Hello everyone, I'm recording a fresh sermon for the evening service of the 3rd of May, and if you have your Bibles I would love you to turn with me to the Song of Songs, Chapter 5, the Song of Songs, Chapter 5, and I will announce the sermon title, which is, as Richard Brooks would say, it's a beauty. But anyway, to God be the glory, it's taken from the text and the title of the sermon is this, Christ the Golden Mediator. Christ the Golden Mediator. Now we'll read in a moment from the Song of Songs, chapter 5, verses 10 to 16. But before I do that, I want to pray to very much call out to the Lord with a sense of urgency for public worship to be restored again, for the government to lift its sanctions over Christian public worship, And also I feel very much compassion for people who are trapped in flats, small houses and across the United Kingdom who are indeed depressed or perplexed by this significant challenge. Let's join together in prayer, wherever you are, and let's lift our hearts before the throne of grace. Let's pray together. Our Holy Father, we acknowledge that you are sovereign, that you do all things well, and we call upon the name of the Lord through the blood of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our wonderful Mediator. We draw near to you now, not really knowing how to pray as we ought, But one thing we do know is that public worship has continued in this city during the Civil War and two World Wars, and now we're facing an unprecedented situation where our own government are refusing us to gather to worship you, the Triune God. and Lord we call with urgency asking that you would move the hearts of the government from the highest to the lowest level to lift this sanction with urgency we cry help Lord for this but we specifically pray not only for the Christian church which we strongly desire that she would be revived in this and future trials and we say Lord start with me start with us But we pray for many people in the United Kingdom and indeed around the world. We think about people in African nations like Uganda who are suffering with hardship, hunger, even starvation as a result of government's actions around the world. And we think of people in our own nation who live in small flats or small houses, who are struggling with significant depression, downcastedness. May they turn to Christ. But Lord, we feel our hearts are filled with compassion for people who are really struggling at this time. Please hear us from heaven, Lord, and would you now open up the text of scripture for us, as we think of Christ, the Golden Mediator. Help us now, Lord, forgive us our sins, give us a heart full of thankfulness, and it's in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that we pray. Amen and Amen. Well, here I am in my study preaching to you. It's fresh material and it's from Song of Songs, Chapter 5. I'll read the first verse of the Song of Songs and then turn to Chapter 5 and read this wonderful portrait of Christ Jesus. The first verse of the Song of Songs, it says, The Song of Songs which is Solomon's. 1 verse 1, the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. And then in chapter 5, from verses 10 through to 16, here we read, My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. His head is the finest gold, His locks are wavy, black as a raven. His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool. His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires. Verse 15. His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. And I acknowledge there's a danger of preachers kind of exaggerating somewhat in terms of using superlatives regarding the truth of the gospel, but I really do think in this portrait of Christ from 510 to 516 that each verse could well represent a sermon. Each verse could well represent a sermon. And here's the superlative, though, of the beginning of this book. We know that Solomon is the author, but it's giving glory to God. It says, the song of songs. It's a double emphasis that there are many songs, but this song is above any other song, scripture says. And the reformed and orthodox and historic position is that this book, eight chapters, is supremely about the Church and Christ. Certainly the Westminster Assembly saw it that way, I see it that way, and also that's been the orthodox position through the Church. Robert Murray McShane, who, there is a book by Andrew Bonner called The Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McShane. It really is an excellent book to acquire. He said this, Robert Murray McShane, there is no book of the Bible which affords a better test of the depth of a man's Christianity than the Song of Solomon. Well, we don't hear that so much today, and we don't even hear that many sermons from the Song of Songs. And I wish we would hear more, because there are beautiful portraits of Christ in Scripture, and none finer than from the Song of Songs. But we do remember that Revelation 1, verses 12 and 16, we have this wonderful revelation of Christ to John on the island of Patmos, and what does it say? Do you remember how it describes Christ there? that he's in the midst of the seven golden lampstands for a start and Christ was speaking from there and Christ's head was white, white like wool in fact and like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. He was wearing a long white robe He had a golden sash across his chest and his feet are like burnished bronze. Each description has spiritual truth to teach us. Here in Song of Songs chapter 5, there are 10 attributes. His head is of finest gold, his locks are wavy, as black as a raven. His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool. His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are like lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires. His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. What a magnificent, kingly and majestic description of the song's description of this man who is the beloved, not a beloved, but