Here Comes the Bride - Part 2 - Little Foxes - Pastor Raymond Woodward

[Music] our series is called song of solomon here comes the bride and this is part two the jews have always revered this little book in your bible and they still read it every year during the passover and the reason is because it actually paints a picture of an engagement a wedding and a marriage for them israel was engaged to jehovah on that night of the passover when he delivered them he chose them and delivered them from egypt and then israel was married to jehovah when they made a covenant together you know it is the ten commandments on top of mount sinai and that's why the jews in particular they understood song of solomon to be an allegory of the love that exists between jehovah god and the nation of israel and this is also why christians in the new testament we understand it on an even deeper level this is a beautiful allegory of the love that exists between jesus christ and his bride the church now because this book is eastern eastern poetry ancient eastern poetry it does some strange things to our western mind it kind of flows back and forth between various speakers and it shifts seamlessly from scene to scene and there's not much of a definite storyline here that you can immediately discern you have to study a little bit the poetry even circles back on itself two or three times and there's dream sequences here that are out of sync with everything else and the themes are developed by repetition and and key moments and key phrases will be repeated but even so even despite those difficulties most scholars have come to a a basic outline of the book that they can agree on its three sections describe the bride and the bridegroom in their engagement in their wedding and in their marriage and those sections are separated by two haunting dreams that are experienced by the bride she fears that her beloved has left her and so those dreams they kind of transition and almost interrupt we would think the flow of the book so taken as a whole this book is a beautiful portrait of what happens when an earthly couple joins together in marriage we leave we cleave and then we weave we leave our family of origin we cleave one to another as husband and wife and then we weave a new relationship together for the rest of our lives now we ended it was close to the end last week we ended last week's lesson with this beautiful verse from the last chapter of song of solomon and i didn't expect it to hit quite as beautifully as it did but it sure did and this is our prayer as we begin our study again tonight thou that dwellest in the gardens you remember this the companions here hearken to thy voice cause me to hear it now that's a beautiful prayer to the king and that's my prayer for us tonight that we would hear the voice of god and hearken to the voice of god and and that needs to be your personal prayer god other people hear from you other people hear your voice other people see you move other people see you do the supernatural and so god i want that i'm hungry for that i have a desire for that cause me to hear it as we discussed last week the closest we get to the garden of eden anywhere outside of the book of genesis is this little book called song of solomon a man and a woman gazing upon each other in a beautiful garden they are naked and unashamed in their intimate relationship it's the garden of eden all over again but there are two settings in song of solomon there's a garden and there's the city of jerusalem just as the bible draws a direct line from the garden of eden in the beginning to the new jerusalem at the far end of scripture so whether we're talking about song of solomon the book or whether we're talking about the bible as a whole this love story tells us of the bridegroom's delight in taking his bride from the earthly garden to the heavenly city anybody see where that could go it's beautiful and paul he quotes the creation account he quotes genesis 2 24 in his writing and then immediately after he quotes that verse he makes a connection between human marriage and the relationship between christ and his church and we should do no less in studying the song of solomon for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh and then he says this human marriage this intimate relationship this is a great mystery but don't miss the point i speak concerning christ and the church the same thing's happening in song of solomon it is a human love story it is a tale of romance it is an engagement and a wedding and a marriage it is all of that in fact it is filled with intimacy but it's a picture it's concerning christ and the church now we started last week in a good place we started with chapter one verse one and that's basically just the title of the book all it says is the song of songs which is solomon's and then immediately in verse two with very little explanation of who she is or where she's from the shulamite girl who we will come to know as the bride she simply launches into joyful expressions of desire for her beloved she doesn't give us any warning at all let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth you never thought a bible book started that way for your love is better than wine your anointing oils are fragrant your name is oil poured out therefore virgins love you all the young maidens in jerusalem are in love with you draw me after you let us run the king has brought me into his chambers we will exalt and rejoice in you we will extol your love more than wine rightly do they love you