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All right Song of Solomon and we're continuing this study to help our marriages okay and this is the book again if you're if you're married this book is for you if you're planning on getting married this book is for you if you're single and you desire to get married this book is for you okay so it's a romance book of the bible and it's definitely going to strengthen your marriage I personally believe it's it's a it's a good practice to read this together with your wife husband so read this for your wife to read it with your spouse read together and just spark some of the the romance back into your into your marriage now look at verse number 10 in chapter 2 it says my beloved spake and said unto me rise up my love my fair one and come away the title for the sermon tonight is rise up my love rise up my love it says and come away hey they want to spend time together okay and that's hopefully what your marriage feels like like the feelings of desires that you have I hope that you desire to spend time with your spouse and not to spend time away from your spouse okay and if you're spending time if you're like if you're like I'm going to spend time away from my spouse you know well this this is again this is the book for you okay and look I'm sure as we go through this chapter by chapter there are going to be things that you will realize in your marriage that it's lacking okay and I don't want you to give up I don't want you to say oh then my marriage sucks my spouse sucks what's the point of it not just like anything in life okay when we're preaching the bible there are areas in our life that we need to fix that we need to improve so be it you know that's what marriage is like the you know no one's perfect no one's got this wonderful amazing perfect marriage without any problems I've never met that couple in my life okay but this book is for us so we can make those improvements so it can be a little bit more like the marriage that Jesus Christ would have us to have so let's start there in verse number one now as we are as I sort of mentioned last week we need to understand when there are times there are times when the when the wife is speaking there are times when the husband is speaking and we need to be able to identify this sometimes it's not clear but many times most of most of the book it is pretty clear who is speaking between the husband and the wife but in verse number one it says I want you to think about who's speaking here the voice says I am the rose of Sharon so someone is saying I am the rose okay now just do you think that could be the wife or the husband like just Tom if a married spouse is saying I'm the rose that's that does that sound like the husband or the wife sounds like a wife okay and then it says and the lily of the valleys okay the lily is another flower okay again the husband or wife you'd think you'd think okay that sounds like the wife right but just in case you need confirmation you get verse number two as the lily among thorns so there's a lily amongst a whole bunch of thorns so is my love among the daughters okay so daughters is the women okay and so it's very clear here that the lily is the feminine right the lily is the wife and when it says here as the lily among thorns you know when I think of my wife Christina I also think of her as the lily right and all the other women other thorns okay all the other women women at church women outside of church women that I work might work with okay my neighbours that are that are ladies out there they're all thorns okay and have you ever been pricked by a thorn have you ever gone gardening you stuck your hand in have you ever been pricked it doesn't feel nice does it it might very well draw blood it's not good for you and husbands once you're married every other woman is harmful to your life is harmful to your relationship okay you need to have the right boundaries with other women once you set your heart on one person that's my lily that's the rose and amongst all the other daughters of Australia around the world they're all thorns okay so I'm not going to approach unto them I'm not going to make a move I'm not going to try to find them attractive I'm not going to try to build a a very close relationship with these other daughters because it's going to hurt my life it's going to hurt my marriage if I intermingle with them on a personal level now if you can come keep your finger then come with me to problem chapter five come with me to problem chapter five and verse number one problem chapter five and verse number one I've got no problem for every other man in this church to think of my wife as a thorn good think of it as a thorn I like that okay I've got no problem whatsoever but in my eyes she's my lily in my eyes she's my my rose my rose with Sharon okay and you know even though we begin with this this how other women are harmful to you I want you to notice what it says in problem chapter five because before I read this you know like I've worked in an environment where there's a lot of women okay I've worked in an environment where I worked for a call center okay and I didn't work in the call center but I managed a call center and usually call center environments are going to have mostly women all right and um my my HR manager my human resource manager he's not even he's not a saved man he said to me look when you call a woman into your office to talk to her about work whatever make sure your windows because we had blinds make sure you get rid of the blinds make sure you leave the windows clear so anybody can see what's happening in the office okay that you won't be falsely accused that she won't say you did something and it's not true for your protection because even though I don't believe you do anything like that but for your protection just make sure that when you're one-on-one with another woman that it's very obvious that nothing is going on you know and the reason he said that is because there is so much adultery that takes place at work you know where the man is away from his wife for a good 8 10 12 hours and you might spend a lot of time working with other women but you do have a working relationship but that can spill over to an emotional relationship okay and then maybe a physical relationship and what have you and it can be a very damaging thing and look even when you're interacting