Refusing the Knockings of Christ

Introduction:

Connection

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock” (Rev. 3:20a)—these are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Lukewarm Church of the Laodiceans. When you think of these words, what do you first think of? Perhaps you think of evangelistic appeals (as these words are often plucked out of context and applied to the winning of souls). But the reality is that this verse is spoken, not to the world, which is without God and without Christ, but to the Church, to the household of faith, to the bride of Christ. And thus we can infer from these words of our Lord, that something that the Laodicean church was doing, in their lukewarmness, had caused the Lord Jesus Christ to withdraw his felt presence from the congregation. We don’t know exactly why, but the rest of the letter tells us that they were boasting in material possessions—which had affected the zeal and fervor of their faith and love. And because Christ was not being pursued, cherished, and delighted in—because the church was not singing the Song of Songs, but they had returned to the Vanity of Vanities—the Lord Christ turned away his face from shining upon them, and left them in a dark night in order to discipline and reprove them for their deeds. But Christ hadn’t abandoned his Church—his Bride—for “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock” (Rev. 3:20a)! For there He stands, graciously waiting to be sought, and to pour out his lovingkindness! And so his next words are: “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20b). But while the Church refuses the knockings of Christ—she deprives herself of her spiritual joy in communion with her Lord.

Why do I bring up Revelation 3 this evening, in my introduction to the Song of Songs? Because I believe that Jesus Christ is quoting, or at the very least, directly alluding to the parable of ch. 5 of the Song of Songs. In it we shall see, that the same spiritual sloth is the cause of spiritual drought, a withdrawing of the felt presence of Christ, which leads to low levels of joyful communion with God. And so, the title for this evening is:

Theme:

Refusing the Knockings of Christ

Need:

We need to be utterly convinced of the real danger of spiritual sloth; of the sinfulness of a lazy response to the presence of Christ … and of the consequences of such a spiritual condition.

Purpose:

To rebuke the bride of Christ for her worldly sloth, and for grieving the heart of her Beloved—and to stir us to be lovesick and overcome with an eager pursuit to seek Him until we find Him again and return to the Garden of Loving Communion.

Recap:

Last time I preached in the evening, we covered an introduction to the Song of Songs generally, and we looked at the first four verses specifically. We saw the Bride longing to enjoy afresh the supreme love of Christ, to be filled anew with the sweet-Spirit of Christ, and to be drawn into a closer walk with Christ. We ended off with the joys of being in the chambers of our King, in the holy of holies, dwelling in the presence of our Beloved Saviour at the mercy seat—blessed in communion with Christ. From the highs of spiritual experience, now we come to the lows of spiritual slothfulness—which if we are honest with ourselves, we know far too often in our own Christian experience, as we refuse the knockings of Christ to our souls.

Open your Bible:

Song of Songs 5:2-8 NKJV

PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY

(i) Intro & Review.

Because some of you weren’t here when I began this series, and because this is such a difficult book to interpret, and because there are such varying views on the Book’s meaning and application—I’m going to rehearse my introduction from the previous sermon (with some minor revisions) to make sure that we are all caught up to speed for ch. 5 of the Song of Songs!

(i) Intro & Review.

I began the introduction to the last sermon on the Song by noting this Gospel principle in Christ:

Because of our union to Christ, we can enjoy communion with Christ. Because of our relationship to Christ, we can enjoy fellowship with Christ.

And I believe that this is precisely why God gave us the Song: to fan into flame the joys of holy communion with our beloved Savior!

I argued last time that the book is a spiritual-allegory or a divine-parable of Gospel-marriage. This is the predominant view in the early church, in the medieval church, in the reformation, in the puritans, and in our very own Westminster tradition. And so, before I go any farther, or before you think I’m insane: here again are my 6 brief reasons why I believe that the Song of Songs is indeed allegorical or parabolic, using the beautiful nature of human marriage to depict the spiritual marriage between God and his People, between Christ and his Church:

(1) The title of the book is the Song of Songs, not the Song of Solomon. Solomon, according to Scripture, wrote 1005 songs (1 Kings 4). This is the supreme song. This is the best song. This is the preeminent song. This is a Hebrew superlative. This is the Song of Songs—just like the Holy of Holies—and the King of kings. It gets no better than this. This Song is greater than all the Psalms combined, than the song of Moses and of the Lamb—this is the Song of Songs! It doesn’t make sense to me for the greatest song ever, to be primarily about human marriage. Surely the Song of Songs is the greatest of all because it deals with the subject matter of the Love of Loves between Christ and his beloved Bride (Song 1:1)