everyone loves you but she's saying but i love you the most throughout the book she will this is amazing and amusing to me she will jump back and forth in describing the the stages of their relationship uh she will breathlessly recount those early days of their courtship she will blushingly recall the intimacy of their wedding night and she will beautifully recollect the joys of their marriage but she does it in no logical sequence that anybody can discern these are random expressions of the heart they're fleeting memories like leafing through a photo album that's not been put in any kind of chronological order and this is not a chronological history of their relationship and not only does she move kind of back and forth uh through time uh this shulamite girl she also moves seamlessly without any warning whatsoever from dreams to reality anybody ever know a person like that she moves from ecstatically happy to depressingly lonely she will transition in a flash from agonizingly anxious to overwhelmingly excited she jumps from thought to thought from scene to scene and from subject to subject and i will wisely leave it up to each one of you to decide whether this is mostly a hebrew literary poetic device or if this is simply the typical way we would expect an excited female to express herself i'll let you decide that tonight sometimes the shulamite girl talks to her beloved sometimes she talks to herself sometimes she talks out loud to no one in particular and sometimes she converses with her friends who in this book are called the daughters of jerusalem this group is referred to seven times in this book and they are quite obviously the young unmarried women who live in jerusalem but even more specifically they're probably the female servants in the royal palace of solomon that's why they see so much and interact so much and know so much and why they get so excited with her sometimes they converse with her sometimes it appears that they're off somewhere else discussing her and king solomon among themselves and always we get the impression throughout this little book that their running commentary is directed to anyone within earshot if this book were a broadway play the daughters of jerusalem are the background chorus if this book was a church service the daughters of jerusalem are the gossips in the church lobby that's basically how it works and there is lots to be excited about and lots to talk about because love is being discussed and along the way this shulamite girl who is so obviously in love she actually says some pretty profound things one of those emphatic statements it's delivered to the daughters of jerusalem three different times three times in this one little book of eight chapters chapter two verse seven chapter three verse five and then this one chapter eight verse four three times she says i charge you o daughters of jerusalem that you stir not up nor awake my love until he please what she's saying if we pull that into modern vernacular is don't stir up passions or awaken love until the time is ripe and you are ready and that is good advice for all the unmarried daughters of jerusalem and for everyone else and this is the burden of pastor's heart tonight and for everyone else who serves the lord as a single adult and there are many of those wonderful people in our church family watching online and far beyond one of the agonizing aspects of being in love but not yet married is this need to wait you long for the day when your lives will be so intertwined that every aspect will be linked together somehow including sexually and that is not helped by the fact that we today live in a sex saturated culture where our eyes and our minds are bombarded on all sides by the message that your sexuality is simply another appetite to be satisfied like hunger or thirst nothing could be further from the truth but in such a context as we face today it's easy to imagine that you are as a pentecostal christian you are as an apostolic believer you're about the only one waiting for sex until you are married and you feel sometimes because of the world's messages that somehow someway you are being cheated nothing could be further from the truth into this arena of tension and unfulfilled desire and awkwardness the song of solomon just walks right in and speaks with calm and reassuring wisdom when it says to the young women of jerusalem do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases this caution is so important in the poem's portrayal of the beauty and power of love that it is repeated three times the repetition is not because song of solomon has any reservations about the goodness of love and sex in its proper place within marriage on the contrary song of solomon actually depicts and praises this breathtaking intensity of a unique lifelong committed relationship between one man and one woman it's what we might call a friendship on fire it's beautiful and powerful and as a pastor for a few decades now can i just tell you that it's often those people that have weathered the storms of life some of the setbacks and trials some of the sicknesses and hurdles and they've now arrived in older years and you watch their relationship and you watch a life of service to each other and such a love that it's almost hard to imagine them apart that's the kind of life-long relationship that is so beautiful i want to speak plainly but not rudely tonight i want to say to you it is one thing to keep god's command to wait until marriage to have a physical sexual relationship that's wonderful we