THE ULTAMATE 2 FOLD TEST OF MATURITY.
( 5:2-8 )
5:2; I sleep, but my heart is awake. It is the voice of my Beloved. He knocks, saying, "open for Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks, with the drops of the night.
I sleep, but my heart is awake: Confident and at peace with the Lord.
Voice of my Beloved: ( Philippians 3:10 ); Jesus calling His bride in to the fellowship of His sufferings.
He knocks: A call to open up to God in our hearts in a new way ( Revelation 3:20 ).
Open up for me: The Lord is calling us to open up our hearts to the work of the righteous Holy Spirit.
My sister: His identification with her humanity ( Hebrews 2:16-18 ).
My love: Reminding her of His infinite love for her. Affirming her.
My dove: Her gentle nature.
My perfect one: Maturity/obedience; The one who has sold her heart completely to the cross of Christ.
…Dew…Locks: The dew and the locks speak of His hair being soaked from the moisture of the night ( Luke 22:44 ).
* Our confidence needs to be directly in the Lord and the Lord alone. We need to pray earnestly that the Lord would help us grow more in love! The ability to endure hardships and trials is a powerful reality that we all need to walk in. when financial structures fail, when your health fails, with heartache and pressure, and yes even when family and close friends die, no matter the size of the matter, it having a transformed heart, being able to stand in that day and in that hour and say, "I trust in the Lord, Lord find no offense in my heart"! All things that are dear to us in this life will pass away, with out the Lord fully alive In our hearts we will have no foundation to stand on in times of hardship.
* I love the way that the Lord affirms His bride, over and over He claims His burning desire of love over us. He utterly longs for all of our affections to be in Him. We need this revelation of His love to soak in deep, to the core of bones, so that we even sweat out of our pours the love of God. Ephesians 3:16-19; Oh to be rooted and grounded in the revelation that we are the inheritance of the son of the living God, Jesus could of asked for the stars, He could of even asked for something greater than anything we have the brain to concoct, but He asked for us instead. Not only did He ask for us, He came down and became one of us that He might conquer death and create a way to the Father through Him. We are all that He wants. He could care less about all the other glorious things He could have. He wants us, and He is calling each of us everyday to walk further, to open our hearts more that we might understand His vast being.
* Philippians 3:10-11; Hebrews 2:16-18: We need a deep revelation of what it means to partake in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. I love Colossians 1:9-12; Paul prays for the church, that they might walk according to the cross, faithfully exhorting fruits of righteousness, that they might be strengthened deep in the inner man to walk worthy of their calling. To fully please our Lord takes sacrifice of all things that we find comfort in ( money, entertainment, family, cars, houses….etc ). Then, walking out the faith with all patience and long suffering with joy. With joy give all things over to the submission of the cross ( Colossians 3:2-3 ). The Lords knock may be quiet and gentle, but it can also be loud and forceful. Either way, Gods knock is a demonstration of His care and desire to push us forward in the Spirit.
5:3; I have taken off my robe; How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; How can I defile them again?
Robe: Speaks of her actions and her deeds.
* Isaiah 61:10; 64:6; Zechariah 3:1-5. She has taken of her filthy rags and put on the robe of righteousness. She refuses to put on the filthy rags again. Our feet get dirty through the defilement of the world as we try to serve God, the washing of the feet is a fresh cleansing from that defilement. He Lord has placed us higher than the angels. He has clothed us in robes of righteousness, even though we are filthy and our iniquity supersedes our righteousness. Jesus has chosen to stand as our mediator. Jesus is calling us to put off our filthy rags of shame and condemnation, we are being called to clothe ourselves in clean and pure robes. So put off this body of death and stand for all that is of cleanliness, bringing forth life to those around you.
5:4; My Beloved put His hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for Him.
Hand: Grace of God ( Acts 11:21-23 ).
Latch: Door of our hearts.
