Experiencing God's Miraculous Love: Signs, Wonders, and Faith

Understanding God's love and presence

David's longing for God's presence

Faith in knowing God's love and care

The importance of holy love and devotion to God

Music Music When we talk about the love of God, I wonder how many of us have really felt and known the depths of this wondrous love that is of a heavenly kind and is not yet known or experienced as the divine presence of Almighty Creator God, who permeates our whole being, our whole person, with the personal knowing that you have just experienced the touch and loving kindness and beauty of the one who created you. King David, whom God called his beloved, and won after his own heart, expresses this deep desire of the heart and soul in Psalms 42, verses 1 and 2. when he cries out to God in his desperate need for God's wondrous and personal presence as he was going through a great trial with his enemies who were in hot pursuit of him as he cries. As the heart pants and longs for water brooks, so I pant and long for you, O God. My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? What hunger, dear listener, what desire and need for God's intervention and the desire of a cry of a hungry heart and soul who needs God. In Psalms chapter 84, David again expresses his longing for the presence of God as he voices his great need for the fellowship and communion with God. Psalms 84, verse 1. How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns, yes, even pines, and is homesick for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God. Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Verse 4 blessed, happy, fortunate to be envied are those who dwell in your house and in your presence. They will be singing your praises all the day long. Selah. Calmly think about that. David, in effect, is beseeching God in an urgent treaty or appeal saying, My heart and my flesh, my whole nature, my body and my soul, all my desires and aspirations, all the longings of my heart are before you, O God. His whole body, the flesh cries out for rest. His heart and soul are longing for God's presence and communion. His whole being cries out in utter joy to expect his creator to respond to him. And this is called faith, dear ones. I ask you, have you ever personally felt God's sweet presence as you read the word of God? Or you meditate on his word? Or sit before him and joyfully worship him from the very depths of your heart? I am not saying that we always feel or experience the manifested presence of God. but I am saying that God makes himself available at times in our journey to give each hungry follower of Jesus Christ the personal experiences with himself, which I like to call a direct kiss from the heart of God to his dearly beloved children. Otherwise, when we read, pray, meditate, or worship our precious Savior and Father, it is by faith that we know that he is with us and hears the longing of our hearts, even though we may not feel his personal manifested presence upon and in us. It is pure faith in knowing that my God loves me and cares for me and will never leave or forsake me unless we knowingly sin or have half-hearted devotions to him and his holy ways and word which are found in the Bible. The book which expresses the commands and the holy path of righteousness that God explicitly demands that we follow him as his chosen children. You see, dear one, our whole nature demands the benefits, the desires, and goodness of God which spring from worship of him. Our bodies and our souls are made for his fellowship, to worship and be of service to him. Holy love to God is our greatest goal, coupled with extreme joy as a demonstration of the power of godliness, which is the very life and soul of our confession of faith in God and his precious Son, Jesus Christ. Without these, all of a person's external professions and performances are like an empty shell. They are just empty. Holy love is a thirsting love towards the Lord and towards the remembrance of his name. As David said, my soul pants and thirsts for God, for the living God. Now I believe that the greatest explanation or beginning of this most important and amazing fact of God's astounding love is found and explained in the book of Solomon. This awesome book was inspired by the King of Kings who is the Lord Jesus Christ for his future celebration with his bride church. Song of Songs is found in the very center part of all the books in the Bible. It is a song of love, a song of desire that depicts the love between the Messiah and his bride. And even though Solomon is said to be the author of the book, which, remember, is inspired by the Holy Spirit, It is mistakenly said by many commentators that this book shows the perspective of the marriage and God's teaching on sexual relationships and reflects Solomon's actual experiences in stressing warm relationships, warm human emotions, and love. But I say, excuse me, Solomon's sins regarding his reign and lust for the constant stream of wives and concubines was one of the greatest downfalls of his reign. King Solomon compromised the obedience that God commanded in keeping with righteousness for the wives' request to worship their own gods. Solomon's greatest sin was his loss of devotion to the God of the Hebrew people. In this, he fell victim to his own trade agreements. By custom, beautiful women were awarded to the most powerful member of a treaty to seal the covenant. Like was stated, the constant flow of wives and concubines in Solomon's court led eventually to his downfall. Therefore, he broke the Mosaic Law and violated the warning not to stray from the path of his father David. The large number of foreign women in Solomon's court made many demands upon the king, and he allowed these outsiders to practice their pagan religions. Now the result was that Jerusalem and even its holy temple was a scene of pagan practices and idol worship. Solomon's own faith was weakened. He started out as a youth as a young man totally devoted to God Eventually he approved of and even participated in these idolatrous acts And the example that he set for the rest of the nation must have been demoralizing. This unfortunate error was a severe blow to the security of Solomon's throne and to the nation that he had built. Solomon's sins in his reign brought