teach that we expect that of our young people and we're so grateful that the vast majority of our kids and teens and young people they believe that too i am so very proud of them in this ungodly world that we live in but i must say in today's online virtual world there is even more at stake in fact there has never been more at stake unfortunately the distinction between the world and so-called christianity is rapidly evaporating the internet provides instant availability and the appearance of anonymity and so pornography is one of the fastest growing addictions plaguing our society i wish i could stand here tonight and with the good conscience of a pastor say but thank god we don't have a problem in the church but i cannot do that a recent barna survey revealed that there is essentially no statistical difference in pornography use between those who regularly attend church and those who don't please hear pastor tonight pornography is designed to accomplish only one thing and that is sexual gratification outside of the marriage relationship pornography is designed for only one thing it is designed to stir up and awaken passions exactly opposite to the purity that we read about in song of solomon this is the very activity that the bible forbids when it commands us to abstain from fornication paul says it very plainly for this is the will of god even your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication the greek word there is actually pornea and you can tell where we get some english words like pornography abstain from anything designed to sexually stir up and awaken those passions the bible doesn't just tell us to abstain paul gets even more plain when he says to the corinthians you need to flee fornication don't stand there and declare to god and everybody else and yourself how strong you are and you can take it and you can be around it and it's no big deal don't do that run when you're faced with sexual temptation flee fornication why because every sin that a man doeth is without the body it's outside his body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body he or she opens up appetites and passions that were never designed to be opened up parents please please before god please keep an eye on your young people because it's all too easy for them to slip into an addiction and you're looking out for drugs and this could be worse for them than drugs or alcohol because it's so subtle and so addictive and it warps and twists their mind please please being a good parent is not just buying stuff being a good parent is not just providing a nice life being a good parent is often like being the guardian over somebody and everybody's trying to kill them sometimes that's how it feels to be a parent this sex without persons that pornography offers is a dangerous dismissal of god's divine design for sex in the first place god gave us this gift of sex to be expressed only within the intimacy and the holiness of marriage for a threefold purpose procreation having children recreation mutual enjoyment between husband and wife and identification may be the most important part bonding physically psychologically and spiritually as one flesh please hear me pornography accomplishes absolutely none of god's purposes and it can be empirically demonstrated by the evidence in the statistics that pornography serves as a diabolical gateway to many other sins now i'll move on shortly but i'm compelled tonight this isn't where i intended to go this is not a marriage series this is not a sex series this is a series about the beauty and the intimacy that exists between christ and his church but we're not being honest if we don't say that this book addresses the physical relationship as well pornography in particular is a virus you talk about covet 19 covet 19 is not nearly as severe and serious as the virus of pornography because this is a soul virus it kills slaughters snuffs out intimacy dignity reality and spirituality it snuffs out the soul of everyone it touches because pornography reduces humanity men and women just like you and me it reduces them to a commodity to be used exactly what the devil has been doing since time began and while a person may keep their porn addiction secret they cannot keep it silent it colors their perception of the beautiful life partner that god gave them or wants to give them in the future it assassinates their own character it impacts every interaction they will ever have with the opposite sex and it annihilates their relationship with god pornography is soul poison now the devil doesn't have to embarrass you publicly all he has to do is ensnare you privately the devil knows it's not necessary to get you to sin by sleeping with somebody else as long as he can get you to sin all by yourself he loves to tempt you to sin with your body don't get me wrong but if he can't do that he's content to just get you to sin with your mind it doesn't have to be the physical act of sex as long as there's lust paul thundered in first corinthians and he said what know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you which you have of god you are not your own you are bought with a price therefore apostolics pentecostals christians believers therefore glorify god in your body and in your spirit because they are both gods i'm moving on just as quickly as i can i know i'm making it awkward in this room tonight but i will not apologize not when we are getting slaughtered out there no the the flood of pornography being accessed online today is a spiritual epidemic