with other people it may not seem like thorns at the at the beginning right like when you see a rose that looks amazing that rose looks wonderful but when you go and you put your hands on that rose then the thorns stick in okay then you have the hurt and so you got providence of the five and listen one which says my son attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding that thou mayest regard discretion that thy lips may keep knowledge look at verse number three for the lips of a strange woman drop as in honeycomb a strange woman is referring to a woman who's not your wife okay her lips drop as a honeycomb it she seems nice it seems wonderful maybe okay and like you know so what i'm trying to say is it may not look like thorns to begin with it may look like honey okay but it says that it says her mouth is smoother than oil but look at verse number four but her end is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword look if you enter into a relationship with another woman men it says that her end is bitter wormwood you're going to hurt your life you're going to hurt your marriage you're going to ruin your testimony it's as sharp as a two-edged sword it's like being bit like going to war and being stabbed you know by a sword you're going to be bleeding it's going to hurt your life you know it can be very damaging and so we have this warning once you're married that's your partner for life that's who you set your eyes on that's the rose that's the lily every other daughter is a thorn every other woman is you know it's dangerous grounds and i want to make it very clear as a pastor i do not have private consultation with women okay if a lady wants to talk to me you know your husband can be present or we just talk in public amongst you know where everyone else can see us in church i don't do not want to have any one-on-one interaction with a woman who is not my wife okay let's continue there in verse number three uh back sorry back to song with solomon chapter two back to song of solomon chapter two in verse number three verse number three now if that's you know it's if that's the women there look at verse number three it says as the apple tree among the trees of the wood now when you think of the apple tree does that sound like a like the wife or does that sound like the husband brother michael the apple tree what do you reckon the husband right it's it's a tree something that is larger something that is stronger right something that you can find shade under he says as the apple tree so the woman was a rose in the lilies but the husband here's the apple tree okay look at this as the apple tree among the trees of the wood so is my beloved among the sons all right so the same thing when the woman looks at her husband just look there's many trees but there's only one tree that i'm going to eat off there's only one tree that i'm going to enjoy there's only one tree that i'm going to pluck those apples from and eat from and again the speaking about the wife having her eyes on her husband alone it says look at this it continues in verse number three i sat down under his shadow right with great delight and his fruits was sweet to my taste so you notice that the wife finds comfort you know our shot like the shade protection under the apple tree under her husband and husbands it's our job it's our responsibility to give our wives stability it's our jobs to give our wife a roof over their head to provide for her needs and speaking of the fruits yeah you know men we ought to be the breadwinners we ought to be the ones going out there laboring hard we're built differently we're built to work you know we're built to labour obviously you know generally speaking men are stronger than women okay because you're built to work and she's there enjoying the apple apples that he provides here's the provider here's the one providing her shelter now before we can continue in verse number four i want to see the difference between the rose and the lily now look if a rose fell off like was was cut off the stem and it fell on the apple tree do you think there'll be any damage to the apple tree no but what if the apple tree fell down on the lilies and the rose will that destroy the rose and the lilies obviously men again we're just speaking about the power of a man okay and you know it is never right okay for the husband to raise his fist against his wife men you're overpowered it's not right you know if you're having marital problems you've got to sort it out look if you're having marital problems read song of solomon that's the that's the whole point of that book to fix our marriages let it never get to a point where you are so angered especially the men because you are more powerful and it's not right for women to strike at the men either don't get me wrong but it's very clear that the men man can do a lot more damage to a woman than vice versa now let's drop down to verse number 16 very quickly again proving the point when it says here that the lilies are the woman is the woman verse number 16 my beloved is mine and i'm his he feedeth among the lilies so he feeds amongst the lilies and again this is just using i guess poetic language speaking of physical intimacy between a husband and a wife okay now if you've got your hymnals you can do this if you like come with me to hymn number 240 hymn number 240 and again the reason i just pointed out the obvious is because there are hymns that we don't sing okay there are some hymns that are sung in many baptist churches even okay independent baptist churches like hymn number 240 hymn number 240 is called the lily of the valley the lily of the valley so the lily we saw in song of salomon is the wife true and look at the words here in fact i kind of like the song like i kind of like the tune but it says here i have found a friend in jesus i have found a friend in jesus is everything to me is the fairest of ten thousand to my soul okay we're speaking about jesus the lily of the valley jesus the lily of the valley the feminine the wife no that's not what the scriptures are speaking about the lily of the valley is the wife and brevin the reason we don't sing the lily of the valley i kind of like the tune i can sing it to you uh you know but this is this is a hymn that can't be fixed i mean it's called the lily of the valley okay you just can't fix this one some of the hymns might have some issues