(2) The fact that this book is in the Canon of Scripture. This book was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is part of Holy Scripture, which is God’s redemptive-revelation. And it’s not without coincidence that it follows Ecclesiastes. For only as we can confess the vanity of vanities in this temporal realm—can we then sing the song of songs about the eternal realm. And Jesus himself taught us to read all of Scripture in light of Him and the Gospel. And thus the reason why the church historically accepted this book into the Canon (both the ancient Jews and the early Christians) was because they read it as an allegory of God and his people, a love-song about Christ and his Church (Lk. 24:27; 44-47).

(3) The Song’s author is Solomon, whose name means the Man of Peace, who is the Son of David, and the Prince of Israel—who does that sound like? Solomon here is the shadow of Christ the true Man and Prince of Peace, the true Son of David (Isa. 9:3). Not only is this so, but the Bride is called the Shulammite—which is the feminine form of the name, Solomon. This is the Prince of Peace and his Bride who has received Peace in the everlasting covenant of grace (Rom. 5:1; 6:5; 7:4; 8:1).

(4) The Song itself presents the Groom as a Flawless-Shepherd-King, who is described as the LORD Himself. He is portrayed with Exodus-like imagery, with Garden & Temple-like imagery. His love is the very flame of the LORD. This is a Divine King, the Lord Jesus Christ (Song 1:4; 1:7; 3:6-11; 8:6-7). And the Bride herself is called Jerusalem, the city of God, who is seen leaning on her beloved Redeemer, as she is being led in the wilderness on the way to Canaan. This is a Redeemed Queen, this the Church of Jesus Christ (Song. 6:4; 8:5). This song sings the Song of Christ and his Church (Rev. 21:9-14)—of redemption and salvation—of the true exodus in our Passover Lamb.

(5) Other parts of Scripture clearly speak about the nature of the relationship between God and his people, between Christ and his church, as covenant marriage. All of history, as it were, is a love story between the Lord Jesus Christ, who defeats the dragon, and his redeemed bride! Christ wins her by his blood, builds a house for her, and brings her all the way home—without spot or wrinkle! All of history is pointing forward to the marriage-supper of the Lamb when Jesus returns (Ps. 45; Hos. 2; Eph. 5; Rev. 19).

(6) Other parts of Scripture give the key that unlocks the meaning of the Song of Songs. In Revelation ch. 3, I believe that Jesus quotes from Song of Songs ch. 5, where the Groom is knocking on the door of the Bride’s house, and He applies it to himself and the church of the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:20) . And Psalm 45, which is another allegorical-love song between the covenant king and his bride, is quoted in Hebrews 1 and is directly applied to Jesus as the Divine-King who is married to his Beloved-Bride. Scripture interprets Scripture—and in so doing reveals that the Song of Songs is primarily about Christ and the Church.

And if you’re not convinced from me, hear from some of our favourite reformed authors on the nature and purpose of the Song of Songs:

Jonathan Edwards wrote that the Song of Solomon “treats of the divine love, union, and communion of the most glorious lovers, Christ and his spiritual spouse, of which marriage union and conjugal love is but a shadow”.

Matthew Henry: “It is not to be looked upon as a mere love-song, but as a divine allegory, representing the love between Christ and believers; setting forth the excellencies of Christ, the graces of the church, and the communion that is between them [both]”.

And if you desire to go deeper in a study of the Song, an accessible modern-commentary taking this allegorical or parabolic view is the one found in Joel Beeke’s: The Reformation Heritage Study Bible, which identifies the figures who appear in the Parable of the Canticles as the following:

RHSB: The bridegroom is understood as Christ and the bride as His church [both individually and corporately]. The “virgins” (1:3), also called “daughters of Zion” (3:11) and “daughters of Jerusalem” (1:5), are godly, converted people who love Christ (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 14:1–4). The “watchmen” (Song 3:3; 5:7) represent ministers and pastors of the church (Ezek. 3:16–21; Heb. 13:17). [And] the “mother” (Song 1:6; 3:4, 11; 6:9; 8:1–2, 5) is the universal & [visible] church of Christ in which are to be found the means of grace and of salvation (Isa. 54:1–3, 13; Gal. 4:26; Rev. 12:1–6, 13–17).

So, as we continue tonight, remember that if I’m correct, the book is using the true, good, and beautiful images of human marriage to depict or signify the true, good, and beautiful reality of Gospel marriage between Christ and his Church—and the covenantal union and communion thereof, which ebbs and flows, in highs and lows of our Christian experience.

*** And if any of you would like more resources on the historic view of the genre, meaning, and focus of this book—don’t shy away from asking!

This has been a brief:

(i) Introduction & Review.

So, let’s pick up again with the 2 sermon in this series. We saw last time the necessity of desiring communion with Christ—and now we are going to see the effects of neglecting communion with Christ. May God make our hearts tender in his sight, as we come to renew our repentance. Firstly, this evening, we come to see that:

(1) The Bride is Neglectful - v. 2-3

Song of Solomon 5:2–3 NKJV

I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.” I have taken off my robe; How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; How can I defile them?

(1) The Bride is Neglectful - v. 2-3

In the past 4 chapters of the Song, the Bride has ebbed and flowed in her love for, and closeness to, her Groom. She has been filled with guilt and shame, but Christ has assured her, and allured her by his grace and mercy. She has been brought into the sweetness of his presence, and his banner over her was love. She has had communion with Christ interrupted, but also restored as she sought him with perseverance. Christ has delighted in the church, being captivated by her and her love. And the Bride has been satisfied in the presence of her King, enjoying Him in the Garden of Love—but in chapter 5 something terribly sad happens to the Bride. She get’s slothful—she get’s lazy—she get’s cold—she get’s indifferent—she get’s negligent—she get’s dull—she get’s sleepy. And so verse 2 opens: I sleep, but my heart is awake;

What this seems to indicate of her spiritual state is that is spiritual lethargy. The flesh was waging war against the spirit. She was sleepy and sluggish, but she still had a spiritual pulse in her heart. Yet sadly, she had become lethargic in her Christian walk and love to her altogether lovely Lord.

Burrowes: It it sad evidence of the strength of our corruptions, that after such displays of his love, we should ever sink down into indifference. Even with grace in the soul, with the heart awake, we find ourselves falling asleep, borne down by the business of life, the charms of the world, or the infirmities of the flesh.

It’s as if she says: my heart still had high estimations of the glory of Christ—but I was sleepy in my walk with Him. I was backsliding in my relationship to Him. I was being drawn back into the vanities of the world, while being far from the one whom my soul loves. But all the while, the seed of God’s Spirit abides within me, and my heart is still awake. But oh I need to awaken from this spiritual slumber, that Christ would shine upon me! That he would revive me once again.

And what happened in this state of spiritual sloth? The Lord of glory came! He came to knock on the door of her house, to fellowship and enjoy her love. He came to abide with his bride—but this time, it was in an inconvenient hour. Look at verses 2-3: It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, ‘Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; for my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.’”

Look at how tenderly and patiently Jesus speaks to his slothful bride, look at how he seeks to allure her, warm her heart, and draw her after Him—in the Song of Songs this is the point where Christ speaks most affectionately to his Bride—he calls her his sister, his love, his dove, and his perfect one. The church is his sister, because we have been adopted into the family of God. The church is his love, lavished with his gracious affection. The church is his dove, born again by the gentle Spirit of Christ. The church is his perfect one, clothed in the garments of his righteousness.

In Him is every spiritual blessing and delight—but our hearts often run back to comforts of the world, to the vanities of vanities—which keeps us from enjoying the song of songs. And so instead of rushing to the door to meet her Groom who had been standing in the rain, while enduring hardship and trial, and knocking on the door of her heart, she says: I have taken off my robe; How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; How can I defile them?

Oh how often do we walk in darkness, in slothfulness, in spiritual sleepiness—and while we are in such a distanced state from Christ, even the sweetest knockings of his love don’t budge our hearts. In our sloth, the convictions of his Spirit don’t stir us. In our sin, the warmth of His presence doesn’t enflame us. In our lethargy, the pursuit of Christ for us, doesn’t enliven us. After a long day at work, after we’ve showered and gotten ready for bed—Christ in His Spirit and Providence comes to commune with us—but we shut him out due to carnal comfort.

Burrowes adds: This passage illustrates the exercises of the soul in a time of spiritual sloth and decay. After thus unfolding to us his love, he lets us, as in this passage, see our depravity and indifference.