forget covet 19 for a moment you should be really afraid of this epidemic it is an unprecedented crisis in the history of the world and the church porn use is costing an entire generation of young christians their joy and their peace it is harming their concentration and their confidence before god it is destroying their potential to have normal dating and marriage relationships and it is corroding their young souls with the acid of unrestrained lust as they willingly give themselves to this bondage the cost of pornography on their future is enormous but the cost of pornography on their faith could be eternal for far too many people pornography may be the tool of the devil that will cost them their salvation that's why peter the day of pentecost preacher in his letter he said this dearly beloved i beseech you i beg you you are just strangers and pilgrims in this world don't get tied down here don't get ensnared here abstain from fleshly lust why because they war against the soul that's why if there ever was a time when we need to pray not for standards of purity but for a spirit of purity to invade and empower the church it is today we can legislate all the rules that we want but the real thing is if there's not a spirit of purity somewhere in there rules aren't going to make any difference at all would you lift up your hand and over your family and especially if you've got teenagers at home especially if you've got precious little kids at home would you pray for a spirit of purity and if you've messed up in this area i address everybody here i'm bold enough to do that and i address everybody watching online if you've messed up in this area right now while i'm looking at you and talking to you right now is the perfect time to say jesus forgive me jesus cleanse me with your blood jesus i turn my back on that virus of pornography i refuse to go back to that help me jesus through the power of the holy ghost i know that's awkward but i need you to push a little bit in prayer here in the building because somebody at home may be relying on a connection in the spirit right now and you could provide that through prayer right now and yes i worship you jesus help us god help us god help us jesus in your name in your name now everything i just said to you all of these are good reasons why the song of solomon which is arguably the most intimate book in the bible and the most intimate book in the bible it still strongly cautions us to confine all sexual expression to the marriage relationship this book the most intimate book in the bible says refuse to stir up passions or awaken love until the time is ripe and you are ready now the way in which this little poem persuades us to wait for marriage is striking too often christians focus only on the rules that the bible gives us about sexuality the thou shalt not and there's certainly biblical wisdom behind any rule god ever gives you but the song of solomon adds something to the rules that is profound and beautiful it adds reasons see rules are like walls and fences they can mark out where the boundaries should be but walls and fences are of limited help because they can't keep you in your place if you keep tunneling under them or jumping over them or breaking them down it is much more likely that we will stay on the proper side of the wall until marriage if we have a reason rather than just a rule it is much more likely that we will stay on the proper side of the internet if we have a reason buried in our heart not just a rule and that's exactly why song of solomon compares waiting for marriage compares true biblical intimacy to guarding a beautiful valuable vineyard i direct your attention to one scripture that i'd like to kind of hang on tonight in chapter 2 verse 15. take us the foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes now it might seem strange to you that in the middle of a romantic conversation we are suddenly reading about a fox hunt but solomon's readers knew that foxes were destructive animals that could destroy valuable vineyards jesus himself called king herod that fox as a rebuke to his cunning and crafty nature now foxes are mostly meat eaters mice and rabbits and birds but they also eat fruit and especially grapes in the early spring in israel foxes would bite off the new shoots and chew away at the roots of the vines so those who tended vineyards in israel they constantly had to catch them and kill them off so you could say it this way there was unending warfare carried on against foxes in bible times but pastor raymond these are just little foxes after all a little fox doesn't really seem to be all that threatening or dangerous foxes are small animals in general in the middle east they only grow to about 20 inches long and in the middle east most foxes weigh only about 10 pounds or under even though they're quick they're not strong not like a coyote they're not dangerous like a bear a fox can't be compared to a big animal like a a bull elephant in africa that can trample your whole vineyard in an hour no foxes are just little animals and yet they are capable of doing terrible damage they can burrow and chew in a vineyard until the vines wither and become unproductive and this is what song of solomon is talking about for solomon and the shulamite girl the vineyard of their relationship is in bloom it is fragrant it is growing it is preparing to bear fruit but if the foxes if the little things are not removed if the little things are not dealt with if the little things are not reversed then their relationship