Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in the church, highlighting the necessity of both tearing down and building up in our spiritual lives. He recounts a powerful move of the Spirit among young people, leading to salvations and a deepened desire for intimacy with Jesus. The sermon stresses the importance of recognizing our own inadequacies and the need for a heart posture that is open and dependent on God. Beach Jr. connects this to the themes in the Song of Solomon, illustrating how God desires a love relationship with His people that leads to obedience and unity. Ultimately, he calls for a deeper communion with the Holy Spirit to experience the fullness of God's love and purpose.

To 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I would like to begin this morning by sharing a very important Scripture that I feel we need to remember wholeheartedly. In particular, because of what the Lord wants to do in this late hour that we're living in. It is delightfully wonderful to be back home again. And I do want to express my deep appreciation to those who prayed. I was privileged to be at the right time, at the right place to experience a tremendous, tremendous move of the Spirit of God. Every young person here, listen closely. Every young person here, listen closely. I saw on Sunday night, last Sunday night, during our gathering, after the Holy Spirit moved, somewhere around 15 young people from ages 11 to 16 respond to an altar call in a fashion that I've never seen before. A number of them literally ran to the altar because the power and presence of Jesus Christ was so real. One of the young people there got saved, gloriously saved, and was delivered from a lot of hurt, a lot of abuse in the past. A number of the young people were filled with the Holy Spirit in a very, very marvelous way, sovereignly by God. One young man was slain in the Spirit, weeping before God with his hands up. The next day, he came to me and said, I'd like to tell you that I had never really liked to go to church. But something happened in my life last night and he said, I couldn't wait to come this evening. It was Monday night. I said, well, what happened, son? He said, I just got all excited about Jesus. I said, well, you need to tell Pastor Brown. He said, oh, I already told Pastor Brown Sunday after church. That's the pastor that I stayed with. And it was just a glorious, glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a mighty revelation of the Lord Jesus. During the time there, the Lord ministered into my own life in a very precious way in His presence, strengthened my spirit, encouraged my heart to continue to believe Him for a mighty, mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit in addition to a mighty harvest of souls that He wants to bring into the kingdom of God. I was enabled while there in the presence of the Lord as there were times when we just worshiped the Lord for an hour, an hour and a half, and waves of glory would come. It was beautiful. We've experienced it here as well. We know the thrill of sensing the moving of the Holy Spirit as waves of glory and men just begin to spontaneously praise the Lord and then we begin to weep quietly in the Lord's presence. But during this ministry of the Holy Spirit, I once again saw the vision that many have seen. Jennifer has seen in par. Others have seen in par. My wife had a dream years ago, but the vision was the same as usual. An enormous river flowing into the valley, sweeping not hundreds but thousands into the kingdom of God. Thousands into the kingdom of God. I saw the heart of God regarding the desire to save a lost and a dying world as never before. And so my heart was encouraged and strengthened. And I see why God is doing so much shaking in the church. Why He's doing so much uprooting and so much dealing of purging. It's not just so that we can be beautifully conformed to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and just wonder at each other's beauty. But He has a purpose. He wants to bring a harvest of souls into the kingdom. And He wants a people prepared who have a heart like His. Who are ready and prepared to pour their lives out into the lives of people. And in order for that to happen, the Lord has to do a deep work in our lives as the church. He doesn't want it done religiously. He doesn't want it done through bondage and compulsion. But He wants us to be able to lay our lives down for one another. And He wants us to be able to weep as He weeps and feel as He feels and have compassion for people who are lost and dying. Not because we have to do it. Not because it's something that you have to do if you belong to this church or that church. But because your heart breaks, because you've tasted of His heart. That's what He wants. He wants it to be something that's coming from within. Something that's springing out of a revelation. Out of an awakening. Out of communion with Him. So that's why God is bringing such drastic and tremendous dealings in the church in this late hour that we live in. And so I do want to say praise the Lord for the mighty move of the Holy Spirit. And also, the dear brother that I was with has a real heart for God. And he is in fellowship with other laborers and ministers there in St. Louis and Granite City who are praying and seeking God. And they're beginning to see the beginnings of what they believe to be a genuine uniting of hearts on the basis of Christ Jesus. There is a brokenness that is coming into the church. There is a sense of desperation. Now, this particular congregation has a very unique history which I think is important to understand if we know why the move of God is happening the way it is. This church has gone through a great time of testing. A great time of shaking. A great time of misunderstanding. A great time of pain and hurt. And the pastor told me that there was a time when the church questioned its own existence. And for over a month, didn't even meet because of an experience that they had gone through that devastated them. I don't want to go into details, but as a church, they went together through an experience that was very, very painful. But it wrought a desperation in them. And this desperation resulted in a cry. And this cry resulted in moving the heart of God. And as a result of that, they're experiencing something very precious of the Lord. So, I think that we need to understand that God is working uniquely in all of our lives in order to produce in us that godly desperation that is so essential in order to come to the place where we can drink of the fountains of living water. 