Oh how quick the soul is to make excuses instead of abiding with Jesus. Oh how quick we are to neglect His presence and love. Oh how quick we are to sleep in, skip prayer meetings, neglect our private devotions, skip over our closet-prayer, skip family worship, skip Bible study, all the while our hearts grow cold, our souls are sleepy, and our Lord is standing outside the door, in the rain and darkness: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock! If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20b). But rather than enjoy a rich feast with Christ, we content ourselves with doom scrolling on our phones. How do you think this makes our Beloved Saviour Feel? Surely it grieves his heart beyond measure—that we would refuse the knockings of the King of Glory, who comes to enjoy the love of his Redeemed Bride. Lord, have mercy on us.

Do you wish for Christ to dwell in your heart through faith (Eph. 3:17)? Then you must open to the knocks of his love, and you must not delay. Sleepiness of soul causes distance from our Beloved (Ps. 32:3-4). Oh we must take heed, lest we fall—we must watch and pray, for the Spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41). Let us keep the oil of our lamps full, let us keep our souls warmed by the fire of his love—let us heed his precious visits of grace (Matt. 25:1-12). Let us not be like the Bride in our text, as we’ve seen that:

(1) The Bride is Neglectful - v. 2-3

This brings us to the second part of this text. Next we see that:

(2) The Bride is Slothful - v. 4-6

Song of Solomon 5:4–6 NKJV

My beloved put his hand By the latch of the door, And my heart yearned for him. I arose to open for my beloved, And my hands dripped with myrrh, My fingers with liquid myrrh, On the handles of the lock. I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

(2) The Bride is Slothful - v. 4-6

After making excuses while laying in bed, while Christ is knocking and pursuing her she says: My beloved put his hand By the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for him.

She heard her Lord put his land by the latch—and this sparked some revival in her—the Bride did wake up—but she slothfully woke up, she begrudgingly woke up, she had left behind the joys of her first love (Rev. 3). But that love was rekindled in her, so much so that it got here out of her sleepy state. Perhaps you’ve experienced such influences of the Lord, convicting your heart, and calling you to pray, or read, or sing, or fellowship, or what have you—and so at last you arise, with a renewed sense of the joy of the Lord! You’ve risen to run after your King once again! And so:

The Bride says: I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock.

At last, she woke up! She got up! She got out of bed! She sought her King! Her heart was thrilled! And so she arose to open the latch of the door, and just as Christ had put his hand to the latch, and thus left a token of his love (which was customary in the ancient world)—she got a whiff of his sweetness, of his liquid myrrh that he left on the handles of the bolt, on the handles of the door—she was not entirely forsaken by Him, but she was distanced from the sweetness of His presence (James 4:9-10). He was not there in such rich communion, but he left a fragrance of the Spirit to draw her into a deeper pursuit. When we cherish sin, Christ leaves us to ourselves, as it were, to make us realize our wickedness and to run after Him with greater love—but he never forsakes us—and he never leaves us without the Holy Spirit!

She continues: I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave no answer (v.6).

The problem was not that she didn’t get up—the problem was that she didn’t get up right away! She despised the first knocks of love, she quenched the influences of the Spirit, and for that she was disciplined for her sin, and left in the agony of distance from her Beloved.

Durham says that: the thing which is lacking, is a sensible manifestation of Christ’s love to her.

Though she had the tokens of Christ presence in the myrrh, it wasn’t the same thing as enjoying the personal presence of Christ for herself. Remember, brothers and sisters, our sins do indeed distance us from our Beloved:

Isaiah 59:2 NKJV

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

We often quote this verse to unbelievers—but this verse was written to the church. For the Christian, while sin cannot sever us from our salvation, it can separate us from the enjoyment of his presence (Rom. 8:39; 15:13). Sin and sloth are joy-killers of communion with Christ.

Have you ever been in this situation? As you are pursuing your Lord, be it’s as though you can’t find him? You’re in devotions and in the means of grace, but you can’t sense his nearness? Just like the bride—who sought him but she found Him not. She found his gracious token, yes—but she found not the sweetness of his presence. Like the Psalmist of old we cry out: “O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? (Ps. 88:14). This is a great warning for us to heed in our walks with Jesus—lest his face be hidden from us due to our sin and sloth.

Oh the agony of a soul who loves Jesus, but who feels far from Him! Oh the pains of grieving the heart of our Beloved! (2 Cor. 7:10-11). There have been times when the Lord has woken me up in the night for no apparent reason—and I feel the urge to pray, I feel convicted to seek the Lord like the Psalmist at midnight—I feel constrained to draw near to my Beloved even when he comes with the drops of the night, at an inconvenient hour—but then I’ve gone back to sleep, I’ve neglected the knocks of his love, I valued sleep over precious communion with Christ—and oh how I have despised the day of small things, oh how I have failed to wake up from my slumber and dwell with Him in the Garden of Loving Communion. And then when I do rise up to find Him oh how far He seems to be from me!