can be irreparably damaged anybody that's been married more than a week knows that's true the little things are what catch up with you the little things are what provide an unending source of irritation and argument the little things are what will get you if you don't get them first now the farmer who invests his time in protecting that vineyard he won't regret it even though it may be years certainly a full growing season before he sees the benefit of his perseverance the benefit of his tedious toil might not be reaped until much later let me be plain again when it comes to tending your intimate vineyard it's not just about physical sexual intercourse it's about protecting your mind brothers and sisters from habitual lust it's about protecting your mind from romantic fantasy and pornography all of which can have long-term damaging effects see you can have a vineyard and technically the walls are still there technically the walls are still intact but the blossoms have been trampled into the dirt in other ways because you've allowed too many things in there that shouldn't be there now guarding your vineyard is not an end in itself rather the purpose is to be able at the end of the season at the end of the harvest at the end of the process to be able to present the fruit of your vineyard to your lover in full bloom so that you can both enjoy the fruit of that vineyard without regret or remorse now again i'm not trying to create some kind of x-rated bible study series here but the intensity of that waiting makes that final consummation all the more beautiful and glorious god designed this for a reason because when you're true to each other before marriage it's like the glue that sticks you together that intimacy that you share but please hear me and i want to speak directly to single adults who serve jesus tonight not every farmer who tends their vineyard faithfully and carefully speaking in this figurative sense they're not all going to enjoy the fruit of marriage some of them will remain single for a lifetime which in the world's mind begs this question why would you continue to guard your vineyard why would you stay pure why would you keep yourself when you don't see any way forward to a biblical sexual relationship with someone else isn't that just wasted effort and god's answer would be not at all you see god could do a couple of things he could surprise you with an unexpected relationship there's lots of people who have been single for many years who finally meet somebody a godly spouse and they are so thrilled remember we do serve a god who we say that he can do far more than we can ask or even imagine so i wouldn't write that off but there's a second far more important reason that we choose to guard our vineyard it's far more important whether or not you ever get married whether or not you ever find a spouse whether you ever find a legitimate outlet biblically speaking for those god given desires please hear me song of solomon was placed in your bible just to remind you of this there is a greater lover than the one you might be physically married to there is a greater lover of your soul that we are waiting for that we keep ourselves holy for there is a god who desires you so passionately that he moves heaven and earth just to have a relationship with you the powerful passions that god gave to man and woman that come together in a marriage relationship please listen they are only a pale pitiful reflection of the passion god feels as he desires and pursues his people he's the real lover you're keeping yourself for now if your friendships and your family if your marriage can be damaged by little foxes how much more do you think your relationship with god can suffer when you fail to guard it from the little things that threaten it i know we're all on the lookout for big things we're on the lookout for heresy and false doctrine we're on the lookout for rank immorality and we're on the lookout for all kinds of scandalous sins but do you know that your relationship with god can be damaged by little foxes when you fail to guard it from the little things that can threaten it a little lie a little jealousy a little laziness a little selfishness a little worldliness just a little bitterness just a little anger just a little disobedience just a little prayerlessness just a little busyness just a little unforgiveness just a little sin but little foxes are still real foxes and brothers and sisters little sins are still real sins in fact they might be even more dangerous than big sins precisely because they are just little sins if it's just a little sin then you think you can handle it it doesn't trouble your conscience you can still come to church without feeling any conviction because it's just a little sin people think that you're doing okay and you don't appear any different on the outside you don't interact any differently with the other people of god at least not yet and you can always find i wrote this in my notes so i could say it precisely the way i wanted to you can always find some sympathetic simpleton to tell you that your attitude is justified and your actions are no big deal those people are a dime a dozen and they are not your friends you want a friend that if you're sliding spiritually they will look you flat in the face and say you're backsliding buddy you need to go pray you need somebody that's a friend enough to you to say you need to get your self in church you need a friend that says to you i'm worried about you because i've noticed your attitude is a little