1 Corinthians 2 Hallelujah. Beginning in verse number 6. It's good to see Virginia here with her little baby and Kevin. And we just want to say praise the Lord. And that you know everyone is looking forward to seeing you. Hallelujah. 1 Corinthians 2 Beginning in verse number 6. How be it? We speak wisdom among them that are perfect or full grown, mature. Yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew. I want you to notice none of the princes of this world knew of the wisdom that Paul was speaking of here. And there is a very, very specific reason why. And I fear, I believe that I have a witness in the Holy Spirit to confirm this fear. You judge and see yourself. I believe that the wisdom that Paul was talking about in this particular portion of Scripture is not even really known in the church. Because this is a wisdom that is not necessarily indicative of the doctrine, the teaching of Christ, but it is the knowledge of Christ. And there is a big difference. And we'll see as we read on that the reason why this wisdom that the princes of this world know nothing about and that I sense is being lost even within the congregation of those who claim on the name of the Lord, who call on the name of the Lord, it's because this wisdom can only be revealed by the person of the Holy Spirit of God. And the person of the Holy Spirit of God will only work in the midst and lives of people who renounce their own wisdom. Who do not trust in their own strength. Who do not depend upon the things that the world depends upon. The Lord has to make a way once again into our lives. Individually and into our lives as companies of people. He has to make a way for the person of the Holy Spirit to once again begin to reveal the wisdom of God to our hearts. Now listen to this. None of the princes of this world knew verse 8, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I hath not seen. Now I think it's important for us to read this and say, my eye hath not seen. One of the things that the Lord really ministered to my spirit, which I shared during every time that I had the privilege to minister in Granite City, Illinois, was the need to recognize constant dependence upon the working and dynamic of the Holy Spirit in our life to reveal to us the realities of Jesus Christ. The spirit that works in the culture is seducing the church. This is a spirit that speaks to us and tells us we are competent. We know. It is the epitome of pride. The stronghold that lives in a particular cultural society unless the church is really strong will affect the church. And as we pray and seek the Lord, we could even understand the particular stronghold that's affecting the church right in the valley here. What stronghold predominates in the valley here, this whole valley? You can be sure that the church is being seduced and being affected by this spiritual wickedness and is bringing it into within its gates. I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. Now, keep your finger there and go to Matthew 11. Verse number 25. Actually, if we begin in verse number 20-24, we won't read it, but Jesus begins to abrade the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done because they repented not. Why didn't the cities repent? Why didn't they fall on their face and cry out and say, Have mercy on us, God. Well, Jesus begins, Woe unto thee, Chorazin. Verse 21. And then He says, Woe thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven. And then He bursts out in verse number 25 after bringing denunciation after denunciation to these cities. This is what the Holy Spirit says, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Now, remember what we just read. I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him, but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. Who is God revealing the things of Himself to? According to the words of Jesus, Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, but hast revealed them unto babes. There is a quality that must be preserved within our life, regardless of our spiritual immaturity, because Jesus is not here talking about spiritual infancy necessarily as He is a quality of the heart. Babes here indicate a heart posture that is open and broken before God, not trusting in its own wisdom, not trusting in its own understanding, not trusting in its own sense of confidence, but looking, as a child does, to the parent to guide them, to a parent to lead them. Children don't trust in themselves. Little children don't have a sense of, I know. No, they run to their mother and their father and they're looking for guidance. And the Holy Spirit is seeking a place where such a spiritual reality exists. And He starts in your own life. Ask yourself this question before God in His presence now. Do I have a sense of, Lord, I do not have the competence, I do not have the resources, I do not have what it takes. Lord, I need You, I need Your wisdom. God, I need You so very much in my life. It is only to such a heart that Jesus promises to reveal Himself to. And it is my belief that when that kind of heart somehow disappears and we begin to get a heart that is fattened with the opposite, a sense of, I can handle it, then we are not living in a daily revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. We might be living in confidence in our doctrine. We might be living in confidence in what we know. We might be living in the confidence of our history with God. But there's no fresh revelation of God. There's no waking up morning by morning and hearing and sensing and knowing the heart of God. Because the Holy Spirit stops when there is a wise and a prudent attitude that develops. Now this has been a battle for the church through the ages. Why? Because we are in the world, but not of the world. But because we are in the world, we're battling with this because this represents the world. The world is constantly depending upon the resources of its own strength and wisdom to live. And this has crept into the church and basically, as a result, has caused the Holy Spirit to withdraw Himself. As I was sharing this with the saints in Greenwich City, Illinois, Pastor Brown and his wife were sitting in the front. And just at about this moment, he yells out, Lord, have mercy! And everybody started to quietly laugh. Do you know why he cried out, Lord, have mercy? Because the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And what it does is it exposes the very depths of all of our hearts before God. All of our hearts before God. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now, I want you to pay special attention to verses 10 and 11. Only the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God. It is imperative that we become reacquainted with the Comforter and begin to pray that the Lord will make our hearts tender toward this lovely person. This lovely person that Jesus said would come and be with us. Because it is His ability to search out the deep things of God and make them known to us. Now, it says, verse 11, For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Listen, beloved. The Holy Spirit of God is the only source through which we have a link to the living God, a link to understanding and having the Bible become a living book to us. The link between the person of the Lord Jesus, all of His glorious attributes, and them being formed in our life. Everything that has to do with our salvation is directly related to, number one, the finished work of Jesus Christ, and number two, I will send another Comforter. I will send another. And He will come and testify of me. So, since our relationship with the Holy Spirit is so vital, it would be very wise for us to ask the Lord to teach us how to be led by the Holy Spirit. How to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And as you remember, two weeks ago or so, I believe it was two weeks ago, three weeks ago, we mentioned five important lessons that we were to learn about the Holy Spirit. Number one, we were not to resist the work of the Holy Spirit. We were not to quench the Spirit. That means to extinguish or to put out. We were not to harden our heart against the Holy Spirit. We were not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Now, to grieve the Holy Spirit means to make sorry. And lastly, we were not to lie against the Holy Spirit. This is why there is so much specific teachings in the New Testament regarding the believer's relationship to the Holy Spirit. It's because the Holy Spirit is so important in our life. He's so vital in the church's existence. And when we push the Holy Spirit out of our life, and we push the work of the Holy Spirit out of our life, and we allow the Spirit of this world to seduce us and make us proud, prudent, wise in our own understanding kind of people, then what we're doing is basically being turned over to religion. And we know the Lord's feelings about religion. He's against it. And so, we are in great need to come to see the vital work of the Holy Spirit in our life. Ask yourself this question. Lord, am I learning sensitivity to Your Holy Spirit in my life? Am I learning communing and fellowship with the Holy Spirit in my life? The way to begin to learn the Holy Spirit is to learn how to look to Jesus and to look to the Word in quietness and let the Word of God begin to speak to your heart. The Holy Spirit will reveal Himself through seeing Jesus Christ. He reveals Jesus and He reveals Himself as the One that enables us to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Please, if you would, turn your Bibles to Jeremiah 1. When we come to understand the place of the Holy Spirit in our life as being vital to Christ having His place in our life. If Christ is to have the place of preeminence in our life, then the Holy Spirit must have the place of preeminence in our life. Because it is only as the Holy Spirit has a place of preeminence in our life and the Word of God has a place of preeminence in our life that the Lord Jesus Christ can have a place of preeminence in our life. Hallelujah. Jeremiah 1, verses 9 and 10. Let's read this and then understand the application of this Scripture as it applies to the work and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the church. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms. Now listen to the incredible ministry that the Lord spoke regarding Jeremiah and what he would fulfill. To root out, pull down, to destroy, and to throw down. Now there's some very descriptive words there. And then lastly, to build and to plan. And it's not by chance that the Lord puts at the end of this list to build and to plan. Now, to root out means to take by force and uproot by force. To pull down means to break down, to overthrow, to smash to pieces. Used to describe the pulling down of an erected structure. It's a word that's used to describe the pulling down of an erected structure. The word destroy is a word used to describe death and desolation in the Old Testament. It is a word used to describe the destruction of pagan temples. Ungodly images and pictures. And to throw down is the same word as pull down. Now if you'll remember