The coming of the Lord

Song of Solomon, chapter 2, and we'll read it first, number 8. The voice of my beloved, or the NASB, reads, Listen, my beloved. Behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe, or a young heart, stag.

Behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice. My beloved, speak, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle, turtle dove, is heard in our land.

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. The Lord will bless to us the reading from his word.

I thought it would be nice to direct our attention, before the ministry section of the conference comes to an end, to think a little about the coming again of our Lord Jesus. Now, when we come to the Song of Solomon, it's a very interesting book, and as you begin to read it, it is obvious that you're listening to people that are speaking. And throughout the book, you will be able to identify at least seven voices that speak.

In fact, the Song of Solomon is characterized by a series of sevens. So you have the voice of the Shulamite herself, you have the daughters of Jerusalem, you have Solomon identified, you have the shepherd lover, you have the brothers of the Shulamite, you have the companions of the shepherds, and you have the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they all have something to say, as you read through the book.

Seven in all. As well, there are, so far as the structure of the book is concerned, there are seven identifiable poems. Or if you look at it all as one poem, seven stanzas in the poem.

And as you come to chapter one, right into chapter two to verse seven, you have the bride reflecting back upon the wedding day, when she married the groom. And every wife here, every bride can remember that day fondly, the day that you were married. The second poem begins where we began to read in verse number eight.

And here we have reflections upon their courtship. I'm not going to go through them all, but there are seven in total that will give you the structure of the book. And it's very interesting to trace that and to see it.

You'll be able to identify them from the content of what is said. But I want to just come to our little section here today, remembering the time, and we'll keep that thought of sevens, I've got seven headings, and we'll make our way through. Verse number eight then, where we began to read, we have the surprise of his coming, the surprise of his coming.

The idea is, listen, my beloved, and she's surprised that this moment has come. And we can remember that as well, no doubt, whenever you're recording, those that are married, those times when he didn't tell you he was coming, and all of a sudden here he is. That's the idea.

Listen, my beloved, she hears his voice. We're not told what she was doing when he arrived. She may have been planting flowers in the yard.

She may have been washing the clothes. She may have been preparing lunch or whatever. We're not told.

And you know, when the Lord comes for us, it's going to be unannounced. And I just wonder what we're going to be doing when he actually arrives. Perhaps there'll be a brother and he'll be in the field with a tractor.

And all of a sudden the Lord will come. And with the GPS and auto steering and so on, the tractor will keep on plowing the field and you'll be gone. Somebody else will have to shut it off.

Or perhaps the sister will be at the kitchen sink just wiping up a few dishes. Suddenly he's there. Or perhaps, dear brother, you might be on the Internet and suddenly he comes.

Or, younger people, you may be in that place that you know you shouldn't be. And he arrives. And you hear his voice.

Listen, my beloved. The surprise of his coming. Then we have, as we read on, what I'm going to call the swiftness of his coming.

Notice. Behold, he is coming, leaping, or climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills. The swiftness of his coming.

There's nothing that stands in his way, be it mountains, be it hills. He's coming leaping upon the hills, rising above them, making his way. Interesting that the last promise that we have in the Bible is in the present tense.

Surely, I am coming quickly. He's on his way. Just the processes of God's purpose are being worked out as that moment draws nearer and nearer.

That moment in the program of God. He is on his way. The mountains in Scripture will speak to us of strong nations, powerful nations.

And we would learn the lesson then that the nations of this world will not hinder the Lord when he comes. They'll not be able to delay this coming. It won't be passed through the White House to see if there's permission for him to come.

The government of Canada will not be consulted. The heathen may rage. The kingdoms may be moved.

The mountains may shake with the swelling thereof. But he'll come just the same. The outermost parts of the earth will be given to him for a possession, Psalm 2. The kings of the earth will have to stand aside as he arrives to take his own form.

So there'll be no obstacle that will keep him from coming. This world can get as dark as it likes to get morally, immorally. And in whatever way it can stand opposed to God.

But when the moment comes, there's nothing will stop him. When he arrives to the air, and he gives that shout that we're going to hear, the swiftness of his coming. Then there's the symbolism of his coming.

Notice in verse 9, Behold, my beloved is like a roe, that's a gazelle, or a young heart, a stag, a stag. So it's masculine. So it's stressing for us symbolically the masculinity, the strength, and the grace of her beloved as he comes.

Masculinity, strength, and grace. Isn't it wonderful to remember that the one who's coming for us is truly a man. A true man.

The perfect man. The one who is eternally God. Eternally, from everlasting to everlasting.

But that same one was manifest in flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And it's the Lord himself who is coming.

He's not sending an angel, though that would be marvelous to see an angel, and gladly we would no doubt respond. But it's the Lord himself who's coming. The one who loved us.

The one who bore the marks of Calvary. The one whose visage was more marred more than any man's. And is far more than the sons of men.

Who was wounded for our transgressions. Who was bruised for our iniquities. It's he himself who's coming.

And we're going to see him. And we're going to meet him. And thank God we're going to be with him forever.

The symbolism of his coming. I'm moving through these quickly because of the time. Now notice in verse 9 again, the secrecy of his coming.