negative about the church or the pastors or the people of god or the the the beautiful truths of the word of god or or you're sliding you're getting a lousy attitude about god's precious commandments thank god for friends like that that love us enough to tell us the truth because there's always somebody lurking around the shadows of your life that they're in so much trouble spiritually that they would love for you to slide off the edge with them into the world there's a problem with sliding off that edge jesus is coming soon the rapture's going to happen soon and i don't want to be sliding off the edge into the pseudo-christian junk of the world i want to be on fire living for god with every fiber of my being you can always tell yourself well my attitude is justified and my actions are no big deal but see little sins always lead to bigger sins and that's exactly why little foxes are so very sinister the writer of hebrews said look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of god lest any root of bitterness you can't even see it yet it's down there in the ground of your life it's down there in the soil of your heart it's buried in your spirit a little root of bitterness beware lest it spring up and trouble you and the problem is that thereby many can be defiled we're a body brothers and sisters if you hurt we hurt if you rejoice we rejoice if you're laughing this week because of the blessing of god we're going to rejoice and joy right along with you if you're weeping this week because of a loss we're going to put our arm around you and express our sympathy because we're family but please hear me if you sin that sin can affect everybody else just like the sin of achan affected the children of israel if you backslide that hurts us all if you lose out with god we lose something when one person loses out with god so the song of solomon says you need to be careful you need to go capture those little foxes that spoil the vine because we're growing a vineyard here and we want to produce much fruit for the lord james said it this way he said even so your tongue is a little member we're not allowed to do this or i'd get you to stick out your tongue and grab it hold on to it during this part but you could give yourself germs and and for the last 11 months germs have been fatal to the human race before that we we thought feed their kids some dirt because it'll help their immune system but now no no not a single germ james chapter three verse five some of you got more out of that than you have out of the last 30 minutes james said even so your tongue is a little member everybody say little it's like a little fox that chews on those vines your tongue is a little memory but it boasts great things here's the problem with little here's the problem with your little tongue here's the problem with your little sin here's the problem with a little fox behold how great a matter just a little fire kindleth one little spark in a forest can be gone over a matter of days and paul used another illustration in galatians he said just a little yeast a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump it doesn't take much so you've got to be on guard so i'm preaching in two directions tonight and you know it once one's okay and one's kind of awkward but they both are tied together in song of solomon you've got to protect your mind from the little things tim gaddy calls these our wonderful pastor in cabot arkansas he calls these carnal curiosities that you're just minding your own business online and you can follow one link too many in one direction too many and you can be looking at something that you hadn't ought to be looking at carnal curiosities and so you've got to set a guard over your mind and over your heart and and and i know the world thinks that's oh that's just so immature and that's so childish and not when you're guarding your soul not when you're preserving your intimacy with your heavenly lover the lord jesus christ no price is too great to pay for that a song of solomon isn't the only place in the word of god where we see a song about guarding a beautiful vineyard in fact the prophet isaiah sang a song about the lord who took perfect care of his vineyard and the bible tells us in isaiah 5 that's where this other song is that the lord dug it and cleared it of stones and fertilized it and he built a wall around it and he built a watchtower in the middle of this vineyard to guard against foxes and and other intruders but when a harvest came in the lord's vineyard he found only a few sour and bitter grapes on the vines isaiah was describing the relationship between jehovah and israel obviously but he could just as easily have been describing the relationship between jesus and me or jesus and you now will i sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard my well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill and he fenced it and gathered out the stones there of and planted it with the choices fine and he built a tower in the midst of it and he made a wine press there and he looked all he wanted was that it should bring forth grapes but it brought forth wild grapes sour grapes grapes that were inedible the lord has taken such good care of his church he has given us such abundant gifts but saints if we let little foxes ruin the vines the only fruit we bear is wild and sour grapes far too many christians allow the fence to be broken down far too many christians allow the little foxes to run wild turning their whole life their whole vineyard into one muddy mess any