the, the singular beloved. Now Richard Brooks, in his commentary, he calls this picture here, he describes it as the glory of Christ, and I cannot argue with that description by Richard Brooks, but I've called my sermon Christ the Golden Mediator, and we won't discuss and preach on every single aspect of that portrait of Christ, but the fact is he is golden from head to toe. Could there be a more glorious material, as it were, describing the majesty of the Son of God. From his head, which is one of finest gold, to his feet, which are described as bases of gold. So we also see the introduction that he's the chiefest or distinguished among 10,000. How do you think of Christ today? What does Christ mean to you? How would you describe Him in your relationship with Him? Well, the title is Christ the Golden Mediator. My first heading is Distinguished Among 10,000. Did you notice that in the opening verse, what we're looking at in Song of Songs, chapter 5, verse 10, my beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among 10,000. And here is the general overview picture of Christ the Son of God. And then we have ten particular specific descriptions. But let's look at the beginning. He is distinguished among 10,000. And we notice here that it is the Bride who is speaking. And she's speaking about her Beloved. That's how she begins and says, My Beloved. Can you say of Christ, He is my Beloved? Not your parents, not your husbands, not your wives. But you personally, can you say that Christ is my beloved? The bride here can, that's a picture of the church. The true church can say, my beloved. And then the general picture that he is radiant and ruddy, and then distinguished among 10,000. Now 10,000 is quite a lot of people. And as we see the general picture of this one who's distinguished among 10,000, we focus first on that phrase, my beloved. And then we'll look at what it means to be radiant or white and ruddy, and then to be distinguished among 10,000. my beloved. Well, compare that with Christ at the River Jordan when he was baptized with John's baptism and there was the voice of God the Father. Let's compare this with Matthew's Gospel chapter 17 and when Christ was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration and there we hear the voice of God from heaven. How does faith come? Not by seeing, Faith comes by hearing, and so we hear the voice of God from heaven. We don't see God, we hear his voice. And then also in Matthew 12 we have the phrase beloved again. Let's remind ourselves of the voice of God the Father from Matthew's Gospel chapter 3. Let's hear what the scripture says. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." So not only the bride here in the Song of Songs ascribes Christ as my beloved, but we're in good company, are we not? Because God the Father says, likewise, of the Son of God, the only begotten Son, this is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. The superlative attribute, name, title, whatever you want to give it of God the Father for His own Son, He says the same as the Song of Songs, My Beloved. The Father loves the Son, and when we pour our love out to Christ, we're honouring the Father. Likewise, in Matthew 12, a kind of a bridge between the baptism of Jesus and then his transfiguration, Matthew records this scripture from Isaiah 42 verse 1, one of the so-called servant songs. And Matthew 12 18 records this, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. And again, the Son of God is given the title my beloved and wait for it, we get to the Mount of Transfiguration, we know what we're going to get again, but let that not take away the the, I'm struggling for words, the beauty, the tenderness of being the Father's beloved. Matthew 17 verse 5, let's hear it. A voice from the cloud, and notice again it's a voice, no one sees God, no one can see God and live. A voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. Listen to him. And there's a danger, isn't there, with all the technology that's available today, that we can forget the the command is to listen to the Word of God. Our ears are the primary instrument by which faith is developed, not what we see. It says here, listen to him, but he's called, this is my beloved son. So that's the first description we've got of Christ, the golden mediator, my beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among 10,000. The second description is that he is radiant and ruddy. Now in the 17th century, around the time of the Westminster Assembly, there was a magnificent commentator called James Durham. He was Scottish and really blessed of the Lord, and he teaches with a wonderful commentary he has on the Song of Songs, that white and ruddy, that we get here in 510, refers to Christ's fit qualifications and excellences that make him so lovely to the soul when by faith he is looked upon. And these are not literal descriptions of being white and ruddy and so forth. They are metaphorical for us to understand the spiritual truth that the Son of God is not only beloved, but is radiant or white and ruddy. And when we think about white, we think of purity, do we not? something without mixture and certainly not with compromise. Ruddy, which we get white and ruddy, also ruddy speaks to me of freshness, of health, of purity, of manliness. Because we think about a young King David, as you remember, in 1 Samuel 16 verse 12, and he was described as ruddy, somehow a purity, a bit like Nathanael in whom there was no guile. And there's certainly no guile in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thirdly, then the summing description is that he is distinguished or chief, chiefest among 10,000. I don't know how many 10,000 people would look like. It would certainly be a large park, full completely, and there's one among 10,000 that the Song of Songs says who is distinguished among them all, and even that is too small. But Christ is incomparable to all others. Would you agree with that? But let me ask you, is Christ distinguished among 10,000 for you? Do you love Christ? Do you love to hear about Christ? When you hear a title, Christ the Golden Mediator, I hope that you're not one of these people that thinks, oh, not again. Here again this preacher goes on about Christ, but instead I hope when you hear about a title Christ the Golden Mediator, your heart skips a beat as it were. A bit like somebody who's in love and they can't wait to hear a phone call from their beloved, but instead we're talking about Christ. Let me ask you a searching question now, because preaching should search us, and we should be examined through preaching. The Song of Songs says, if Christ is distinguished among 10,000, but what about you? Is there anyone or anything anyone or anything that's competing in your life for your devotion to the Christ of God? Is there anything or anyone in your life that's competing for your devotion and love for the Christ of God? Does this truth that I'm even preaching now, does it lead you to repentance? Maybe where idolatry has come into your life? to compete with your devotion and love for Christ, or you set aside the commandments, you excuse yourself, the word of God may be plain and clear, but you excuse yourself and you keep on doing it. When will you stop making excuses for your lack of love for Christ? James Durham writes this, Christ is set out here positively and comparatively. What a beautiful description. Well our second heading, the first one is that he is Christ's distinguished among 10,000. The second one is that Christ's head is of finest gold, finest gold. Let me read 5 and verse 11. His head is the finest gold, his locks are wavy, black as a raven. And so as we get these descriptions, we get, I wouldn't say two for the price of one, that would be a cheap statement, but we get couplets here. One is that his head is fine as gold, but then also his hair, or his locks, are as black as a raven. So we get two, they're joined together. And someone may say, well hang on a moment, this is different here, Christ's hair is described as black as a raven. I say, yes. And then someone says they think they might be clever. Well, in Revelation chapter 1, it describes his hair as being white as wool. It can't be the same person. Well, that might sound plausible, but it's not. No one description of Christ is sufficient. I'm sure you would agree. He is altogether lovely. He's the chief among 10,000. His head, his finest goal, it's a picture of his head. The most important part of the human body, of course, is the head, isn't it? That's where all the brains are, or should be, directing the body. It's a picture of majesty and kingship, that his head is of finest gold. And again, James Durham, and we thank God for James Durham, he writes that there are ten parts mentioned here that are brought in as proofs of Christ's singular excellency, each of them almost having a double commendation. And two of them are in the 11th verse. The first is his head, the most eminent part of the body that furnishes influence and direction to all the rest. And we're agreed that the head here is described as golden. And so therefore we can expect golden directions from the head, which is Christ. Let's look at the head first of all, and that's our main thought in view, that we must not forget the title of Christ, which he is the head. And we mustn't forget what it means, because here it says, his head is of finest gold. We notice from Ephesians chapter 1, 22 to 23, the Word of God says that, And he put all things under his feet, and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. So God the Father put all the things under the feet of Jesus, and gave him his head over all things to the church. We mustn't forget, and sometimes we can be disappointed by the Church, and that's actually important for us to be discouraged by the state of the Church in Britain in 2020. Because the Church is not our source of encouragement, it's to come from the head. is to come from the head and we're to encourage ourselves in the Lord and in the head of the church because he is always perfect and golden and without blemish. In Ephesians 5 and verse 23 we read similarly, for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body and is himself its saviour. The saviour of the church is Christ this golden head that we're reading about here. Let me ask you, is Christ your Saviour? You say, oh no, well you have no excuse because the Bible says, as Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And Christ is our golden head. There's no lies in Him whatsoever. We read in this description in verse 13, His lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh. And there's an example of liquid myrrh that from the lips of Christ is the gospel invitation. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The only reason why we're not saved then is that we don't call upon the name of the Lord, so we are without excuse. And if we call upon the name of the Lord, He promises we will be saved. His lips are like lilies dripping liquid myrrh. It's an absolute sure promise for us. But in Ephesians 5, what else do we learn? Verse 23, that the husband is the head of the wife. That's the church. Therefore, if you're a Christian, Christ is to be your head. You are to submit to Him. And because they're a result of sin that we read about in the Garden of Eden, many of us find it hard to submit to authority, do we not? We'll only subject to ourselves when we agree with everything. Well, that's not the biblical position regarding Christ. Do you submit yourself to Christ and his precepts in the Word of God, even when you don't understand and agree with them? And same, we're now living out our faith within the church. In Colossians 1 and verse 18 it says, and he is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. In the resurrection of Jesus, he is the firstborn. Regularly when a baby is born, the first part of the body that comes out is the head. And once the head comes out, the body then follows. And so it is in the church. Christ is the firstborn. He's the preeminent one. He is to have the glory. We're not to be preaching primarily the body of Christ. So that's important, but not at the expense of the head of the church, who is Jesus Christ. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10, and you have been filled with him who is the head of all rule and authority. Therefore the head who is Christ is to have the priority in the church, the preeminence in the body of Christ. That's to be the case in the church. Does Christ have that place in your church? Does Christ have that place in Sheffield Presbyterian Church? Does Christ have that place in your family? And furthermore, does Christ have that place in your heart? God hates unbelief. So don't hide behind a cloak of unbelief saying, I don't believe in God, I don't believe in Jesus. You are without excuse. God hates unbelief. If that is your confession, then you need to confess that as a sin and plead with Almighty God for mercy, that he would deliver you from the wretched sin of unbelief. Does Christ have preeminence in your heart? I love that little jewel of a verse in Proverbs and it simply says this, My son, give me your heart. And when you give your heart to Christ today, not tomorrow, today because we find today there is a strong Antichrist spirit in every section of British society from the government to the universities to schools Times in the church, sadly, in the workplace, an anti-Christ spirit that wants to usurp the honour and glory given to Christ and to Christ alone. We must pray most urgently. I mean, I've got to say, when I read about the history of the church, certainly in the United Kingdom, in some of our brightest moments and times of revival, the Song of Songs seems to have had dust blown off its pages and preached again. So here we see in this little verse, in 5 and verse 11, his head is the finest gold, but Christ is the head of the church. And so, Christ is the head. Secondly, he is described as being of finest gold. What does that mean? It says here, his head is the finest gold. Christ is of the highest quality, nothing could fully depict the glory of Christ, but it points us in that direction. The Hebrew text teaches us that the word gold is used twice, but it's two different words for the word gold. You could effectively read it that his head is gold gold. double emphasis, albeit the two words, it's more accurately can be thought of, his head is gold, refined gold, and our mediator is most excellent and most worthy, eminent in all things. He is sovereign over all things and he does all things well. his decrees that the head of the church does, and the purposes are like golden threads coming from the golden head. Well, our third heading, though, I'd like to preach more on each of these attributes. Christ the Golden Mediator. But let's take a look at verse 5 and verse 15. What do we read there as we move down the body, as it were? His legs are alabaster columns set on bases of gold. And there, again, is a couplet of most rich and deep comfort. One of the benefits of this lockdown, and it certainly hasn't been the absence of public worship, which I repudiate. I think there can rarely be a time when public worship has been so crushed and Christians have become quite silent on the matter. Well, not me. I'm crying out day and night for public worship to be restored in Hilltop Chapel. Are you praying for that? We just heard recently Johannes Muller says next Lord's Day they'll be meeting publicly. There'll be certain things to be put in place in terms of social distancing. But he said this, Johannes Muller, the minister in Berlin, that from the lockdown every midweek meeting the number one point on the agenda was to restore public worship. And Johannes testified yesterday, God has answered that. Whether you think I won't be in a position to join in public worship just yet, will you join me and many others across the country to cry out to the Living God for the restoration of public worship and may the government never interfere ever again in our land to close the doors of the church. In my Bible it says the only time the doors were closed in the Bible was in an extreme backslidden state. Anyway, that's enough of me preaching that one too much, but I could say more. But we find in 5 and verse 15, these double, this couplet again, his legs are alabaster columns, they're set on bases of gold, that's his feet. And so, what can we learn from this? Well, we learn of Christ, that Christ's person is one of untelling strength and stability. Strength and stability. The King James Version, I believe, speaks of legs of marble. And that just reminds us of a measure of beauty, but also real solidness. If your life is in Christ, you couldn't be in a most safer place and refuge. And so, legs of marble. Alabaster though, probably more an accurate word perhaps than marble, is actually a white stone which is used for carvings. You may have seen it in some of the ancient world, white busts and so forth. It's often using alabaster as a white stone and the word for legs here is more likened to the word thighs, but leg is a sufficient word because it's giving the implication of the metaphor here. And the thighs are one of the most powerful parts of the human body. Therefore, it's a picture of strength. both for the church, both for the preservation of the church, but also for the preservation of the Christian individually, but also for the extension of the gospel around the world. His legs are alabaster columns set on bases of gold. And I just thank God for reading people like Robert Murray MacShane. We've got that book I've mentioned. It's called Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray MacShane. And I highly commend it to you, and especially Robert's sermons on the Song of Songs. but also his counsel to people who are dying. And there's a story about another lily-gathered called the Conversion of James Lang, a very