and you might want to change around some words make it better but this ones are right off okay and look if if and why why do we sing it because i i think people don't just people don't read the song of solomon it's kind of like well that's not a book that you ought to be preaching from like i don't think i've really heard again i'm thinking back to my life and i've been going to church you know before i became pastor honestly pretty much all the years i became pastor 37 years i was going to church tomorrow i don't think i've ever heard a sermon from song of solomon and then we're singing about song with solomon and they're getting all messed up they're calling jesus the wife no the lily of the valley very clearly in song of solomon is you know um the wife okay and so that's a hymn by the way just in case you didn't know okay that's a hymn we don't sing here at new life baptist church and if you can come with me to another passage in the new testament first peter chapter three first peter chapter three first peter chapter three and verse number five look again there's a there's a major reason why the wife is called the rose and the lilies and the man's the apple tree okay again you know we're just we're built differently men and women we think differently we're wired differently we express emotions differently and there's nothing wrong with that you know god made us so we can be compatible that we can be one flesh you know man needs a woman and woman needs a man this is how god's created things to be you know as much as i enjoy having a coffee with some of the men sometimes talking about bible talking about life i'm glad i get to go home to my wife i don't want to hang around a dude or every day of my life i want to be with my wife and we have first peter chapter three verse number five first peter chapter three verse number five it says for after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in god adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands look i know it's not popular today i know the feminist movement has you know disrupts god's word the feminist movement movement hates god's word okay but it's very clear here that wives are to be in subjection to their own husbands oh you know i'm being uh what is it i'm being pretty i'm being um set back in life no no no you're enjoying the shadow of the apple tree you're being provided for you can take of the fruit and eat of it it's for your protection it's for your safety it's for your provision it's not about holding women back it's about men going to work and laboring and doing what god's created them to do and to be the leader so that you can then work hard provide for your wife provide for her needs and that she would be in subjection to the one that is doing that for her for her that's the whole point like if i didn't have a wife i have i'd have no desire i think to just get out there and labor hard you know to to to work by the sweat of your brow no i've got to look after the lily i've got to look after the rose that god has given me let's continue the verse number six even as sarah obeyed abraham oh babe obey obey my husband like you know it was common that marriage vows for the for the wife to the for the bride to say um to love honor and obey to love honor and obey one of my vows you know what a beautiful vowel to make they all be in subjection to you i'm no longer under subjection of my father i'm willing to be put under subjection of this new man who would become my husband it says whose daughters are here as long as you do well this is look this is doing well according to god a wife being in submission to a husband is doing well and i'm not afraid of any amazement you say oh what about the men what are the husbands well look at verse number seven likewise ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge look at this giving honor unto the wife it's not mistreating the wife it's not looking down at the wife it's honoring the wife man we got to work to honor our wives we provide we pay the bills to honor our wives we come home and we thank her for her labor and the raising of the children or the cooking of the meal or the cleaning of the house and we honor them and say look you've done well with my wife honor you lift honor you lift her up look as unto the weaker vessel there's a reason why my wife brings jars to me can you open this pasta jar and i'm like crack easy right boom done because they are the weaker vessel i don't want a wife with bulging muscles who's who's stronger than me that i've got to go to can you open this jar please honey like it feels good like she can't open it oh okay bang done there you go is it because i worked out in the gym is it because i'm there five days a week at the gym no it's just that's our bodies that's just our genetics it's our dna we're just naturally stronger okay weaker is not is not talking about inferior it's just talking about the difference between the strength of a man to the woman and then look at look at us as it continues this is really amazing the next phrase is really amazing as being heirs together of the grace of life we we're heirs of the life that god has given us once we enter into marriage god's given us this married life and we inherit this life together okay marriage ought not to be ah my husband's doing this and i'm doing that and we just live this completely separate lives no we're heirs together we ought to be sharing this together that your prayers be not hindered you know what they're saying here like obviously we want to go to god we want to pray we bring our supplications but wives if you're not in subjection to your husband's your prayers are going to be hindered and husbands if you don't give honor to your wife your prayers are going to be hindered look i want to have a happy life i want my prayers to be answered i want god to hear my prayers all the time who has a husband i've got to give honor to my wife i've got to make sure i provide for her needs back to song of solomon chapter 2 and verse number four song of solomon chapter two in verse number four verse number four says he brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was loved so the husband takes his wife out to a feast like a banquet banquet is a big meal right you share amongst friends and people that you know and you love right maybe a big christmas lunch all right and what are they celebrating it says his