that it's interesting, Colette prayed about the ministry of John the Baptist would be manifest in our midst. John the Baptist represented the ministry of the pulling down, the tearing up, the destroying that prepared the way of the Lord. And you can find that in Matthew. We won't turn to it. Chapter 3, verses 1-3 and 8-10 where God said that the root, the axe is laid to the root. And then lastly we have to build and to plant. When the church becomes reacquainted, listen carefully, with the working of the Holy Spirit of God, we're going to experience in a very real way this ministry fulfilled in our life personally and in our lives collectively as a body. It is imperative that you and I understand this before the Lord can visit His temple, and that's you and I, in the capacity that He wants to, both individually and collectively. Each and every one of us has to experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life that reflects the rooting out, the pulling down, the destroying, and the throwing down of everything that needs to be removed out of the temple. And then the Bible says that the last two aspects of this ministry is the planting, the building, and the planting. The only thing that God wants to build and plant into the church is that which directly relates to the beauty and person of Jesus Christ in our life. The Lord Jesus is the thing that God plants into the church. And the Lord Jesus and His character is the thing that He wants to build in the church. And so think it not strange concerning the pulling down and the shaking that we are experiencing as a company of believers. Don't think it strange. Have you experienced the shaking, the pulling down, and uprooting? It's essential. Now, a couple weeks ago, we began in the Song of Solomon, didn't we? And we got through part of the first chapter. Before we went to the Song of Solomon, we read in the book of Revelation, if you remember correctly, that the Lord had spoken in Revelation 2 to the church in Ephesus and declared that they had lost their first love. They had fallen from the heights of their first love. Now listen closely, okay? This is very important that we catch this connection. Okay? We've got to catch the connection. There are four, if I might use the word for lack of a better word, four negative dynamics that have to work in our lives as the church. And there are two positive dynamics. And of course, we just read the four negative. There must be a rooting out, a pulling down, a destroying, and an overthrowing in our lives. And then there must be a building and a planting. In order to understand the nature of the building and planting, it is imperative that we understand Song of Solomon. Because Song of Solomon is a book that God puts in the middle of the Old Testament picturing the utter beauty and breathlessness of God's heart regarding the building and planting aspect of the Holy Spirit in our life. What does God do with us while He is tearing and pulling down and destroying and uprooting? What does He do? He is planting and building a love relationship with us. And so therefore, it is imperative that we understand both of these dynamics. Now listen carefully, okay? Let's turn our Bibles to the Song of Solomon. And as we turn there, remember the words of Jesus in the book of Revelation. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against Thee, because Thou hast left Thy first love. Remember therefore. God tells us to bring to our remembrance the heights from which we are fallen and repent and do the first works. The works here we discussed at an earlier date were not outward works of service as much as they were inward works of affection and intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ. They're the works that He's after. Because those are the works that the Song of Solomon are filled with. The thing that delights the heart of the Lord so very much is to see these works abounding in our life and in our heart. Okay? So, we'd like to be able to see, and it's important for you to be able to see that the planting and building of the ministry of the Holy Spirit into your life constitutes, is made up of, an ever-increasing, growing love relationship with Jesus Christ, listen, that produces obedience to Him. If you love Me, you'll keep My commandments. And as we go through the Song of Solomon, we're going to discover, and I pray the Holy Spirit will visit us each time, that this whole book of the Song of Solomon is a divine romance between the Lord and the church, and that the intent of this divine romance is to bring her into simply this posture. Perfect love that produces perfect obedience that produces perfect unity and togetherness with Him. Love, obedience, and unity with Him. That is what we see at the end of the Song of Solomon. And that's what God is after in our life today. An obedience that springs out of love. Not compulsion. An obedience that springs out of a passion for Him. Not out of a bondage. And it is a love for Him that springs out of the knowledge of His love for you. We can't help but love Him when we see the truth. We love Him because He first loved us. And so therefore, it would be safe to equate all the building and planting of God in your life to make up a heart relationship with Jesus that's producing an ability to love Him and producing an ability to lay your life down and love brothers and sisters in Christ. That's what God is after. Song of Solomon, chapter 1. It's right before Isaiah. Does anybody remember in particular how far we got the first time we delved into this? Verse 6. Okay, we touched on Pharaoh's chariots. I remember that. Verse 9. Basically, verses 1-6 are relating to the revelation of love that she's getting regarding her lover for her. And it results in what we showed in verse 5, I am black but comely. It results in a two-fold revelation. It results in, number one, seeing that we are black. That is, there