In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that every doctrine and teaching should lead believers to Jesus Christ. The focus is on the hands of Jesus, described as being like gold rings set with precious stones. This symbolizes the uniqueness and distinction of Jesus' hands compared to others. The sermon also highlights the concept of freedom and sonship in Christ, drawing parallels to the prodigal son's return and the father's gift of a golden ring. The preacher concludes by emphasizing the unbreakable bond between Jesus and believers, represented by the image of a jewel embedded in a ring held firmly in the hand.

Let us turn our Bibles to the Song of Solomon again. Chapter five, reading the section through, beginning at verse nine. What is thy beloved more than another beloved? O thou fairest among women. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? My beloved is white and ruddy, the cheapest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters washed with milk and fig leafs. His cheeks are as a bed of spices as sweet flowers. His lips like lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the burl. His belly or his body is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon pockets of fine gold. His countenances as leavened, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yea he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. May God bless the reading of his word, and may our hearts be greatly enriched to see more of the beauties of our beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the context of this portion. It has been a deep joy to study some of the features that are metaphorically presented to us relating to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the greatest subjects, and I believe we should state it is the greatest subject, to be found in the word of God is the person of Christ. Every doctrine, every teaching should lead the heart of the people of God to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. For, after all, from the beginning to the end of the book, he is the great person whom God has revealed. Today we go down to verse 14 in our chapter, and consider his hands, and by the grace and help of the Lord, his body. We have the right of saying, by divine inspiration, his hands are as gold rings set with the pearl. There is a very old translation that has rendered these words very fittingly. His hands are full of gold rings and precious stones. May I repeat it, for I'm sure we shall see the meaning of it as we go into the study. His hands are full of gold rings and precious stones, for the hands of our beloved, the Lord Jesus, they are distinguished from all the hands of others, for there's no hand like him. We could say much about those hands, but please note particularly the description of his hands is linked with the gold rings and the precious stones. So, we would like to touch upon what the Spirit of God may give to us in relation to the expression, the gold rings upon his hands. The gold ring, in the word of God, is the symbol of freedom, and it is the symbol of sonship. It was a custom in ancient days to give the privilege to a slave of wearing a black ring, an iron ring. They were permitted to wear an iron ring, but they could never wear a gold ring. The gold ring was emblem of freedom, as well as sonship, and if there is a person who is entitled to wear the gold ring that emblematically presents to us freedom and sonship, it is the Lord Jesus himself. And even though he took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and even though they sold him for the price of a slave, there is no person above all humanity who is worthy to bear and to wear the gold ring of the emblem of freedom, as well as sonship. And as the Son, God's only beloved Son, those whom he redeems, they become sons with him. What a joy to realize the one who is entitled to wear the gold ring of freedom and sonship, he takes the ring, the iron ring of slavery, from those whom he redeems, and he gives them the ring, the gold ring of freedom and sonship to wear. Now, let me prove it. We have touched in the nightly messages concerning the father and his family, and may I repeat the words of John 1 verse 12, but to as many as received him, to them gave he the privilege, the right, the authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. O beloved, you and I wore the iron ring of slavery, the iron ring of sin slavery. Now our Lord Jesus came to us, and he took that iron ring of slavery away. He delivered us from its bondage and power, and he made us his own sons in the family of God, and he gave us the freedom that we have. His own words are so precious in John 8 verse 35, when the Lord Jesus said, if the Son shall make you free, then are ye free indeed. You know, we sing that we live in the land of the free, and some of us are wondering whatever is free in it in these insulations every day. But, oh, when you look at the principle of freedom, you do not find it in earthly government, in its perfection in eternal blessing. But, when we look at the Beloved, the Lord Jesus, if the Son shall make you free, then are ye free indeed. Do you remember when the prodigal came home to his father's house? As he thus was embraced by the father's arms, and caressed with the father's kiss, and welcomed by the father's arms, the father said, bring him the best robe, and put it upon him, and shoes upon his feet, and a ring upon his finger. And the son who came back, desiring to be made only a servant, could not be made a servant, for the father must give him the golden ring of freedom and sonship, and celebrate his return. Oh Beloved, when the father received you with me through this son, we were brought into the liberty and freedom of sons of God. Blessed be his name, and what a joy to realize the emblem of that gold ring, the emblem of freedom, and the emblem of