What Will Ye See in the Shulamite?
The sermon reveals the mystery of the Shulamite, where our carnal mind struggles with grace, and the deeper we sink in self-abasement, the higher we rise in a knowledge of Christ.
J.C. Philpot delves into the mystery of the two natures within a believer, highlighting the constant struggle between the flesh and the spirit, the battle between love and enmity, wisdom and folly, and earthly-mindedness versus heavenly affections. He emphasizes how the Spirit leads us through a process that reveals the ongoing conflict within us, making us a mystery even to ourselves. Despite the world's view of progressive holiness, the true mystery lies in the unchanging carnal mind warring against grace, leading us to deeper self-abasement and a higher knowledge of Christ.
Text
"What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies."- So 6:13
ARE you not often a mystery to yourself? Warm one moment, cold the next; abasing yourself one half-hour, exalting yourself the following; loving the world, full of it, steeped up to your lips in it today; crying, groaning, and sighing for a sweet manifestation of the love of God to-morrow; brought down to nothingness, covered with shame and confusion, on your knees before you leave your room; filled with pride and self-importance before you have got down stairs; despising the world, and willing to give it all up for one taste of the love of Jesus when in solitude; trying to grasp it with both hands when in business. What a mystery are you!
Touched by love, and stung with enmity; possessing a little wisdom, and a great deal of folly; earthly-minded, and yet having the affections in heaven; pressing forward, and lagging behind; full of sloth, and yet taking the kingdom with violence! And thus the Spirit, by a process which we may feel but cannot adequately describe, leads us into the mystery of the two natures, that "company of two armies," perpetually struggling and striving against each other in the same bosom. So that one man cannot more differ from another than the same man differs from himself. But do not nature, sense, and reason contradict this?
Do not the wise and prudent deny this? "There must be a progressive advance," they say, "in holiness; there must be a gradual amendment of our nature until at length all sin is rooted out, and we become as perfect as Christ." But the mystery of the kingdom of heaven is this, that our carnal mind undergoes no alteration, but maintains a perpetual war with grace: and thus, the deeper we sink in self-abasement under a sense of our vileness, the higher we rise in a knowledge of Christ; and the blacker we are in our own view, the more comely does Jesus appear.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Mystery of the Shulamite
- 'A. A company of two armies: flesh and spirit'
- B. The struggle between the two natures
- C. The mystery of the kingdom of heaven
- II. The Contradiction of Human Reason
- A. Nature, sense, and reason deny the struggle
- B. The idea of progressive holiness and amendment
- III. The Reality of the Carnal Mind
- A. No alteration, but perpetual war with grace
- B. The deeper we sink, the higher we rise in Christ
Key Quotes
“What a mystery are you!” — J.C. Philpot
“The deeper we sink in self-abasement under a sense of our vileness, the higher we rise in a knowledge of Christ;” — J.C. Philpot
“And thus, the blacker we are in our own view, the more comely does Jesus appear.” — J.C. Philpot
Application Points
- Recognize the struggle between your flesh and spirit, and seek to understand the mystery of the kingdom of heaven.
- As you sink deeper in self-abasement, seek to rise higher in a knowledge of Christ.
- Remember that your carnal mind undergoes no alteration, but maintains a perpetual war with grace.