is no good thing that dwells in us. And I'll tell you, as you learn to walk with the Holy Spirit, God will remind you of that every day. He'll remind you of that every day. He'll put in check attitudes. He'll put in check words. He'll put in check motives. And He'll show you regularly that apart from Him, we're black. But at the same time, He says, He shows her, I am black, but I am comely. That word comely means beautiful. And that is the revelation of the fact that in spite that there is no good thing that dwells in us, in spite of the fact that we are unclean as Jeremiah saw himself to be unclean, yet, we are loved with an everlasting love and that through the new birth, God has made us to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And that we are the object of His affection and the object of His love. And so that is a very important point. Let's just begin reading in verse 6. Look not upon me because I am black, because the Son hath looked upon me. My mother's children were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard have I not kept. We saw how it is imperative that every child of God comes to see this revelation, but also comes to realize and learn how to allow the Lord to work this deeply in us. We see that premature service made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard have I not kept. Premature service. Premature service can result in a lot of damage and a lot of harm. And the reason why is because we have to come to grips with this revelation in our life. And if you haven't, you're going to have to. You have to come to see, as Peter did and Paul did and the early church did, and a lot of the prophets did, you have to see that you are apart from Him unable, undone, unkind, unloving, uncaring, not patient, not sweet, not very forgiving. Have you come to see that? You can hold a grudge, right? That is an essential credential to possess as a child of God. My own life. My own relationship. My own understanding to be able to grasp these truths I've neglected because I've been the keeper of the vineyards. Make it a priority in your life, beloved, to come to know Jesus Christ. Come to know Him. Delight in Him. See Him. Make that number one in your life because it is only out of that that everything else can grow in our life. Verse 7, Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flot to rest at the noon. See, it is so important that we understand that this is more than just words. Have you known this experience yet? Have you come to this experience where you're crying out, tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth. Oh, Lord Jesus. Have you ever experienced an awakening in your spirit? It doesn't matter. You might have been praying. You might not have been praying. When you just realized in the spirit that it was needful to come back to that place of communion, to come back to that place of intimacy. You just realized. Your soul was suddenly awakened and you saw the need to just love Jesus all over again. That's what this is talking about. It's talking about that drawing power of God. No, this is where we need to go as a church. This is what's going to prepare us for the harvest. Verse 8, If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. And so, you know, when they responded to her heart cry, they only told her what they knew. What did they tell her to do? Just continue to be busy for the Lord. You'll find Him. But what happens? All of a sudden in the midst of this pain and this awakening, she starts to hear the voice of her beloved. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses and Pharaoh's chariots. And He begins to speak vividly to her. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. And so what happens is here, the Lord speaks to her and speaks affectionately to her and expresses to her an aspect of her beauty that He sees. Do you see what's going on here? Now, this is what biblical Christianity is all about. Our roots are grounded in a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Our roots. At the very beginning of this love journey, she realized she was black and comely and she had neglected, but what is it that got her attention? It was His voice describing her and explaining to her her beauty. Have you ever heard the Lord speak to you like this? Now watch what happens. We're going to close on this. Listen to this. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. Oh, beloved. Listen carefully, alright? Spikenard is only mentioned twice in the entire Old Testament. Guess where the two places are? Song of Solomon. Spikenard is mentioned twice in the New Testament. I want to show you the two places where they're mentioned, so you can understand what's happening in the heart of this beloved, undefiled One. The first place is found in Mark 14.3. Yes. The anointing of Jesus at Bethany. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard. Very precious. And she broke the box, listen, and poured it on his feet. The second place is John 12. John 12. Beginning in verse 3. Verse 2, And they made him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary and poured an ointment of spikenard very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the door of the ointment. Verse 12, While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. What this speaks of is the preciousness of what happens in the spirit of this undefiled one as she begins to hear the voice of her lover, and he begins to reveal himself to her, even though she's in despair here, she's hurting, she hears his voice, and her spikenard begins to pour out. That means all of a sudden her heart is filled with worship and adoration and praise toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know how the Lord longs for spiritually our spikenard to be poured out on Him and anoint His feet and wash His feet with our hair and worship Him and bow down before Him? Do you see the