Hosea 5:6–7 NKJV

“They shall go to seek the Lord, But they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord.”

The souls who knows the nearness of Christ in the heart—absolutely can sense when He has withdrawn from us that exquisite-felt-presence! and it is her chiefest sorrow, to not be near the One whom her soul loves and cherishes.

But even in this state … maybe we finally pull ourselves to pray, we finally pull ourselves to get on our knees—we finally get in the Word, we finally get to prayer meeting, we finally get to Church, we sitting under the preaching and we come to partake of the Lord’s Table—and we have a token of his love, but we still feel distant from him, as though he has still withdrawn himself from us.

RMM: “Doubtless there are some children of God who do not find Christ [on the] Sabbath, who [go] away without refreshment and comfort. See here the cause: it was your own laziness. Christ was knocking, but you would not let him in. Search your own heart, and you will find the true cause. Perhaps you came without deliberation, without self-examination and prayer, without duly stirring up faith. Perhaps you were thinking about your worldly gains and losses, and you missed the Saviour. Remember, then, he was knocking, and you would not let him in”.

After such a season of spiritual sloth–we seek him, half-heartedly, but we can’t find him. We call to him, without fervency, and hear no answer. Why? Because of our spiritual laziness—because we’ve been turning away our Lord in personal devotion, so why would he shine his face upon you in public worship?

Oh let us take heed to guard our devotional life, brothers and sisters, for when we neglect his love it often takes much plowing and striving, much fervent and earnest prayer, much painful repentance for the joys of the Spirit to fill us again (2 Cor. 7:1; 2 Cor. 7:10-11). In such a time, only those who sow in tears, will reap in joy (Ps. 126:4-6)

Maybe you’re feeling this way even tonight. Let me encourage you. Even when you feel far from the Lord—don’t rely upon your feelings in the dark night of the soul—keep pursuing Him who is faithful and true (Isa. 50). Repent of your slothfulness, and seek Him earnestly, who is full of grace upon grace. Wrestle with God, all through the night, until he blesses you—seek him, with all your heart, until you find him—call to him, and give him no rest, until he answers you. His withdrawing is a trial—and on the other end of the trial is joy unspeakable! But here we see that:

(2) The Bride is Slothful - v. 4-6

But sloth isn’t the end of the story, because a true Christian loves Jesus with a love incorruptible! His love is better than wine, and she will settle for nothing less. So she gets up and she keeps pursuing him! And this brings us to our third point:

(3) The Bride is Repentant - v. 7-8

Song of Solomon 5:7–8 NKJV

The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls Took my veil away from me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick!

(3) The Bride is Repentant - v. 7-8

The repentance that has filled the soul of the Bride has led her to seek public help, to run after Christ with the help of others. To flee from sin, to pursue righteousness, alongside all those who call on the Lord from a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). So she goes to the watchmen, which in the OT were the prophets and elders of Israel—and in the church today are the ministers and elders of the flock (Ezk. 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 5:1-3).

She goes to ministers of the Gospel, who in chapter 3 have already helped her to find her Beloved, but here they are grumpy and tired of her—these watchmen are upset with the depth of her sorrow over her sin and her longing for Jesus—they feel ashamed of their own lack of spiritual joy, of their own distance from Christ, and instead of feeding the flock with the pure and sincere milk of the word, instead of comforting her with the Gospel and the path of life, instead of pointing this poor soul to look unto Jesus, to direct her to the green pastures of the Word, Sacraments, and Prayer—instead of speaking a word in season to her weary heart—they spiritually abuse her, with legalistic burdens of the law and judgment, when she needed gospel and grace to stir her onward to seek Christ (Ezk. 34:1-6).

She says: The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil away from me (v. 7).

Instead of caring for the weak, instead of guiding the flock to the streams of living waters, instead of nourishing her with the words of Jesus, with the promises of the Gospel, with the assurance of faith, with exhortations to keep pursuing her Beloved, what do they do? They beat her, they bruise her, they abuse her, and they judge her as a fanatic (Matt. 23:1-3). They use their authority to tear her down, rather than to build her up.

It’s as if the watchmen say: what is this poor soul doing with these crazy emotions and religious affections? She just needs to sit down, be quiet, and shove such affections under the rug. Get back into the motions and be content.