* The hand of God is upon our hearts. Only He can take a dull heart and turn it, and cause it to yearn for the affections of His son. Oh that we would awaken to love. There is a reason to live a Joel 2:12-17 lifestyle. Because it is a catalyst that will cause your heart to burn for the deep things of God. When we embrace the Lord, when we let Him in, it causes us to put all of our affections in Him and His will for our life. If we do not, if we grieve the Holy Spirit of His work, if we harden our hearts from the tender ravishing love of Jesus, and for the hope of the redemption of the cross. Then I am afraid to so that we will not be ready, and we will not stand in the day of crisis, no matter the size of conflict, we can only trust and rely in the Lords faithfulness. SO LET GOD IN!!!
5:5; I arose to open for my Beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh. On the handles of the lock.
I arose: Obedience.
Hands and fingers: Ministry and faith that embraces the cross in love.
Myrrh: Burial spice. Represents self death.
Handles of the lock: Our heart, needing to be opened.
* She is fully obedient and yearning for the affections of her love. She is not compromising, but rather, she is ready to embrace the life of the cross. We need to cry out in desperation for this yearning, when we become lovesick, that’s when things make since, not that it gets easier, but we will have a firmer foundation to stand on in times of crisis. Self death, long suffering, and perseverance with joy towards God is a must needed thing in this generation of fast food theology.
5:6; I opened for my Beloved, but my Beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when He spoke. I sought Him, but I could not find Him; I called Him, but He gave me no answer.
I opened for my Beloved: In obedience, she is saying, "I long for you Jesus, I am in this for You oh God".
My Beloved had turned: Jesus removes His manifest presence so that she would seek Him with a yearning heart.
My heart leaped up when He spoke: No resistance in her heart, she came to the door immediately.
I sought Him, but I could not find Him: His silence to cause us to search deeper into His depths.
* The brilliance of God. He withdraws His manifest presence to test us, not from sin of disobedience, but in response to her prayer in Song of Songs 4:16. Gods grace gives us the power to embrace sacrifice in our hearts. This causes us to desire Him more. God wants to take us deeper. Sometimes when we feel desperate for God and it seems like He is not there. Behold, He is there, saying, "this is my beloved son or daughter in whom I am well pleased". The more we press into God, the better we know Him. So if our greatest desire is to feel and know God ( Songs 2:3-6 ), than we must be purged and trained to build up a ravished and longing heart.
5:7; The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; The keepers of the wall took my veil away form me.
Watchmen/Keepers: Spiritual authorities in the body of Christ.
Found me: They were searching, with an agenda.
They struck me, they wounded me: Spiritual leaders with authority rise up against her.
My veil: Spiritual covering ( 1st Corinthians 11:10 ).
* Matthew 11:6; Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. Second test of suffering is from within the church walls.
There are 2 types of watchmen:
1. Helpful David like characters.
2. Carnal, jealous Saul like characters.
Isaiah 62:6; Ezekiel chapter 33. We are all called to be an intercessor/watchmen. This doesn’t mean that we are called to lay down and join the house of prayer, but it does mean that no matter where the Lord calls you that you are stilled called to a lifestyle of prayer with fasting, as well, we must stand as a light and or watchmen to all those who are in need of the knowledge of God. In the case of the shulamite, she is going through persecution from the carnal leaders in her church, again, we need to be firmly rooted and grounded in the love of God ( Ephesians 3:16-19 ).
We need the knowledge of God ( Ephesians 1:17-19 ). What will we do if even the church rises against us, we need to pursue the knowledge of God violently ( the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force ). The leaders make her out to be a heretical, false, she is rejected. Does this sound familiar? Jesus had the same done to Him by the church of His day. Colossians 1:11; Partaking of the sufferings of Christ with joy and patience, pursuing Him at all cost without offence. Job 36:26; We do not know God ( Joel 2:12-17; Ephesians 1:17-19 ). We need to embrace the knowledge of He whom was crucified for us.
5:8; I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. If you find my Beloved, that you tell Him that I am lovesick.
I charge you: With spiritual authority, she calls upon the immature church to help her seek Him.
Daughters: Immature church.
* Oh to be lovesick for Jesus. She is yearning for God through all persecution from the leaders. She is declaring that she will not back down, and she calls upon the church to come and seek Jesus with her. Her response is amazing. Instead of being offended at the church, she runs to them for help. Again, Matthew 11:6; Blessed is he whom is not offended because of me.
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