banner over me was love hey amongst all his family and his friends he's declaring his love toward me wow husbands are you doing that do you tell your your friends do you tell your family i love my wife she deserves my love man i'm lucky blessed to have her do we make those public declarations of love toward our wife we ought to we ought to then she says in verse number five stay me with flagons flagons are jugs okay comfort me with apples because he's the apple tree and then she says for i am sick of love flagons big jug okay she's drinking the apple juice right she's she's taking the apples and like you know she's drinking the juice that he's provided and then she says i am sick of love that's how we would say i'm lovesick now for the wives are you are you lovesick right now for your husbands i'll tell you now because i've not been with my wife for two weeks i feel lovesick right now like i miss her i miss my wife a lot you know when i don't have her because she's down in sydney right i'm having a rest having a little holiday with her mum down there in sydney and i like i miss her a lot like i really miss her you know the laundry's piling up okay my legs are a little bit tired from being up on my feet doing the cooking and trying to do things all right and uh we've been spending a bit of money fixing up the house i want actually i was gonna say what we've done but i'll let it to be a surprise when she gets back okay in case she's hearing it but you know i i miss her and i remember being lovesick i remember the first time i went out with christina on a date and we went for lunch and we got pizza hut you know the little pizzas that you can have just and i picked up my first slice and i couldn't eat i couldn't like i can't eat you know the butterflies in your stomach nervous nerves i'm like i think i may have eaten like half a slice very slowly but it's couldn't eat all right and then um we went to chile you know how my parents are from chile we went to chile and uh my dad's i i don't remember this very clearly because i guess i was lovesick but my dad said all you thought about every single day was christina like like you didn't even care about meeting the family you didn't care about going anywhere you didn't care about anything at all except you know uh emailing back there it was all we had was emails right emailing christina back and forth maybe i can't remember exactly but maybe that's what happened but you can see look we often associate being lovesick with the dating game you know those early periods but this is a married couple and they're still lovesick they're still lovesick for each other okay and uh we need to bring this back you know we need to we need to bring these these emotions we might feel like men like oh i'm a man i shouldn't feel that yeah yeah look it's fine you know it's beautiful even it's godly it's biblical it's here for a reason i hope my wife is lovesick for me i'll find out when i get there tomorrow verse number six it says his left hand is under my head so left hand her head's resting on his on on his left hand and his right hand doth embrace me so what's he doing he's embracing his wife close by okay there's physical affection all right and you know we need to have this now marriage you know hold your wife you know lift her carry her if you can i don't know just just embrace her show her that she's valued that you you know you protect her you want to hold her these are good things to have in your marriage verse number seven now the wife speak again the wife speaking i charge you oh ye daughters of jerusalem so now she's talking to her friends the daughters of jerusalem by the rose and by the hinds of the field speaking of um dears that you stir not up nor awake my love till he please so you find here that the husband is having a snooze he's having a rest he's having a sleep okay now i i assume he's labored hard he's been the provider you know he's gone to work he needs a little break and you know sometimes men we do we get exhausted at work don't we we're there eight hours ten hours we come home and look and i'm saying to the wives and look we're going to look at this shortly there are times i experienced you know i don't work a nine to five job like i used to Monday to Friday like i used to before but i know there were times when i would just come home and just be exhausted just tired and i just want to rest but there are other times that i'm not so tired and i want to do something i want to spend time with my wife and we'll see both of these elements play out in this chapter but in this scenario he's resting maybe maybe he's having a good sleep maybe sleeping in maybe he's having a a midday uh power nap right but she lets him rest okay because if he's going to be the provider if he's going to be working hard he needs to recharge his batteries he needs to be re-energized and she said look let's not wake him up let's let him have the rest because he's been laboring hard he's not a lazy man he's been out there and again that's there's nothing wrong with that all right and wise if your husband comes home and is tired you know try to have a meal ready for him you know have a change of clothes ready for him so you can just come home and you just have a little rest if that what if that's what he needs at that moment in time okay there's nothing wrong with this at all verse number eight the voice of my beloved so let me just let me just double check yeah this is the wife the wife is speaking yeah all right the voice of my beloved so she's hearing the voice of her husband behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains skipping upon the hills we'll have a look at what this is about but again this is essentially that he's been away from the home okay and he's he's on his way back home and he's calling out to his wife so she hears the voice of her beloved and you know i guess she looks out again this is all poetic language right this is a this is a song okay i don't think this happened literally but it's it's a song like i always understand right and so you've got all that expressive language coming in here but think of think of the idea when we had a man who was resting but now think of the idea a man who's been working all day and he can't wait to see his wife okay and so he she hears his voice he's leaping he's skipping on the mountains so like like he's making his way to wait making