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JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL

 

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.

 

A sermon preached at the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles
Lord’s Day Evening, January 14, 2001

 

"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would
not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).                         

Charles Wesley wrote the words of this great hymn:
Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly,      
While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high:  
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past;     
Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last!          
    (Jesus, Lover of My Soul" by Charles Wesley, 1707-1788).

Jesus Christ loves you. That is what the Song of Solomon is all about: the love between Jesus and you.

I do not know which of the contributing editors wrote this note in the Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, but whoever wrote it is wrong. The opening note is confusing.  Don't get me wrong, I believe every pastor should have a copy of it for reference.  I have read these study notes carefully, and this is the only one that I strongly disagree with.  I recommend the Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible strongly.  But this particular note is wrong.  The note incorrectly says:
Many interpret this book as a prophetic picture of Christ and His Bride, the church. However, there is no such use of the book by any of the New Testament writers, nor are we instructed that it is to be used allegorically. The main purpose of the book is to give divine approval to the husband and wife…enjoying each other physically. (Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, AMG Publishers, 2000, p. 685).
Now, I will answer this misleading statement point by point.
        1. "There is no such use of the book by any of the New Testament writers…" Hold it a minute! I say that statement is false. Song of Solomon is a clear example of type and antitype. The type is Solomon and his bride. The antitype is Christ and the church. When the antitype is so clearly and explicitly given in the New Testament, as it is in Ephesians 5:31-32, there can be no question whatever of the validity of the type. The New Testament plainly and without any possible question tells us that married couples are pictures of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Therefore, this marriage, portrayed in the Old Testament, pictures the union of Christ and the church. Since the whole of Song of Solomon is concerned with marriage, it is the clearest picture of the relationship between Jesus and His people given in the entire Bible. To disregard the plain words of Ephesians 5:31-32 (the very words – look them up!), to disregard their plain meaning does not take the words in Ephesians seriously enough.
        2. "…nor are we instructed that it is to be used allegorically." The use of the word "allegorical" is a red herring. No major conservative Bible teacher has ever said it should be "used allegorically." They have said it should be viewed typically. The type is Song of Solomon. The antitype is in Ephesians 5:31-32. And these two verses certainly do instruct us to view Song of Solomon typically!
        3. "The main purpose of the book is to give divine approval to the husband and wife…enjoying each other physically." Where does the Bible say that this is the main purpose of the book? Where is this stated in the Bible itself? Ephesians 5:31-32 gives us the main purpose of Song of Solomon.
We take the position of the Scofield Reference Bible regarding the Song of Solomon:
It is most comforting to see that all these tender thoughts of Christ are for His bride in her unperfected state. The varied exercises of her heart are part of that inner discipline suggested by Eph. 5:25-27 (note on Song of Solomon 1:1).
C. H. Spurgeon said:
We believe that, in this "Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s," we also hear Christ speaking to His Church, His bride, and the Church responding to His words of love…
     (C. H. Spurgeon, "Christ’s Love for His Vineyard," in
            volume 48, page 301, Metropolitan Tabernacle
            Pulpit, Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena, Texas).

Spurgeon preached sixty-three sermons from the Song of Solomon. In virtually every sermon he drew from the type in the Song of Solomon and the antitype in Ephesians 5:31-32.

Jesus loves you. That’s what the Song of Solomon is all about – His love for you and yours for Him. When lost people find Christ they feel exactly like Solyma did when she found her husband, Solomon:
"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
We love Jesus because He first loved us. The Bible says so.
"We loved him, because he first loved us" (I John 4:19).
And because Jesus loved us before we loved Him, He drew us to Himself.
"I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3).

He draws us to Himself because He loves us.

"I drew (or pulled) them with cords (or strings) of a man, with bands (or ropes) of love" (Hosea 11:4).

And here in the Song of Solomon we are told the same thing. Look at chapter one, verse four.

"Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee…" (Song of Solomon 1:4).
God draws (or pulls) us to Jesus. God pulls us to run after Jesus. God pulls us into Jesus’ "chambers" in Heaven and invites us to our Beloved Jesus when we have been pulled to Jesus. "We will be glad and rejoice in (Him)." Then we will say with Solyma:
"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
Now, how do you find Christ? Solyma said, "I found him whom my soul loveth…" How do you find Jesus Christ?
The Bible gives us at least four main metaphors, four words that explain in human language how to find Jesus:

         

      1. Come to Him.
      2. Touch Him.
      3. Look to Him.
      4. Believe in Him.


I. First, you can find Jesus by coming to Him.

 

Jesus said:
"Come unto me…and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus told us to "come" to Him. He would not have told you to do something you can’t do. He told you to come to Him, so you can do it – if you will.

Jesus said:
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…" (John 6:44).

You say, "That verse frightens me. What if God doesn’t draw me?"  But instead of frightening you, the verse ought to give you great comfort – because God is already drawing you! You would not be seated here in this church tonight if God were not drawing you. So God is drawing you, and because He is drawing you, you can come to Jesus! If you will let God do it instead of rebelling, He will draw you to Jesus tonight! (cf. Hebrews 10:38-39).