changes not only to Israel but also to his own life near the end of his life the king lost the ideals of his youth becoming restless and unsatisfied his writings in Ecclesiastics he proclaimed that all was vanity which supports the view that the world's wisest man had become a pathetic figure in his own age. Sounds like a similar scenario, doesn't it? When Samson broke the vows of God, he lost everything for worldly pleasures. You see, it is never God's will that anyone sin, but he does allow us to make our own decisions. The story of Solomon is a powerful lesson for us that it does not pay to disobey. It is not enough to start well. We must seek God's grace to finish well too. Life without God is a dead-end street. It goes nowhere. Solomon thought that having a thousand wives and concubines would provide happiness. But we read whatever pleasure he thought would bring happiness was not worth the price that he paid. A wiser Solomon in the end concluded that his life of pleasure was meaningless. And that is found in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 8. The book of Ecclesiastes ends with the warning that God will bring every deed into judgment. And that is found in verse 14. so as I previously said excuse me the book of the Song of Songs was not an ideal outline for the perspective of marriage and God's teaching on sexual relationship within the marriage because Solomon failed in the whole aspect of godly devotion and purity within the marriage vows and as was stated as well this awesome book is called the Song of Solomon but was inspired by precious Holy Spirit showing it is a song of desire, a song of spiritual communion of a lifetime walk with the King of Kings, who is Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom. It is a beautiful love story between Jesus Christ, our Messiah, and his Bride Church. Song of Solomon is sometimes called the Song of Songs. It is found and was mentioned in the very center of all the books in the Bible. Dear one, the heartbeat of this book speaks of spiritual communion and the path of the believer who is actively pursuing the Lord and his work in them. I must say, though, those who allow their precious, wonderful Savior's work of grace to operate to its full and complete accomplishment are few. Just like we see in the life of Solomon who started out as a young man totally sold out to God, but failed in the end with nothing to say but vanity, vanity. All is vanity, all because he took his eyes off God and his Savior for pleasures of the world. with lament at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verses 12 through 14, Solomon concludes and declares, But going on any further than words given by one shepherd, my son be warned of making many books there is no end. So do not believe everything you read, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Verse 13, All has been heard. The end of the matter is, fear God, revere and worship him, knowing that he is, and keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man, the full original purpose of his creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to the inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun, and the whole duty for every man. You see, Solomon had free will. God did not force him to do what was right. Rather, God laid out his will for Solomon and blessed him with wisdom and expected the king to obey. In his later years, Solomon chose to disobey and he was held accountable for his decisions just as we are today because God is the same yesterday and today. The book of Ecclesiastes gives us the rest of the story. Solomon throughout the book tells us everything he tried in order to find fulfillment apart from God in this world or under the sun. and this is his own testimony I amassed silver and gold for myself and the treasure of kings and provinces I acquired a harem as well the delights of the heart of man that's found in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 8 but dear listener his harem did not bring him happiness instead everything became meaningless a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun. And it is never God's will that anyone ever sinned, but he does allow us to make our own choices. The story of Solomon is a powerful lesson for us that it does not pay to disobey the commands of God Almighty. It is not enough to begin well, but rather we must seek God's grace to finish well too. Life without God is a dead-end street. Solomon thought that having a thousand wives and concubines would provide happiness, but whatever pleasure he derived was not worth the price he paid. Reiterating a point, a wiser Solomon concluded that his life of pleasure was meaningless, Ecclesiastes 12 chapter 8, and at the end of the chapter in verse 14 it ends with, the warning that God will bring every deed into judgment. Was it too late for Solomon to repent? Many commentators say yes. It was too late for him, while others say that he was saved. But the Bible doesn't make this question clear, so we have to say that only God knows. But nevertheless, God in all of his plans lays out clearly in his book of the Song of Songs the path and avenue straight into the heart of God. The Song of Songs is a book that symbolically expresses the process and development of the sweet intimacy of communion with Christ in the fullness of his love. One thing is pursued in the Song of Songs in its cherished relationship with the King of Kings, which in its consummation tells us that satisfaction cannot be obtained through knowledge alone. The song speaks of rest from wandering and tells us that man can reach satisfaction only through genuine love for their bridegroom, Jesus Christ. You see, faith is our walk, but tangible, manifested presence and fellowship is our rest in our Lord Jesus Christ, our bridegroom. This book tells us that the maiden is a type of believer who longs for a fuller experience with Jesus. The song describes the beginning of deeper seeking after the Lord, until such longings are realized in fullness of friendship and fellowship with him And this song is a kind of special love that Jesus has for his bride whom he calls his dove. And this book expresses bliss through union with him, only he can satisfy. Dear listener, when a believer begins to cry out to know God for himself alone, and