his way home and there's a mountain in the way there's a there's a hill in the way and he's like i'm gonna run up as fast as i can right he's leaping he's he's in a rush he's in a hurry to get home like the mountain's not stopping him okay so he gets up on a high hill an elevated position and then verse number nine my beloved is like a row or a young heart behold he standeth behind our wall so he gets to the house okay he's standing outside all right she's inside the house he says he'll look forth at the windows he starts looking at the windows before he even gets home like he just got to the house he's like where's my wife right he's looking at the windows and then it says showing himself for the lattice that's the curtains right she can see him for the curtains and he's looking for his wife like this is a different scenario he can't wait he got home where's my wife right he's calling out to her he's skipping he's in a rush now he was out where was the wife she was at home like he knew he didn't have to go i wouldn't know when my wife is coming back from work because i need her to open my uh can of uh pasta no no she's at home she's making the pasta or what have you right she's at home and just very quickly i'll read to you you don't need to turn there first timothy chapter 5 verse number 14 i i know the world says this is old-fashioned but it's the wisdom of god okay first timothy 5 14 says i will therefore that the younger women marry bear children guide the house give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully and so look the will of god for younger women is to to get married to bear children to guide the house to guide look i i don't tell my wife i don't when it comes to running the household affairs she's got full control over that i don't tell her anything that's that's her job to guide i don't even ask her what to what to cook i'll just leave that in her hands you know she's the one guiding i'll let her take control of that again you know this idea that oh man men just want to control women i have no desire to control my wife i want to control my family when there's decisions to make when i need to be the head and make certain calls and shots but you know what when it comes to running the house and raising the children and educating the children my wife is in control of that does she sometimes ask me hey what do you think of this and what do you think of that of course she does just like i would ask her when i'm making a big decision for the family what do you think of this what do you think of that okay because we're what we saw earlier we're heirs of life together where he's sharing this together but it's her responsibility to guide the house it's me it's my responsibility to make sure that everything she she needs is provided for but this guy he can't wait where's my wife look when we keep going he doesn't even go inside the house he's like and why doesn't he go inside the house because it says in verse number 10 my beloved spake and said unto me rise up my love my fair one and come away he says honey let's go out he's not like hey let's just hang around in the house all day every single day he knows she's been at home he knows she's been there all day and she probably wants to get out he knows that she probably wants some adult company you know like with me looking after the kids i want some adult company now i understand where my wife is coming from you know when you come home your wife wants to talk you know and you're kind of you know talk i've been talking all day at work yeah because she wants adult company and he knows that so he goes hey honey you know he doesn't he doesn't come inside rise up let's go out let's go out let's enjoy each other let's have some fun let's go on a date you know that's what that's what he's looking forward to right a day out with his wife i love how it says rise up i love my fair one it's beautiful hey honey you're beautiful come on let's go let's head out there let's go out okay and um i strongly encourage married you know men i guess because it's your call it's your decision right to take your wife out on a date like on a regular basis not just when you were interested in her you know when you're trying to win her her love over you know it's hard for us we've got a big family it's hard to make time and we've not really made a lot of time recently now because of the new baby and all of that but besides you know besides that we've always tried my wife and i to go out on a date once a month you know it's essentially the last friday of the month we try to make sure okay you know the kids have food we're going out let's just go enjoy each other's company let's go have a chat all right there's obviously a lot that can take place in a month so we get you know some one-on-one time together and this is again just a great thing to put into your marriage if you don't have it you know go out on a date verse number 11 now this is what i told you that i believe these next verses here are was this verse in particular i believe this this is the key verse to the song of solomon okay it says for lo the winter is past the rain is over and gone so it's been raining before but now it's no longer raining right the sun's out the days are nice honey let's go out all right we weren't able to go out before but we can hang out together right now and what we see here is if winter is past if the rain is over and gone it's springtime and that's the point i was trying to make last week right it's springtime and i do believe the song of solomon the whole point of this book is to encourage us to have a springtime marriage every season all the time every day obviously we can't control the seasons you know when it comes to the weather and the time of the year but we can control the season in our marriage do we want it to be springtime look they've come out of winter you know it sounds like even their marriage had some issues that it was a cold winter season but now hey the sun's up the rain is over it's springtime springtime is a time of uh fertility and growth it's kind of annoying springtime because my grass keeps growing you know like you know everything grows very quickly i ask the kids can you mow the lawn but next week the grass is you know you got to grow you got to mow it again right you got to mow it more often than you would during winter but the point is that there's growth there's