relationship as sons. But, that gold ring is also the emblem of authority and of power. In ancient times, if you didn't know your Bibles, realize the truth of this statement. In ancient times, marmots, they had golden rings, and enclosed with a precious stone or a signet, engraved upon that ring was perhaps their name, and that signet ring was the emblem of their authority and the emblem of their power. Let me prove it. Pharaoh gave to Joseph, as he exalted him to be the highest in the land underneath himself, he gave in his own ring the signet ring of authority and power, so that all the Egyptians and all in Egypt had to bow their knees to the authority of Joseph. For Joseph had, by prerogative authority from Pharaoh himself, the power of Egypt in his own hand, and the signet ring of the Pharaoh himself to be used to prove his authority. You remember the days of King Ahasuerus in the book of Esther? And now, in the eighth chapter of the book of Esther, when Mordecai and Esther were attending the release of the great judgment of the death of all Jews that had been placed upon the whole population of Israel from one end of the kingdom of Ahasuerus to the other. And when they were given the authority to proclaim a release, a liberty, and a freedom to all Jews, the king gave to Esther, as well as to Mordecai, his own ring to sign the authority of their decree for the freedom of their people with that signet ring. Yes, you remember Darius the King, when Daniel was placed into the den of lions by his wicked enemies? It was the king's alliance to enforce the laws of the Medes and the Persians that could not be altered. He must seal that den of lions as the stone was rolled into place with his own signet ring. It was the symbol of the highest authority of the realm. And, oh beloved, what joy it is to realize the gold ring belonging to the Christ of God, our beloved, is the symbol of his authority, and is the symbol of his power. For him has God the Father sealed. Now, may I point out someday that beloved will have a universal kingdom, and his authority and his power will be over all the earth, as well as the heavens above, and it will be the symbol of his universal authority and power in heaven, on earth, and even under the earth. But, then, may I point out something that's precious for you and me? That gold ring is also the emblem of power for his bribe. For he has entrusted to his bribe the use of that signet ring that bears the authority and the power of his name. You remember, as the Lord Jesus went back to the glory above, at the closing of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28, at the very close of that last chapter, the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And, he had trusted to his disciples, he had trust to his own, the use of that signet ring that bears his name, and is the authority for his power. Let me point out very carefully these precious thoughts regarding the power of that emblematic ring, the power of that ring that bears his name. First of all, the power of it reaches upward to heaven. The power of it reaches upward to heaven. The Lord Jesus said in John 14, "'Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and ye shall receive. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, I will do.' And, my beloved believer, my how I need the exhortation that to you and to me has been entrusted the use of this signet ring that bears the authority and the power of his name. And, in that name we can reach upward to heaven with our requests. Hallelujah! What a joy to know we can go to one so great and bring our supplications, our prayers and intercessions. Then also, the power of that name reaches not only upward to heaven, it reaches downward to even meet the forces of hell. The power of hell. You remember the Lord Jesus in Mark chapter 16 said to his disciples, "'In my name shall ye cast out demons. In my name shall ye cast out demons. And, O me, I take to my heart, and my conscience, and my soul.' The power of that name to take the host of evil that you and I take in this worldwide system under Satan. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high or heavenly places. But, the power of that name, thank God, has been entrusted for you and for me to use. And, he has given the use of that signet ring, bearing his name, to resolve against the powers of evil. Praise his name! I wish we used it more, but the power of that name not only reaches upward, not only reaches downward, but it reaches outward. For, when the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 28, "'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,' it was with that great permission, "'go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.' And, beloved, in the power of that name, the believers, the blind, can go out with the message, saying, "'Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none of the name unto heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.'" And, in the power of that name, as Peter said in Acts chapter four, verse twelve, he presents his salvation. Blessed be God! Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter ten, verse thirteen, "'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" Oh, beloved, would that you and I realized the power of that name outward! But, then you have in First Corinthians chapter six, and in the verse that the Lord, that the Apostle writes to his beloved Corinthians, I think it's the eleventh verse, but in First Corinthians chapter six, after describing what they had been in their preceding condition on faith, and all other category of evil names belong to them, but he said, "'Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, and ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.' For, the power of that name reaches inward to the conscious, and the power of that name justifies the guilty, but the believing sinner before God inwardly, and the joy of realizing the precious blood of the Savior, the power of that name reaches the inward condition of the soul. Blessed be God!" Oh, my beloved, may I say, may you and I realize that there has been entrusted to us the use of that signet ring. As Pharaoh gave to Joseph his signet ring, the symbol of his authority and of his power, our Lord Jesus has given to his bride the signet ring of his own glorious name to be used for his honor and glory, and our blessing. But, I want you to think of it in another way, and going back to the old quotation of the translation that is quite old, his hands are full of gold rings and precious stones. For, in this expression, the believer's safety is seen in those gold rings. His hands are full of gold rings. I believe that, literally, as far as the description, it would indicate his hands are full of rings. Gold rings, and every ring set with a precious stone, and resting within that hand are precious stones belonging to him, and they are in his view, where his eyes can always look upon the precious jewels that his hand retains. There is a verse, I think Moses declared it, that says, All his saints are all thy saints, all his saints are in his hands. Do you know that's a mighty big hand? Mighty big hand! Realize John 10 28 through 30. Why, she'd hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish, neither shall any part come out of my hand. My father which gave to me is greater than all, neither shall any part come out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. An emblematic of the safety of the believer, that jewel which every believer is to the heart of the Lord, that jewel rests safely, secure, in the palm of his hand. He, remember Isaiah wrote, as God spoke to him concerning Israel, I have graven thee upon the palm of my hand. So, my beloved one, it's all you did. To see there's nothing more firmly grasped by the hand, and in the hand, than a ring, and the jewel in the palm of the hand, in bed and in the ring, where it is always before the eyes of its owner. When there is a ring upon the hand, and the jewel within the hand, there's only one way that the jewel can never be taken from the owner. The hand must be shattered. The hand that holds it must be broken. The hand that contains it must be overpowered. My beloved, do I need to ask you, is there any power that can overcome that hand that holds his own in its eternal grasp? None whatsoever. You know, earth and hell combined together to destroy the beloved. They took away his life when he laid it down for you and for me, and they drove through his hands the nail when they embedded him upon Calvary's tree. But, in the palm of his hand, you and I were engraved, and you and I who believe upon him, we died within there. You and I who believe upon him were buried with him as the scripture teaches. But, he who died, through whose hands they drove the nails, and he was buried, he not only died and was buried, he rose again. And, you and I rose with him, and when he arose, you and I were still in the palm of his hand. And, he said, I ascend unto my father, and I ascend unto your father. I wonder if you've ever noticed, sometimes read that crucifixion chapter, the 22nd Psalm, so vividly describing the softness of the Lord Jesus, physically, excuse me, as well as spiritually. But, in that 22nd Psalm, and in the 20th verse, there's a prayer on the cross that he made when he cried, deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dove. Let me repeat the word, deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dove. I believe there's a two-fold request in that prayer, one for himself, the other for his bride, my darling, and, O beloved, thanks be to his name, the safety of his bride is in the eternal hands of our beloved Lord. And, though heaven and earth, hell and earth combined, to put it in, and nail those hands to the gibbet of shame, he came out of the grave a victim, holding within those hands every one of his own. Blessed be his name, and what a joy his hands are full of gold rings with precious stones. Be a wonderful day when he gets all the jewels home to glory, won't it? They shall be mine in that day when I make up my special treasure in that glorious day. But, let's go on further. Not only the beauty of his hands do we learn, but the beauty of his body. Know what she says in this 14th verse? His body is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphire. In the physical description that she gives, the outward garment may add, less visible, the breast, and the arms, and the hands for the bride to see. And, she describes the whiteness of his body as being as bright ivory, with a robe possibly that was filled with many precious jewels, the sapphires. But, she says, his body is as bright ivory, and here is the glory of my beloved body. We tread on real sacred ground when we think of the body of our Lord, the Beloved. May I quote the words that the Savior spoke in chapter 10, recorded in the 10th chapter of Hebrews, and verse 5, where, in conversation with his Father, preceding his coming to the earth, he declares, a body hast thou prepared me? My beloved, may I suggest to you the incarnation of that Blessed One who was the Eternal Word? The preparation of that body was divine? May I repeat that? One of the greatest truths concerning our Christian testimony is the fact these days, and that is the incarnation of the Son of God, that He who was the Eternal Word became flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness! God was manifest in the flesh, and that holy thing that was born of the Virgin Mary, that body was prepared by the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. A body hast thou prepared me? And, as we have noted in our first message of the evening this week, the precious truth, the Word was manifested in the