the Lord Jesus Christ will then bring them into his chambers, And there is a difference between his banqueting house, which is sometimes called the house of wine, which means the revelation of his love brings great joy, and his chambers, which is a secret place where she will be prepared for fuller knowledge of her lord and bridegroom. Look with me, please, in the Song of Songs, chapter 1, beginning in verse 4. The maiden cries out, Try me and we will run after you The king brings me into his apartments We will be glad and rejoice over you We will recall when we were favored with your love More fragrant than wine The upright are not offended at your choice But sincerely love you Verse 5 I am so black But you are lovely and pleasant The ladies assured her Oh you daughter of Jerusalem I am dark as the tents of the Bedouin tribe, Kedar, and like the beautiful curtains of Solomon. Verse 6. Please do not look at me. She said, For I am swarthy. I have worked out in the sun, and it has left its marks upon me. My stepbrothers were angry with me, and they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard, my complexion, I have not kept. Verse 7. Addressing her shepherds, she said, Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon? For why should I, as I think of you, be a veiled one, straying beside the flocks of your companions? If you do not know where your lover is, O you, a fairest among women, run along, follow the tracks of the flock, and muse yourself by pasturing your kids beside the shepherd's tents. well you see in reading all of this the maiden begins by crying out draw me we will run after you and dear ones this is saying that she wanted both spirit and soul to be drawn to the Lord to run after him she knew she must be drawn by his grace with her responsibility to engage herself in being compliant with his drawing her spirit and soul to run after him. This is the flowing forth of the soul after Christ. And it is ready for compliance with him. And are in effect saying this is his wonderful grace extended to us as mere creatures of clay. But understand, we could not run after him if he did not draw us. Jesus said in John chapter 6 verse 44, No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to me. And then I will raise him up from the dead at the last day. Also, in Philippians chapter 4, verse 13, where Paul declares, I have strength for all things in Christ, who empowers me. I'm ready for anything and equal to anything through him. who infuses inner strength into me. I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. Also, in 2 Corinthians 3, beginning in verse 5, not that we are fit, qualified, and sufficient in ability of ourselves to form personal judgments or claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God. When Jesus Christ, by his Spirit, draws us, we must, with our Spirit, run after him. God, through prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 36, verse 27, declared, I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall heed my ordinances and do them. So, when God says what he will do, then you and I must do what we should do, and that is therefore working out our own salvation, and that means not only will we walk, but we will run after him. Paul tells the church at Philippi, in Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 12, what they should be doing in working out their own salvation. Verse 12. of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you should shine as lights in the world. Verse 16 Holding fast to the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. We see specifically where the people were exhorted to work out their own salvation. Paul did not say, work for your salvation. We obtain salvation by receiving it as a gift, but having faith to receive it freely, we have the responsibility to develop it or run after it. We work out our salvation by keeping in step, cooperating with the Holy Spirit who leads us in the will of God. Galatians 5.16 tells us, but I say, walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit, responsive and controlled and guided by the Spirit, then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh of human nature without God. So walking by the Spirit means living every moment by moment to where you will submit yourself entirely by trusting the Holy Spirit rather than trusting in yourself. to walk by the Spirit means let your conduct and your behavior be directed by the Spirit of God to walk by the Spirit means to be under the constant moment by moment direction the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit precious Holy Spirit will cause you to desire the things of God and when you do you will find yourself as the term says running after God desiring his righteousness and wanting to please him rather than yourself. You see, running after God is symbolic and indicates an eagerness of desire and readiness in showing your affections and love for God and having strong feelings and enthusiasm in your pursuit of your beloved bridegroom and savior. Dear listener, This is what is so beautiful about the Song of Songs and this wonderful, amazing love story written within its pages. As was mentioned from the beginning of this message today, it is all about the bridegroom seeking his bride. It is pure and holy love and is not sensual in nature as some purport. There's much symbolism throughout this book and all, like everything from the beginning to the end of the Bible, points to the Lord Jesus Christ, our bridegroom and King of kings. And we see in this book where the maiden who is the bride starts out by desiring to know the one in whom her heart is being awakened to have communion with. At one point in her beginning to know him, he knocks at the door of her heart. She takes her time getting there to answer, and when she does, she finds he is not there. She waited too long to answer, and when she realized her complacency with him she began to truly run after him to find him And after a while she did find him And she sings that when she finds him she will not let go of him Hallelujah Well eventually throughout the chapters of this wonderful, enlightening book on the journey of salvation and finding the one in whom her heart loves, the maiden expresses the great love and value that she has for Christ and the delights