fertility right there's there's uh there are fruits you know that there's development the marriage is getting stronger and stronger and stronger as it should be i don't want a winter marriage i don't want a cold relationship between husband and wife don't want an autumn you know i don't want an autumn where the leaves are falling off the tree and there's a lack of life or don't want a summer where it's hot and tempers height you know hot tempers arguing angry at one another i want to ask springtime i think that's the whole point of this book the springtime marriage and look what he says in verse number 12 obviously in springtime the flowers appear on the earth obviously the time of the singing of birds is come because the birds begin to nest all right they try to find a partner and procreate and have little babies and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land the total there is a total dove okay and so the birds are singing they are the birds are nesting they're trying to find their partners they want to have little babies okay and that's what springtime represents the flowers appear on the earth okay it's a beautiful thing i want your marriages to be beautiful i want you to enjoy your marriage you know what you might have a hard time at work oh what a horrible day at work but i can come home and it's springtime that's how it should be and the bible says i'll just read to you in genesis 1 27 so god created man in his own image in the image of god created he him male and female created he them and god blessed them and said and said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth it's the reason why it says be fruitful in that physical intimacy will obviously automatically bring forth children all right when god blesses the womb opens it and that fruit of the womb is his reward that's god's very first command that he gives a married couple he says look have a springtime marriage adam and eve have a springtime marriage what else happens in springtime verse number 13 the fig tree put forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell god i can smell that fruit my kids were out sebastian and matias you guys were out not longer what day was it a few days ago found some blackberries right on the side down in milaney started to eat those berries nice all right and that's how our marriage ought to be fruitful enjoy each other's company all right enjoy the fruits that we provide one to another physically of course and all that it says here arise my love my fair one and come away so that those words get repeated arise my love my fair one and come away let's spend time together let's get out of the house let's go on a holiday let's spend time together now obviously the primary purpose of the book of song of solomon is for marriage right husband and wife but like we've been saying everything's about jesus whether you see it or not it's always about jesus christ okay and i want you to think about if you come with me actually come with me keep everything there come with me to matthew 24 come with me to matthew 24 please matthew 24 obviously the disciples asked jesus matthew 24 about the end times about his coming and what i'm going to show you here is the husband's action toward his wife in song of solomon is christ's desire to his saints to his believers okay think of the words arise my love my fair one and come away i don't know if jesus christ is going to say those words in that way okay but he's going to call us up we're going to be gathered together with him in the clouds okay just like the husband was climbing the mountain in an exalted position jesus christ is going to be in the clouds okay he's going to be peeking through hey he's not going to come to the earth like the husband did not enter into the house but he's going to call out okay arise and in matthew 24 29 immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give a light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send forth send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other now that's obviously speaking about the coming of christ we've been looking at that you know in detail as we've been going for the book of revelation but notice what it says in verse number 32 now learn a parable of the fig tree that's interesting right that's interesting well you know we have the song of solomon mentioning the figs well what's the parable of the fig tree it says when the branch is yet tender and put forth leaves you know that summer is nigh so if summer is nigh what season are they in springtime you know as an illustrate i'm not saying that christ is coming i guess it could come in the springtime but anyway it depends on what side of the world you are i guess but my point is okay you can see the parallels look they're still in springtime and as the fig tree starts bringing forth its leaves okay and it's it's flowers of course and and and the fig tree they can sorry the figs they can eat of it says verse number 33 so likewise ye when you shall see all these things know that it is near even at the doors and so in this story the fig tree the parable of the fig tree is speaking about the signs that would come before christ would return to this earth say what are those signs so it's you know if you go back and you can read it your own time you know the beginning of sorrows the the you know the the the wars and the famines and the pestilences and all the earthquakes and the abomination of desolation the great tribulation all those things are there to tell us hey you know christ is coming soon and what i love about song of solomon is the husband comes and is excited i love that thought because like i i think yeah i'm excited to see christ right i'm excited to see i'm excited for his coming i'm excited to be with him forever i'm excited to get out of this earthly temple a tabernacle okay and be with him with new resurrected bodies but what song of solomon shows me is that christ is excited himself like he's waiting yeah you know he's looking forward to the time when he can rapture his believers and so shall we ever be with the lord come back with me to song of solomon chapter two verse number 14 now this is a this is a verse that i'm not sure who's speaking you know you can make an argument that it's the wife or the husband i think it's the well let's read it verse 14 oh my dove that are in the clefts of the rock in the secret places of