flesh, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. My beloved, I wish with all earnestness that we appreciated more the body of the Lord Jesus in that incarnation. She describes it as a blessed body, a body of blessed glory, white ivory. If I may suggest, that body of ivory was the ivory palace in which the Lord of Glory tabernacled when he was here, as she describes his body as white ivory. When Jesus was on the earth in John chapter 2, he said to the Pharisees and those around him in the temple, destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it again. And they thought he spoke of the beautiful white marble temple, but you remember John adds that he spake of the temple which was his body, and he likened his body to the white marble of that illustrious temple of which the Jews were significantly proud. And, though that body of the Lord Jesus was the ivory palace in which the Lord and the King of Glory inhabited when he was here on the earth, what a body! I worship, I adore him as I recognize the whiteness of that body. May I point out the two things about ivory? Very significant. White ivory, first, is significantly smooth, and then it's also significant for its whiteness. Smooth? Yes, indeed smooth. Ivory is able, and easily able, to receive a very fine polish. It polishes without wrinkle. It shows no defect, and is constantly seen in all the smoothness of any material that can be thus brought in being polished to such smoothness as it presents. And, oh my beloved, when you and I look at the pot, say, suppose I look around at you and look at your wrinkles, and you come up here and look at some of mine, if you wish. Oh my beloved, not on him. Oh, the perfection of that human body, without wrinkle, without blemish. Oh, how precious! I'm so glad that God had one man on the earth with a perfect body. Praise his name! Then, the ivory is not only noted for the smoothness of its polish, but for the whiteness of its color. The whiteness, the rich whiteness that it presents. And, I'm sure you recognize that this also denotes the spotlessness of that blessed one, Jesus our Lord, for he had a body without blemish and without spot. Praise his holy name! Now, that brings us to the amazing thought. It was that body that was given as a sacrifice for sin. Who, without blemish and without spot, offered himself up by the eternal Spirit to God. Thank God for the unblemished character, person of the Son of God in his perfect humanity, thus to be the sacrifice for our sin. One of the reasons for the incarnation, not the only reason, but one of the greatest reasons for the incarnation, was that the Son of God might have a body, a human body, that was properly qualified to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Hallelujah, what a body! And, as Isaiah would say, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way, and Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of us all. I marvel with wonder and worship with adoration when I realize that the sheep of humanity which has strayed in every direction away from God, here comes the beloved. He goes to Calvary and that body is nailed to the gibbet of the cross. And, from all the wandering sheep, divine wisdom and power gathers together all the sins and the iniquities of those sheep, and causes them to meet upon one person and upon one body, and that body, the body of Jesus, the Son of God. Tremendous! All thy sins were laid on Jesus. Jesus bore them on the tree. God who knew them laid them on him, and believing thou art free. Blessed be his name. Now, beloved, let me give you one more thought concerning that precious body, and its rest. The Lord suffered when he took the bread the night of his institution, and as he gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, he said, take ye, this is my body. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11 that we should so worthily partake of that supper, that we might discern the Lord's body. And, one of my blessings that I receive, and privileges that I enjoy at the supper of the Lord, when I take that bread, is to remember he said, this is my body, and to cherish with affection, devotion, and in worship, acknowledge the glorious body of my Lord. Praise his holy name. You know, I get a lot more joy out of his body than this one I've gotten. Praise his holy name. And, if you want to get along well with the one you have to put up with, enjoy his body. Now, I think it'll be a lot easier. Oh, the joy of seeing the glory of his body! But then, overlaying that body was the sapphire robe, the glory of those sapphires. Will you go with me, please, to a scripture in the book of Exodus? I'd like you to realize that sapphires are an indication denoting the heavenly character of the Lord Jesus, the ivory, the humanity, and the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. But, in Exodus chapter 24, please, where the sapphires can definitely be proved to represent the heavenly character of the beloved Son of God. Chapter 24. A most amazing thing. Verse nine and ten, please. Now, please don't ask me to explain this in its complete revelation, whatever it may be. There's something mystical about it, but no. Then went up Moses, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet, as it were, a paying work of a sapphire stone, and as it were, the body of heaven in his clearness. Someday, I'm certainly going to get older, Moses, and maybe the rest of those elders that went along with him, and the priests. But, I'm sure that in the glory of that day when perfect understanding shall be yours and mine, we shall have a clearer knowledge, and a perfect knowledge of what transpired. But, one thing is evident. There was the manifestation of the heavenly character of God's presence by the sapphire stone upon which they thus were able to gain, and the clearness of heaven was given them to look upon. Well, I may I say, if you'll only