roots here of what we're looking at? An intimate relationship. Every time we behold Him, spikenard should pour forth out of our life. Now I know this is Greek and Hebrew to most Christians. This is Hebrew in the original. This is Greek and Hebrew to most Christians. And I'll tell you why. It's because the church in this hour is so busy serving a Lord that they don't know. They're so busy being religious, they have not come to know their Redeemer. And their obedience is so linked to compulsion and ordinance and works, they know nothing about an obedience bursting out of the heart of love for Jesus. And that's why so much of the obedience is grievous to the soul. It's forced obedience. I feel it's safe to say that Jesus weeps because He looks in the church for spikenard. He doesn't find much of it. How He wants spikenard to be poured out of our spirits, spiritually speaking, seeing Him and loving Him and adoring Him. And after worship, He's talking to her. She bursts forth into worship. And what does worship do? It gives you focus of Him. And what does she start doing? She starts speaking about Him now. It's a discourse, a love relationship. He speaks beautiful things to us. We speak it back to Him. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. He shall lie all night between my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of campfire in the vineyards. Behold, thou art fair, my love. Now He starts talking to her. It just goes from one to another. This is intimacy. This is communion. This is what the Lord's after. Listen to what He says. Behold, thou art fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair. Thou hast dove's eyes. Do you see what He's saying here? He's recognizing the beauty of His own attributes in His life. Dove speaks of the Holy Spirit. Dove speaks of the Comforter. The dove speaks of the Holy Spirit who reveals the things of Christ to us and who makes them ours. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved. Yea, pleasant. Also, our bed is green indicating the beginning stages of intimacy. Immaturity. But nevertheless, it's precious. The beams of our house are cedar and our rafters are fir. Well, like I said, I probably should stop. It's 12.10. But I'm hoping to be able and looking to the Lord, listen carefully, to be able for us all together to see that this message that is found in the Song of Solomon captures the sum total of what God wants to do in relation to the latter part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The planting, building aspect of the ministry of the Holy Spirit consists of the realities of this truth becoming ours personally in ever increasing manner. Love, obedience, and union with Him. The former works of the Holy Spirit, the tearing, the throwing down, the destroying, and the uprooting, will be occurring simultaneously from time to time. We all go into seasons when it's a little more accelerated sometimes depending on God's dealing and wisdom. But remember these two aspects. There are those who see love, love, love, but no uprooting, no tearing down. And then the other side of the pendulum is just as dangerous. So we need to see. I take that back, not if. As God continues to work in our lives as a church, and as our lives as individuals, we need to remember these two aspects of His dealing in our life. And always remember they work simultaneously hand-in-hand and it brings glory to Him when we can come and walk through this book. So, I'm believing the Lord to release His heart into our midst so we can walk through this. It gets really, really exciting. And I want you to pray because I feel the Lord has put it in my heart to write a book on the Song of Solomon and just to share these things. As I was away, the last time we got together on Tuesday night, I spent the whole time in the Song of Solomon and five people came up to me afterwards and either said... a lot was said about the fact that this book of Song of Solomon is a vital contribution into our lives and we need to understand it, but they either said, you need to write a book, and one person said they believed God showed them that the Lord was asking me to write a book about it. So I'm asking you to pray that it will be released and that it might serve the purpose for which God would want it to serve and that is to help us see the great dealings of God in this book, how it affects individually you and I as a church and as believers. Okay? So, praise the Lord. Let's just look to the Lord. There's an announcement up here for Bill Gothard. Basic seminar. If you're interested, there's information on the back table. Please, talk to Gary. If you're interested in going, look at the material in the back, okay? But let's look to the Lord for a few moments and just allow Him to minister to our hearts. Next time we get together, God willing, we would like to introduce the three stages of love that we find in the book of Solomon. The book of Song of Solomon. Very insightful. Very encouraging. And we can see where the Lord is leading us through this book of Song of Solomon, okay? But now, Father, we thank You for Your precious Holy Spirit. Lord, we just commit to You, Lord, this whole vision of seeing You and loving You and knowing You. And Lord, we commit to You, Lord, the stirring in our hearts regarding the time that we live in and how, Lord, You want to do such great things, Lord. You want to show Your name to be great in this late hour of apostasy. We humbly ask, Lord, that You would prepare our hearts and that You would grace us with Your continued working in our life, Lord. We ask that You do everything that's in Your heart in our lives and in our midst. And however You move in this valley, Lord, we pray that You'll make it that we're in the center of it, Lord, that we're right in the midst of it, enjoying Your presence. Do it, Lord, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah to God. Do it, Lord.