the stairs now i believe the dove is representative of the husband here i could be wrong because again he's come from the mountaintop on his way down and again speaking of the dove as though he's elevated you know dove is a flying the clefts of the rock you know it's in an elevated area it says the secret places of the stairs so again it's that that elevation okay and it says here let me see thy countenance so the wife is saying look let me see your face countenance is your face because he hasn't come into the house she's only heard his voice she goes i can't wait to see your face let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely the argument is that the husband is saying these words because the wife heard his voice earlier and so now he's saying you know uh let me hear my voice let me hear you in return look whatever way you want to look at the point is they want to be together that's the point of the verse i can't wait to see you i can't wait to hear your voice i can't wait to see your face i hope your marriage is like that when you're away and you come home i can't wait to see you can't wait to talk to you i say pass off my life is not like this you know it's not well again don't beat yourself up let's go well if that's not me if that's not how we feel let's fix this let me look you know what i've done when i've had to make a mental shift it's hard to fix this head all right that's why it says uh yes the bible speaks of the renewing of the mind be not conform to the world we need to renew this mind you know when there's something mentally that i know i'm lacking like a desire that i know i should have but i don't have or whatever i've just said god this is what your word says this is how i ought to be thinking this is how i ought to be feeling god can you fix it well if anybody can fix my brain if anyone can change my mind it's you i want it i see it in the scriptures lord but i can't do it on my own can you shift my my mind and i'm telling you every time i pray to pray like that god has like god has i'll give you an example i've used examples before right it's it's a shock to the system when you get married because now it's like oh it's not just me i got someone else and it's a bigger shock to the system you have kids now it's like now i come last like my kids you know i'm like they're important i need to make sure they're looked after all right it's a shock but uh and sometimes you know it's the transition can be very hard and i remember going through that process of getting getting married and then you know at 22 okay i've got a wife i've got kids but i still want to spend time with my friends i still want to go and kick a ball around i still want to go play video game with them or something like that right and i was like but i know that i my my heart and my mind should be primarily on my wife and my family i'm not saying that i didn't love them i just said look i didn't have the time and i had a certain desire to be with my friends and i didn't have the time i got to work i got to spend time with my wife and kids nothing wrong with that like i'm enjoying that but i'm like when am i going to get time to go with my friends because that's what i was used to and i said lord you have to change my mind you have to do something in my brain and i think i feel like saying 24 to 48 hours all of a sudden i had no desire to see my friends i was like you know what if i don't see them oh i had a greater love like when i finished work now i got even more so wanted to see my wife even more so want to spend time with my kids but i had to go to god and say god can change it i don't have time for all these desires that i have i don't have time for it so i've got to prioritize the main things lord can you change my mind can you change my heart so i don't have these desires for other things and so i truly believe god can fix and change your mind and you see what the scriptures say yes lord i want that please do it for me lord please change me and you know when you talk about the coming of christ again you know i'll just read to you in titus chapter 2 verse 13 looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great god and our savior jesus christ look i'm sure we're all excited for the coming of christ aren't we i'm sure i can't wait to see him but then you ought to be feeling that way for your spouse when you don't see them for a while when you're out working okay when you're away for whatever reason and like that that joy that excitement i can't wait to see jesus but i i can't wait to see my wife and for wives sake i can't wait for my husband to finish work i hope they let him off early this today i hope he's got you know he gets an hour off on friday or something right so we can spend more time together now we saw earlier that we're enjoying the figs and the talking about the the grapes look at verse 15 it says take us the foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines for our our vines have tender grapes so husband and wife been enjoying each other's fruit the physical affection the love right but now we see the foxes get involved the little foxes and they're spoiling the vines you know i used to think that foxes were just carnivorous i thought they just ate meat and i had to look this up and in fact they do eat berries and fruits so the bible's accurate okay but she's saying look we've got this vineyard we're enjoying the grapes but the little foxes they creep in my mother-in-law lives um in a bit of not sure if acreage is the right word but it's pretty big land and every time we walk in like especially in the later in the evening she's like close the gates because the foxes and the foxes have come in and they've caused damage and things like that but notice that these foxes the the little foxes this is saying that there are little things in our relationship that irritate one another that can take away the enjoyment of the fruit and the love and the time that we spend together i started saying that we all have faults none of us are perfect none of us have these perfect marriage okay because we're all sinners okay we're all selfish by default and we all have bad habits you know what those bad habits might be very little but they can be little foxes that destroy your joy for one another you know i hate it when people say this is what i am this is who i am and if you love me you just got to put up with me