Burrowes: “In their fear of what is called fanaticism, some [watchmen] shun what are genuine religious affections. Many a poor soul, with a heart aching and burning to know more of Christ, has had its honest inquiries met with reproach or indifference”.

Instead of recognizing the true zeal and fervor of a heart lit aflame by God, which needed to be fanned into flame for God—they judged her to be one of foolish and fleeting piety. This is a tremendous warning to the shepherds of Christ’s flock. Sometimes we can be the reason why Christians are hindered instead of helped in finding their Beloved Saviour Afresh.

So what does she do? Does she listen to this spiritually abusive counsel? No—she runs to the people of God, and she continues to seek Him—even when dry-and-cold ministers abuse her—she goes to her sisters in the LORD: I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am lovesick (v. 8).

Pray for me, she says! Pray for me dear brothers and sisters! Run to Jesus and tell him that I am sick with love! That I am overcome with desire to know Him better! That I am bursting inwardly with a longing to enjoy nearness to Him afresh! Please dear Christians—you who are close to Jesus and walking humbly with God, keeping in Step with the Spirit—if you find Him, tell him that I am sick with love.

Can you sense the urgency in her voice? Do you know this urgency to abide deeply with Christ? She even adjures them—she charges them—she puts them under oath. She is not going to rest easy, until she is restored to a felt sense of the presence of the her King. And she goes to those who know him—for their help. This is why church membership and spiritual fellowship is so important. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Oh to be a godly saint there to help weary souls in time of need:

James 5:16 NKJV

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

And so here lies the Bride, in a pursuit of her King, after a slothful night, but assured by the token of his love—and she sings like the Psamist:

Psalm 63:1 NKJV

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

The mark of true faith is perseverance through trials even in the darkness of distance from the sweetness of our blessed Jesus.

Isaiah 50:10 NKJV

“Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord And rely upon his God.

With godly grief and sorrow over our sin, we press on—trusting in His precious promises—and we keep seeking Him until we find Him again. We go to the watchmen, and oh may the watchmen of this church only ever help the saints to find their Lord. And we go to the daughters of Zion, and oh may the members of Hope also help one another to find our Lord.

The repentance of the Bride is displayed—by her diligent pursuit of her King. She longs to be in that place of holy communion once again. Many waters cannot quench her love for Jesus.

Burrowes again adds: And in these hours when Jesus has left us, even though through our own neglect, we may still be comforted with the assurance of loving him, if we persevere in anxiously seeking him, even amid darkness, suspicion, and trial.

If you are in this place tonight—take heart—because your pursuit of Him, proves your love for Him—and we love him, only because He has first loved us! He will not hide his face forever.

(3) The Bride is Repentant - v. 7-8

And if you are repentant—you are forgiven—but forgiveness doesn’t negate the ebbs and flows of the Christian life and communion with Christ. This brings us to our conclusion for this evening:

(C) Refusing the Knockings of Christ will lead to Withdrawals of the Felt-Presence of Christ.

One hymn writer captured the force of this text so well:

“O Jesus, thou art standing, outside the fast closed door, in lowly patience waiting, to pass the threshold o’er: shame on us, Christian brothers, His name and sign who bear, os hame, thrice shame upon us, to keep him standing there!

O Jesus, thou art knocking, and lo that hand is scarred, and thorns thy brow encircle, and tears thy face have marred: O love that passeth knowledge, so patiently to wait! O sin that hath no equal, so fast to bar the gate!

O Jesus, thou art pleading in accents meek and low, I died for you my children, and will you treat me so? O Lord, with shame and sorrow, we open now the door, dear Saviour enter, enter, and leave us never more”

Oh let us heed the knockings of his love, let us not neglect precious time with Him—and when we do let us seek Him until we find him, with tears and hearts that are broken. For he dwells with him “who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry” (Isa. 57: 15-16). Weeping lasts for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Jn. 14). And praise be to God that our salvation does not rest upon the felt-experience of Christ, but upon the unchanging-grace of Christ. He does not change—and therefore we are not consumed. So rest in Christ—and then run after Him. And in our next time together in chapter 5, we will see exactly how such joyful communion is restored. Until then, we must cry out: Awake, O north wind, and come, o south! Come O Holy Spirit—and fill me with life divine—that Christ would again come to dwell so richly in my heart, and that I might know afresh that love of Christ which surpasses understanding.

Amen, so let’s pray and then sing: Jesus with Thy Church Abide.