That's his sarcasm, but he knew I was telling the truth. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, a certain man planted a vineyard. He aged about it, let it out to husbandmen, and he came seeking fruit. What will your hopefully bridegroom, what will he find as far as fruit in you. Another parable put he forth a certain man had a fig tree that he had planted. And for three years he came seeking fruit. And one day he said to the gardener, the keeper, cut it down. It's taken all the sunlight from my other fig trees producing. It's taking up the water and taking up the fertilize, cut it down. Why should I leave it here when all it's doing is covering the ground? I got one, I got two places and I'll hurry. Psalm 92, Psalm 92, beginning with verse 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. God planted, God provided the rain and the sun, and God provides that which will keep the soil fertile for them. Therefore, let the wicked multiply and cover the earth. Let perilous times be, as Paul said, his children shall survive. In perilous times you will flourish like this palm tree. The more so as your roots are sent deep into the ground, into Christ, seeing his thoughts, knowing how he feels about you. And that root sinking deep within the ground. That means these have discovered what was lost when Adam fell. And now they're finding it again. That's how you'll survive. growth, development, a single eye, looking into his face, knowing. Wouldn't you walk down the streets, if not humming aloud, there would be a tune in your heart Knowing Christ has brought you into the closest of fellowship, into the closest of union. And I know one thing about our Lord, he never lost a sheep. All his will continue producing fruit even down to old age. And the word of God shall be still is due. shall fall as rain, gentle rain on the herbs, insufficient rain on the fruit trees, keeping the soil moist. I will be as dew unto Israel, Hosea 14. God said of him, he shall blossom. Our Our English is grow, but also blossom is another word. I'll be as do you unto Israel, he shall grow, blossom as a lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon, deep into the fertile soil. I got the maple tree, the largest tree on the left as you go up the driveway. It's volunteered, but it came up where all the topsoil had washed away. And as you would expect, its roots run on top of the ground for the most part. Not a Christian. God plants you in fertile soil. God brings you along. giving you glimpses here and there of the Lord Jesus and from time to time in his book, you'll hear his word to your heart or you'll see in his book, his smile. I'll keep you children even in difficult times and you will not be destroyed. will not be, for the trees of the Lord are full of sap. That's in Psalm 104, but I want to read, and this is the last, in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 17, beginning with verse five. Thus saith the Lord. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabit it. There are a lot of things that God has promised this church that I look forward to gathering in with my own heart. There are some things God said that I never want to experience. And that verse, those two verses right there are such. Verse seven, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, And whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out his roots by the river and shall not see, shall not see when he cometh. But her leaves shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought. Neither shall cease from yielding the fruit. And then you get to this and God just breaks off his conversation right there about his garden, about the trees of his planting. And he said, you got a deceitful heart. Watch it, children. So he gives his blessings for this child of God. And then he changes, said, now watch. Like you as a parent, whatever good that you can teach them to do, you will. and what they will get by their obedience from you. But there's always a negative. But you can't do this. Watch, guard, keep thine heart diligently, for out of it are all the issues of the Lord. Now what he promised was, in perilous times, when the heat comes, you'll not see your leaf wither, it'll stay green. And you're not gonna be anxious or afraid, you will not be careful, that's anxious or afraid in the year of drought. The old river before they dammed it up, the one below the house here. I've seen it so low that you could walk across it, especially if you got down to the old rock traps. And I don't know, surely it was the Indians or the early settlers, but as many eras as I've found over the years, it had to be Indians close by. You can walk all the way across it. And a hundred yards up the river, except for two large Two large holes there with the river of God. Even in times when it runs low to you, it will never run dry. And blessed is the man Walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, or sitteth in the seat of scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate. Psalm 1-3, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Never seen a tree in dry years that we had sometimes growing up. Never seen a tree close to the river where its leaves turned early and began to fall off before fall of the year. Never saw one. Never seen one in these little branches or creeks. Never seen one close there. but suffered in the years of drought. Blessed is the man, walks not, stands not, sits not, but his delight's in the word of God. He'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. That's a special, precious promise. Perilous times will come. We are in those times now, but they're going to get worse. But keep your eye on Jesus, looking deeply within his heart and listening carefully that you might hear, thou art my beloved. My sister, my spouse, you have ravished my heart. Just looking into my face and what you see, love and trust. And his desire is toward me. He'll never forsake children. Look at Calvary, what he paid. Shall he give you up in perilous times? Nope, those times your leaves shall not wither, they'll stay green. You'll not cast forth your fruit before it's ripened. So you know. Difficult days were ahead. I'm out of time, or I wouldn't describe to you all that you already know. Who under God's heaven ever thought that there could be more than two sexes on the face of the earth? I'll close. I don't want to take your mind off looking at Jesus, looking directly into His face, children. Lord bless you.