well why don't you change i mean the bible is not just about salvation the bible is primarily about change change you say i haven't taken my wife out on a date for a long time then change fix it say honey we're going out next week oh and i'm not really looking forward to my husband coming home change say god give me the excitement that i used to have when we were dating give me the excitement that we used to have when we first got married change your heart change your mind fix your marriage enjoy the the figs enjoy the grapes enjoy each other's company don't let the little foxes get in the way get that get those bad habits out of your life if you love your wife men i love her enough to change this bad habit that i've got about myself and vice versa i've got this bad habit about me that my husband doesn't like these little foxes that spoil our enjoyment i'm going to change that as well i'm going to change that as well and we can change but there's always foxes they're always there there's always little things that will cause you to be annoyed and get angry one toward another you know i'll give you a story i'll tell you about a little fox that i've got okay i come home take off my shoes just leave them laying around i don't really put them where they should go it's a little fox okay and my wife once said i can't remember which lady she was talking to and they're like you know what your husband should just be putting it and probably so i probably should take off my shoes and put them in the right place and my wife said you know what i've just decided that's how kevin is you know what i can either get angry about the little fox or i can just take five seconds pick him up and put him in the right place she says you know what you know he loves me he provides he works hard he loves the kids he's a good husband why am i going to allow this little fox to hurt our marriage and so look try to check i should try to change i'll try that's my that's my takeaway from the sermon okay put my shoes in the right place but notice even when the little foxes are present my wife says you know i'm not going to let that bother me i'm not going to let that spoil our marriage because it takes five seconds to fix but getting angry that can last all day long can't it okay that can breed bitterness and anger and what have you verse number 16 my beloved is mine and i am his he feedeth among the lilies you know she says i am his she says i belong to him he owns me oh i can't believe you said that yeah but then she said at the beginning my beloved is mine she says he belongs to me she says i own him we made vows we promised one to another that we would love each other that would be there till death do us part that i would love and so that we would each love and serve one another listen my wife belongs to me not to some other man she's not a woman to be commanded by some other man to be bossed around and i belong to her my beloved is mine she says beat up among the lilies all right my beloved is mine you know when i go down to sydney and i know we're all different right i don't care about technology i don't care about being tracked by big brother and what have you i don't care okay you guys know i go to sydney every single week i spend 24 hours every single week away from my wife okay i don't go to sydney to be away from my wife i get the flight i get a flight that will get me there on time but not too early i don't want to go so quick because i want to spend time with my wife and in the mornings i catch the earliest flight not because it's the cheapest i catch the earliest flight because i just can't wait to be back with my wife i have to get up like 3 30 sometimes four o'clock in the morning to catch that earliest flight so i can come home and even if i come home and i'm tired of thinking enough sleep i sleep a little bit at least i'm home with my wife and you know what i've got the google tracker on okay and you can share i'm not saying this is this is the book of kevin tepulveda okay chapter one verse two okay i turn on my my google tracker and i share you know to christina she knows my location all the time not that she's never asked me to but i share it because i belong to her she's gonna want to know where is my husband and when she you know logs in on a thursday night oh my husband's that blessed up baptist church but you know what she'll always know where i am okay because i want to give her that security even though i'm 24 hours away from you i'm in another state i'm in another city you know exactly where i am at all time it doesn't bother me at all because i belong to her all right like if i if i purchased a car i want to know where that car is is it garaged is it looked after does it have insurance is a reg is a registration all right i belong to her and she belongs to me verse number 17 until the day break and the shadows flee away turn my beloved and be there like a row or a young heart upon the mountains of betha so it says here as long as the days continue every single day of her marriage you know their passion ought to remain strong like the the young road the young heart leaping upon the mountains the excitement they're like you know what we're going to make sure they're excited for our marriage every day from this day forward it's always going to be fun it's always going to be exciting we're always going to have passion for one another so brevin let's make the changes that we need to in our marriage i want you guys man we it's to death do us part it's the part of your heat your web for the rest of your life don't you want to enjoy it don't you want it to be spring time all the time nice nice grapes nice figs you know in the relationship the rain is over and gone right it's exciting excitement time i want that for your marriage i do like and god wants that for your marriage and i know you want that for your marriage man you think about just how important marriage is to god right on day number six adam then eve married be fruitful and multiply like that's so important in the eyes of god you know children family you know fulfilling our roles enjoying springtime now let's honor our lord god with our marriage excited for jesus christ to come back yes but let's be excited to see our spouse yeah and let's take him out let's enjoy each other's company all right the total for the sermon was rise up my love song of solomon chapter two let's pray