young man who went to be with the Lord. Interestingly, one of the ways that Robert Murray MacShame would counsel this dying young man would be from the book of Song of Songs. What a most eminent book to counsel, for ministers to counsel Christians in times of real difficulty, not least in facing death. And one of the accounts that I read was that Robert Murray McShane went to see this young man, James Lang, and he exhorted him to trust in Christ from 5 and verse 15. His legs or alabaster columns set on bases of gold, or he would have been exhorting him with legs of marble, probably using the King James Version. And what a beautiful indication that is to the great usefulness, pointing Christians to Christ. What can we learn about this alabaster column set on bases of gold? It's the comfort of Christ's strength, I believe. that we, you and I, we are safe in the mediator's power, grip and grace. A friend of mine when he writes off emails, or used to, used to finish off with the phrase, in his grace and grip. That's what this verse is telling us. We're in the grace and grip of Christ and we're safe in the mediator's power from the first day when you were converted up until your very last breath He will be our guide even unto death. We can lean upon Him that even when we are weak, Christ our mediator is not. His legs are alabaster columns set on bases of gold. What wonderful comfort that can be for us in times of testing. And who knows, you may go back to the Song of Songs in the years ahead, maybe when you're frail, and dying, and may you receive much comfort and balm of Gilead from the Song of Songs, and no less, chapter 5, verses 10 to 16. It says that those powerful thighs and legs, they're set on bases of gold, and that's referring to the feet of Christ. Here we may truly say that our Mediator is literally golden from head to toe. His head is of finest gold and the feet are set on base of gold. And as we come to a close in this sermon, this exhortation which I've sought to preach to you, that we can really think of Christ and think of the majesty and the glory of Christ. And no better place to finish today, I believe, is to think of the book of Revelation, chapter 5, where we learn that Christ alone is worthy to open the scroll. What was on that scroll? It was a scroll of the decrees of Christ, the Son of God's Father. And then we have this wonderful description, it says this, that there was weeping in heaven about who was worthy to open that scroll, and then the message comes, weep no more, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Weep no more. Maybe you're weeping now about the state of the church or the state of the world. Weep no more. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Our response to hope through this sermon will be one of worship, of adoration of Christ, that we may worship the Almighty Father through the one golden mediator, Jesus Christ. And may the Lord restore public worship. In my opinion, nothing is a substitute for public worship, and certainly not listen to this sermon on the internet. We thank God for it, but it's not a substitute for live preaching and sitting under the Word of God. But in Revelation they responded to this truth of the glorious worthiness of the Mediator. they sang a new song in heaven and Revelation chapter 5 verse 9 and 10 as we close thinking of Christ our golden mediator they proclaimed worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation Notice what's central to the Mediator's work is that he was slain. He was killed in a violent manner. There was nothing pretty about the death of Jesus. The mediator was treated with contempt and poured out hate upon him by sinful man. He was nailed to the tree and lifted high on the hill of Golgotha. And there the mortal son of God died and breathed his last. But it says here in the Word of God that in his death and in his resurrection and the shedding of his blood there was a ransom, there was a purchase for the church. The golden mediator has redeemed the church with his own blood. But at the same time the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered. and he's made us a kingdom of priests to our God. Well I commend our golden mediator Jesus Christ and that wonderful description in Song of Songs chapter 5. I hope it will produce rich meditation material for you and I in the years ahead as we worship the living God through the one who is distinguished among 10,000. Well, as we close, will you join with me as we give a prayer of thanksgiving and worship to our Heavenly Father. Let's do that together as we close. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, who is worthy to pray and certainly to lead the people of God in prayer. I certainly am not, Lord. I feel extremely inadequate. But I thank you that my confidence is in Jesus Christ. Our confidence is in the Son of God. And we draw near to you now through our glorious mediator, Jesus Christ, the one who is your beloved son. And may he be beloved in our hearts and minds in a renewing way. Would you revive our faith? Would you strengthen our faith? Would you deliver us from fears and unbelief and a lack of faith? Help us to trust in you with all of our heart. leaning not on our own understanding. May our minds be renewed more by the Word of God than what the world tell us about COVID-19. We thank you COVID-19 is under the feet of Christ and that nothing can happen to us beyond that which you permit. We worship you, O Lord, that you the Lord gives and the Lord takes away and we say in the words of Job, blessed be the name of the Lord. And again, O Lord, we cry. Restore public worship with a sense of urgency. Revive your church to cry out for this. And we thank you for what we've all learned today from the Word of God. And it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray. And God's people said, Amen and Amen. Well, I trust you've been blessed. And I hope the next time you'll hear my voice, it'll be in person. Let's pray for that.