normal landowner would call in the police to arrest such tenants in a vineyard and that's exactly what the lord said he would do if they didn't repent and now all inhabitants of jerusalem and men of judah judge i pray you between me and my vineyard here's god's question what could have been done more to my vineyard that i haven't done what else would you expect me to do what other blessing would you expect me to give what other promise would you expect me to fulfill to you i've done everything for you why when i just looked that it would bring forth grapes why would a vineyard that i've invested so much time and so much effort in why would it bring forth only wild grapes and the lord here in isaiah's song says i'll tell you what i'm going to do i'll take away the hedge and that whole vineyard will be eaten up by the foxes and every other predator i'll break down the wall and it'll be trodden down i'll lay it waste it won't be pruned it won't be valuable it won't be digged it'll just be briars and thorns that come up and i'll even command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it god is serious about this thing called fruitfulness but his attitude is not one of hatred or spite his attitude is one of shock and sadness i invested so much in this vineyard why after i gave all of that why after i did all of that was there not some kind of return was there not some kind of reciprocal relationship here why didn't i see fruit out of my vineyard you know we have a pretty impressive vineyard here and no i'm not talking about the building we're gathered in we have in this vineyard the fence of his word that guards us and guides us we have the tower in the middle of the vineyard the name of the lord is a strong tower and the righteous run into it and are safe he's gathered out the stones out of this vineyard do you realize that jesus he came into your life and he took out all the sins and all the bondage and all the addiction and he allowed you to be free and clean of your past he's tended he's cared for this vineyard and after he's done all of that his only question is are you going to do anything with that is your life going to be fruitful for my kingdom after i've done all of this for you we don't just guard our vineyards for the sake of an earthly brothers harvest sisters there is a heavenly harvest coming i spoke specifically to our wonderful single adults and i hope that wasn't too horribly awkward for anybody but i really felt you on my heart when i was studying for this message but this is not just about an earthly harvest this is about preparing our lives for a heavenly harvest on that final day talk about harvest we will once again taste the fruit of the tree of life that humanity has not tasted since the garden of eden our waiting will come to an end and all your unfulfilled dreams and all your dashed hopes and all your disappointments and all your heartaches and your hurts and all your hang-ups they will all come to a screeching halt in one instant it's called the rapture of the church and that's what we're headed for that day the bridegroom will return to claim his bride and i just want to tell you on the authority of the word of god it's going to be worth everything you ever had to go through to get there it's going to be worth well worth everything you ever had to give up or lay down or leave behind to get there on that final day when the bridegroom returns and the bride is caught up for that heavenly wedding you talk about a celebration and i'll end with this song of solomon chapter 2 2 and verse 13. the fig tree putteth forth her green figs and the vines with the tender grape they give a good smell this isn't a neglected vineyard this isn't a vineyard where the little foxes have come in and wreaked havoc this is a vineyard where tender grapes give a good smell and the image here is of the bridegroom saying arise my love my fair one and come away with the shulamite girl and solomon it will just be her leaving the garden the vineyard and going to his beautiful palace in the city of jerusalem but with us it's far greater it will be leaving this earthly vineyard where we've been through so many cycles of planting and sowing and reaping and weeping and harvesting and laboring on that day that will all be over in an instant when the bridegroom says arise my love my fair one and come away paul said in a moment in the twinkling of an eye would you lift up your hands as we prepare to close bible study tonight i pray that something has ministered to you and especially if you're one of our single adults i pray that something that i had the privilege of saying tonight that it ministered to you and that it helped you and strengthened you but everybody would you lift up your hands and would you lift up your voice in this room right now jesus is going to come back and it'll be worth every sacrifice you ever made it'll be worth every tear you ever cried it'll be worth everything you ever left behind in the world thought you were insane for giving that up to serve god but you did and on that day it's going to be worth it all thank you jesus thank you jesus i love you god i worship you it will

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Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, church, international, apostolic, christian, preaching, sermons, sermon, raymond, woodward, jack, leaman, matthew, woodward, bible, study, biblical teaching, bible, study

Id: PrakE_4fL9c

Length: 53min 8sec (3188 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 24 2021