Stop rebelling against God and He will instantly draw you to Christ for cleansing from sin in His Blood! Now, tonight! Let God draw you to His Son!
Jesus said:
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out"     
      (John 6:37).

The moment you come to Jesus you are saved. He will not cast you out!

"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).

You can find Jesus by coming to Him.


 

II. Or, secondly, you can find Jesus by touching Him.

 

A woman was following Jesus through the crowd. She was very sick. She thought, "If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole (I shall be well)" (Matthew 9:21). She reached out and touched His cloak, "And the woman was made whole (made well) from that hour" (Matthew 9:22).
But, you may say, "What about others? Can other people touch Jesus and be saved?" Yes, anyone can touch Jesus, like that woman did. And the moment you touch Him, you too will be saved.
"They sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; and besought him (begged him) that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole" (Matthew 14:35-36).

"As many as touched were made perfectly whole"! Ah – this shows that the promise is for you also. "As many" – anyone! "As many as touched were made perfectly whole." Then, will you touch Him? If you will, He will make you perfectly whole as well. He will forgive all your sins and iniquities if you will simply touch Jesus by faith.

"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing" (John 20:27).

When Jesus told Thomas to touch Him, he did not need to physically touch Him. And so he didn’t. He touched Jesus by faith. Then he cried out,

"My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

In that instant Thomas was saved. He touched Jesus by faith. If you will only touch Him, He will forgive your sins and save you, too.

"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
Just as Solyma touched and held her husband, so you can touch and hold Jesus Christ by faith. And when you touch Him, you are saved!



III. But, thirdly, you can find Jesus by looking to Him.

 

We are told that countless Jews will be saved in the future by looking to Jesus:
"They shall look upon me whom they have pierced…in that day there shall be a fountain opened…to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 12:10; 13:1).

When they "look" upon Jesus, immediately a fountain is open to wash away their sin and uncleanness! Today also, "There is a fountain filled with Blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins!" The moment you look to Jesus, His Blood washes all your sins – past, present and future – away in the fountain of His Blood, shed on the Cross.

What must you do? You must do exactly the same thing these Jews will do – you must "look upon me whom (you) have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10). Your sins caused Him to be pierced on the Cross. Now look to Him, and be cleansed by His Blood. As the old hymn puts it:
O soul, are you weary and troubled?                  
No light in the darkness you see?                          
There’s light for a look at the Saviour,                  
And life more abundant and free!                          
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,                                    
Look full in His wonderful face;                               
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim                    
In the light of His glory and grace.                          
          ("Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" by Helen H. Lemmel, b. 1864).
Solyma said:
"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
When she found him, she doubtlessly saw him first. When she saw him, he was found! And that’s the way it is with finding Christ. The moment you look to Him by faith you have found Him – and you are saved!
"That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life…" (John 6:40).

Look to Jesus and you are saved!

IV. But fourthly, and lastly, you can find Jesus by simply believing in Him.

 

 
Paul said to the jailor:
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

Now if that poor, lost jailor could get saved at midnight by believing in Jesus, so can you. You already know far more of the gospel than he did when he got saved. All he heard was the prayers of Paul and Silas and the hymns they sung (Acts 16:25). But there was enough about the gospel in those prayers and hymns to awaken his interest.

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

he asked (Acts 16:30). And they immediately answered him:

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

As Joseph Hart put it,

The moment a sinner believes,                          
And trusts in his crucified God,                          
His pardon at once he receives,                          
Redemption in full through His blood.                          
        ("The Moment a Sinner Believes" by Joseph Hart, 1712-1768).

"The moment a sinner believes…His pardon at once he receives." The very second that you believe in Jesus, all of your sins are washed away everlastingly in the fountain of His Blood.

And it is so very simple and easy to believe in Christ. Jesus said, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1). You already believe in God. Now believe in Jesus. The moment you do, His Blood washes you clean from sin and you are saved!
"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
Oh, find Jesus tonight, as Solyma found her husband. Find Christ tonight!
Come to Him!                                                   
      Touch Him!                                          
          Look to Him!                                   
               Believe in Him!

And do it now!

 

 

Scripture Read Before Sermon: Ephesians 5:31-32; Song of Solomon 3:1-4.

Solo by Benjamin Kincaid Griffith: "I am Thine, O Lord" by Fanny J. Crosby/
                                                      "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" by Charles Wesley

 

You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.rlhymersjr.com. Click on "Sermon Manuscripts."

THE OUTLINE OF

JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL

 

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.

 

"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would
not let him go" (Song of Solomon 3:4).                         
                 

(Ephesians 5:31-32; I John 4:19; Hosea 11:4;
Jeremiah 31:3; Song of Solomon 1:4)

       

    1. Come to Him, Matthew 11:28; John 6:44; Hebrews 10:38-39;
      John 6:37.
    2. Touch Him, Matthew 9:21-22; Matthew 14:35-36; John 20:27-28.
    3. Look to Him, Zechariah 12:10; Zechariah 13:1; John 6:40.
    4. Believe in Him, Acts 16:31; Acts 16:25; Acts 16:30; John 14:1.