She says, Behold, he is standing behind our wall. He's looking through the windows. He's peering through the lattice.

And here again we can catch up on the thought of courtship that's going on. Courtship on display. There's a certain playfulness and beauty in these expressions.

He has arrived unannounced. And instead of just coming and knocking on the front door, he's looking through the window. Or he's coming around the side and he's looking through the lattice.

Maybe pitches a little stone over there and so on. And there's just that playfulness. There's that spontaneity about it that's apparent.

And of course there's that undercurrent of joy. What a joy it's going to be to our hearts to discover he has come. He's here.

It will be a wonderful, wonderful moment to discover that he has arrived. And what gladness, what joy will fill our hearts in that moment of discovery. We'll be surprised.

I have no doubt about that. We're going to be surprised. We just didn't expect it just at this moment.

I'm driving down the road in my car. And all of a sudden he's here. But what joy will fill our hearts in that moment.

The secrecy of his coming. This world will not know anything about it, I don't believe. They won't see it.

They may see the effects of it afterwards when millions are missing. But he's not coming announcing himself to the world. That comes later.

That comes big time, doesn't it? There's a process that's gone through throughout the tribulation. It's the Lord making his presence felt here on planet earth. Until finally the heaven is opened and behold the white horse.

And he sits upon it and he rides out. And he asserts his authority to rule over this planet. To retake the reins of government.

To establish his kingdom. And to set up that rule of his that will be righteous and will be marked by peace. And prosperity and blessing for those that will go into the millennial kingdom.

The secrecy of his coming. But notice in verse 10. We have the spoken word at his coming.

It says, my beloved speak. Responded and said to me. Rise up my love, my fair one.

My beautiful one. And come away. John got a little glimpse of him in Revelation chapter 1. You remember.

And John heard his voice. And it says there that his voice was as the sound of mighty waters. And the trumpet is going to sound.

One thing is sure, brethren, that when he comes you'll not need those hearing aids to hear him. And even those that are asleep in their beds, they're going to hear it too. And those that are asleep in Jesus, they're going to hear it as well.

When he comes with the voice of Archangel, with the trumpet of God, when he gives that shout. I remember Brother Jack Hunter telling us that when divine persons speak, they express divine energy. And that which is expressed happens by divine power.

And when the Lord gives that shout, then those things that are recorded that will take place at the rapture will instantly take place. Dead in Christ will rise first. And you and I that are alive and remain unto that moment will be transformed in a moment of time.

And then together with them that have already fallen asleep, raised now from the dead, together we'll rise to meet Him changed in that instant with bodies fashioned onto the body of His glory without spot or wrinkle, to be like Christ in all His perfections. What a marvelous thought. So we have the spoken word of His coming.

When He speaks, this is what He says, Arise, my love, my fair one, my beautiful one, and come away. He's not speaking to the world. But there is something upon His heart when He comes.

Christ loved the church. And He gave Himself for it. And He's come to shout her home, to bring her home.

We can each one take that home to our own hearts as well. Not only is He coming for the church, which is His body, but every saved person is an object of His love in a very personal way. The Son of God loved me.

And He gave Himself for me. And He's coming to take me home. And listen to what He says.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. Some of us are not much to look at today. And as the years pass, things change, don't they? But in that moment, we'll be seen beautiful in Christ, in all the perfections of Christ, and even transformed physically with a body that's like onto His glorious body.

Found beautiful in Christ and loved by Him, as gladly we rise to meet Him in the air. Notice in verse 11 then, we come to this, the season of His coming. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

The flowers have already appeared in the land, and the time has arrived for the pruning of the vines. The voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land, and the fig tree has ripened its figs. The vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.

Now, we do not know what season He will come. It may be wintertime, it may be spring, maybe summer, maybe fall. We don't know.

It may be in the blaze of noonday or in the darkness of the night. We're just not told, are we? But we do know this. This world is dark and it's getting darker.

And when He arrives, it's going to be the dawning of a new day for us, isn't it? We look for that day star to arrive. We're looking for that one who is the bright star of Revelation 22. It will be a wonderful day for us to be ushered into His presence.

Past will be the toil and the trial of earth. Past will be the pain and the suffering that's endured in these bodies. Past will be all tears and sorrow and partings that would plague us here.

There are no graves on the hillsides of glory, for there we will nevermore die. It's going to be a wonderful season, a moment, when He arrives. Verse 13, the sweetness of His coming.

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come away. It's the repeat of what we had further up in verse number 10. And when He comes at the rapture, He's only going to have to speak once.

But I take it the emphasis here is for, it's expressing the depth of His affection for the object of His love. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come away. He looks upon us as beautiful.

Isn't that amazing? And He loves us with a tenderness, with a reality. Encapsulated in this little word, my darling, my beloved, my fair one. And it's the longing of His heart that the one whom He loves will be with Him and with Him forevermore.

It's the longing of our hearts to be with the one that we love too, isn't it? And to be like Him forevermore. The sweetness of His coming, what a moment it's going to be when He arrives to the air and we're surprised by it. To hear His spoken word and to rise then to meet Him and be with Him throughout all eternity.

May the Lord warm our hearts and comfort us as we think of the prospect of His coming.