that she takes in having communion with him. Christ, the bridegroom, praises and speaks highly of the church's beauty. And she speaks back to him of the love that she has for him. It is reciprocal, dear ones, just reciprocal. And this is where there is a fire of true love to Christ in her heart. And this fire will grow up into a vibrant flame if the maiden continues in the habitual search and obedience of faith for the one whom her heart truly loves. This love, dear listener, is miraculous and outstanding love of God Almighty for his beloved church. And once you personally have the experience of this amazing, perfect love of God, you too like the maiden in the Song of Songs will run after him and never let go of him until you are safely in his arms as he comes for you on your last day on this earth. God is the Father and he has made arrangements for the marriage supper of his son. He brings in the poor and the wounded and even the most shy and frightened are urged and summoned to come in. and those that are drawn into Christ the bridegroom are brought not only into his court but into his palaces. They are brought into his presence of his dear beloved church and they are brought into his chamber where his secret is with them and where they are safe within his inner chambers of love where he discloses his love for them and also the inner meaning of the visible word of God and makes it living within their very inner being. This is the truth called the wisdom of God, precious one. This is the truth of the visible word of God where he, Christ, by the Holy Spirit, makes it understandable and makes it the very fabric of their being. Jesus declared this promise in John chapter 14, verse 21, when he says, The person who has my commands and keeps them is the one who really loves me, and whoever really loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show, reveal, manifest myself to him. I will let myself be clearly seen by him and make myself real to him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, it is a promise. Also, in Mark chapter 4, verses 10 through 12, tells us, when he was alone, the twelve and the others around him asked about the parables. And he told them, The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, But those on the outside, everything is said in parables, so that they may ever be seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understand. Otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven. For those who may be thinking, how do I know that God loves me? How do I know that? Well, let's establish this fact right up front. Romans chapter 5, beginning in verse 6, declares, While we were yet in weakness, powerless to help ourselves, at the fitting time Christ died for in behalf of the ungodly. Now, it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man. Though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor, someone might even dare to die. But God shows and clearly proves his own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, died for us. You see, God covered the base from the very beginning, knowing that many would need the assurance that he truly loved them. And here it is. Before you or I were even born, God proved his love for us by giving his son Jesus Christ as a supreme sacrifice for our sins and our sickness when he went to the cross. It is said that there is no greater love than that of a mother. My own dear mother wrote a touching poem many years ago about the mother's love. She wrote about how a mother's love was the purest form of earthly love. And of course, being my mother, it is very special and meaningful to me. And I would like to share it with you today, as I'm sure that you will appreciate it. And I know that many of you listening to this today are mothers too, and I'm sure you can identify with it too. She writes, The purest of all forms of earthly love is mother's love. It borders on the divine because it is selfless, protective, and forgiving. True mother love shines like a star. and like a star it reflects its own beauty. There are many forms of love. Love of a woman for a man and the man for a woman. Love of child for father and father for child. Love of friends. Love of nature. But these are all selfish loves and demanding. A woman expects much from the man she loves and the man is demanding of the woman he loves. A father expects much of his child and the child demands affection from its father. A nature lover expects nature to reflect beauty. But the love of a mother for her child transcends all expectations, all demands. She gives life to the child in suffering, but forgets the pain in her joy. She knows all the child's faults, but forgives them. She labors silently and uncomplainingly for the child's comfort, expecting little in return, often receiving nothing. She sacrifices her own desires to bring happiness to her child. She prays constantly for his salvation. She weeps for his sorrows, laughs for his joys. She commends his accomplishments and suffers for his transgressions. The love of a mother for child recompenses for all abuses of the word love in this world. Love has many faces, and the fairest of all is embodied in the love of a mother. It is true, the love that a mother has for her child is likened to the greatest earthly love. but dear one I remind you that this poem that my mother wrote is love that is earth bound and as great as it is and beautiful in the eyes of God that has much merit in his heart the love of God is supernatural it is divine and the purest of all love it is miraculous an outstanding love that is waiting for all of those to run after him seeking his heart in every matter of their lives Isaiah in chapter 30, verse 18 declares Yet the Lord still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love he will conquer you to bless you just as he said for the Lord is faithful to his promises blessed are all those who wait for him to help them let us all be found running after the one who created us to be a part of his bride church who are invited to the marriage supper of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom. And these will be those who truly loved him with all of their hearts and souls and sought him every day while they had breath on this earth. .

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