look, and if I will only look upon the beloved, you'll see the clearness of heaven. The sapphire stone here is represented the heavenly character of the man of sorrows. The ivory presents the purest of earth's production, but the sapphire is employed to represent heaven, and with all the lowly beauty of his manhood, he is still, you remember his words in John 3.14, he is still, John 3.13 rather, he is still the son of man which is in heaven. For about his body are the sapphires, the stones of heavenly glory radiating his heavenly character. You remember, as we have noticed through the week in the nightly messages, he is still the son who is in the bosom of the Father. I remember reading something very precious about the testimony of a dear brother in the old country of England many years ago by the name of Moneypenny. He was evidently a godly, pious, radiant Christian. One day he was walking down the street of the city where he dwelt, in company with one of the bishops, a man who was dressed in clerical garb, and both of them were walking together down the street. As they came along, there was a beggar who was watching for an opportunity to beg for any gift, and he saw the two men coming towards him, and he saw one dressed in clerical garb and the other not. But, he looked keenly at their faces, and he noticed the faith and the heavenly radiance that was on the face of this brother, Mr Moneypenny. And, he was so impressed with the heavenly radiance of Christ, being from this vast continent, he went directly to him and said, oh man with heaven in your face, would you give me a penny? Well, he sure knew where to go, didn't he? And, you couldn't blame him. You might look at the other fellow, he might have looked like a tight-fisted old stone, I don't know. But, here's the thought, beloved, you see the Lord Jesus, our beloved, and though we see it in all the loneliness, as well as the tragedy of the man of sorrows, and even his visage marred more than the sons of men, we see the character of heavenly glory in his face. Blessed be his name! How precious! Still, one more thought. These sapphires, they not only suggest his heavenly glory, but they suggest his infinite riches. His infinite riches for overlaying the body, as she described it, the bride's recognizance, the sapphires of that glorious robe that he wore, were also significant of the riches that he possessed. And, what shall we say of our Lord Jesus? The treasures of heaven belong to him! Praise his name! You know, there's one thing I'm grateful for. It's not the treasures of earth. The poet wrote, the treasures of earth are not mine. I hold not its silver nor gold, but a treasure far greater is mine. I have riches of value untold, for the depth of the riches of love, the riches of love in Christ Jesus, far better than gold and wealth untold of the riches of love in Christ Jesus. May I illustrate what it means for you and me? You remember in John chapter 13, when the Lord was with his own for the last occasion before Gethsemane in Calvary? As they were in that upper room, he laid aside his outer garment. He took upon him the girdle of a towel. He girded himself with a towel, and he stooped, and he washed with the basin of water that he sighed close feet. They didn't know what he was doing. And, to Peter, we have to say, thou knowest not what I do now, but thou shalt know hereafter. But, may I give you the suggestion? He disrobed himself of his glory in heaven that was his, and he came down to redeem you with me, and exchange that robe of glory for the girdle of our humanity to save you with me. But, in so doing, he hath placed upon us the robe of his sapphire glory, the heavenly treasures. Let me prove it. 2nd Corinthians, verse 9. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. Bless your heart! I wonder how rich you feel. Now, don't put your head in your pocket, that won't tell you. But, look at the man in the glory. Look at your beloved, and see the sapphire of heavenly glory, and the treasures of heavenly glory, that through endless ages will necessitate the endless ages to come to reveal, and to display, and to make known the treasures that belong to him. How beloved! I feel far richer than John D Rockefeller ever felt, even though he did give a dime away once more. But, what a joy to realize these are the treasures of heaven that belong to you and me. His body, as bright ivory, has overlaid with sapphire. Oh, thank you, Lord, to realize that he would make you and me rich. I don't understand it, but I sure do thank him for it. This is my beloved! This is my friend! You ask me, what is he more than another beloved? Well, bless your heart! Listen to what he is, as we see the description and the beauty of this one who's altogether lovely. Shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, we thank thee for the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, who can take the words of divine inspiration, and out from these words bring out the treasures, the hidden glories of our beloved Savior. Oh, how we thank thee for our adorable and lovely boy, and how we pray we shall see more of his beauty moment by moment as we go through this scene, until at last we shall see his full beauty when face to face in that coming day. Until then, we would say in closing our prayer, let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, all of his passion and purity, all my spirit divine, all my being refined, till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Lord, keep us looking upon thyself, not around us, nor within us, but to thyself, Lord Jesus, ever before us. I accept the Lord ever before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall never be moved. Rope this on me. Lord Jesus, please keep thyself before our hearts through the day, in thy precious and worthy name. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be upon us all. Amen.