Song of Solomon 4:12-5:1

Let's turn to the Song of Solomon, please. I'll ask you to turn with me to the Song of Solomon, and we'll read together in chapter 4. The Song of Songs, and in chapter 4. And let's read it, verse number 12. Solomon's Song, chapter 4, and at verse number 12.

A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. My plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, camphor with spikenard, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices, a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind, and come thou south.

Blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruit. Look at chapter 5 and verse number 1. The answer is given by her beloved.

I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey.

I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends. Drink.

Yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. God will bless to us that reading from the sacred scriptures. You likely know that there are a number of aspects that are given to us about the Song of Solomon.

They suggest to us that in the writings of Solomon, that most likely he wrote this song when he was a young man. When it comes to the book of Proverbs, it would be suggested that he wrote those Proverbs when he was gaining maturity, likely as a slightly older man. And of course, when it comes to the book of Ecclesiastes, you could almost see the mark in Ecclesiastes of a much older man.

Be that as it may, certainly this is quite the song. And it stands so unique and so distinct on the page of sacred scripture, always and ever drawing us to the person of the Lord Jesus. Of course, there's a charge that is given in the song.

One of the ways of dividing up the book is just to look as you muse through the book at the charge. For example, chapter 2, verse 7, you have it for the first time, I charge thee. Chapter 3, verse 5, you'll have it for the second time, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Chapter 5, verse 8, you'll have it for the third time, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. Chapter 8, verse number 4, you'll get it for the fourth time, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem. And the great charge in the book, and you say, what's that charge about? Well, you will notice that her occupation, as she speaks to those daughters of Jerusalem, her occupation is this, it is always, ever centered on her beloved.

And of course, during this weekend of conference, I would judge, beloved saints, that in our minds and in our focus, we have been directed to one person. Even from this morning, from the Bible study, as we were sitting here around the person of the Lord Jesus, our sole focus was directed to one who is the King. And here she is, and everything else is going on around her, in Jerusalem, and in the environs of where she is.

And this dear bride, she takes up this song, and she lifts up this charge, and she speaks to those that are associated with her. And she says this now, there is one focus, and I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up my love until ye please. Beloved saints, don't forget, as we have just heard, our lives should be spent pleasing him.

One focus in a Christian's life, and that focus is directed to the Lord Jesus. You might be wondering why I've read to our hearts from the Song of Songs in chapter 4 today, this garden. Maybe you read down, a garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse.

Perhaps you read verse 13, the plants, an orchard of pomegranates. Maybe you read about camphor and spikenard, calamus and cinnamon, and all those things that we read about. You read about this wind coming into the garden, and maybe you're sitting wondering in the conference, whatever is he going to talk about from Song of Songs chapter 4. I really just want to liken this garden to your life, and to my life.

That's how I want to handle the garden of the Song of Songs chapter 4. Because very evidently, it's being described, or it's descriptive of her. Because just take a look again at verse number 12. A garden which is locked up, or bolted, is my sister, my spouse.

And so here she is, and what is going on in the background of the Song of Songs chapter 4 is describing her. And I hope, beloved saints, by the time I'm finished, you will understand that what's going on in the background is describing me, and describing my life. And maybe someone else here, as I'm speaking, you will understand it's not only describing her life, and my life, but it's describing your life.

And so we have a wonderful picture here of those that are associated with him. Of course it's a garden. You will remember that when it comes to the scriptures, the scriptures open with a garden.

We go back to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3, and we're introduced to a most wonderful garden. The Lord God, he planted a garden eastward in Eden. And when we're introduced to the garden in Genesis 3, it's the garden of disobedience.

You'll remember we come to John's gospel, and there's two gardens. Frequently it has been noted that John is the gospel of couplets. He builds his gospel around twos.

I won't go into some of them, but you remember, John's the gospel of death and resurrection. He's the gospel that mentions the death of Lazarus, and he mentions the death of Christ. The couplet in John's gospel, he mentions the resurrection of Lazarus, and he mentions the resurrection of Christ.

You'll remember in chapter 6, there's the feeding of 5,000. That's one of the couplets. You'll recall in chapter 21, there's a feeding of those that are standing on the shore.

That's another one of the couplets. One of the most interesting couplets in John's gospel are the gardens. You'll recall in chapter 18, there was a garden.

John says it was a garden that the Lord Jesus frequently resorted to. Beloved saints, could I suggest to you that John 18 is not the garden of disobedience. John 18 is the garden of devotion.

He went into the garden. Matthew tells us in his gospel, when the Lord Jesus was in that garden, he went a little further. Never forget there was a distance that only he could go.

He left some of those disciples. He took three of the disciples, and even from those disciples, he went a little further, because it was a garden of absolute devotion in the life of the Son of God. Beloved saints, John 18 is the garden of devotion.

Well, you say, what about John 20? Oh, in John 20, the garden is mentioned again. And in John 20, it's not the garden of disobedience. It's not the garden of devotion.

In John 20, it was a garden of delight. There was a woman standing. You know that those women were the first that came to the tomb of the Lord Jesus early in the morning.

In fact, one of the gospels says it was yet dark. And sometimes we wonder, how do we square the details of the gospels? Was it yet dark? Or was it like some of the other gospels tell us, it began to dawn? What was it? It was both. When they left home, it was yet dark.

When they got to the tomb, it had dawned. It was very early in the morning. When they got to that tomb, they saw the stone being rolled away.

And the angel sits upon the tombstone, and the angel says, He is not here, he is risen. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. It was early in the morning, beloved saints.

When they came to where he lay, and the sun had scarcely risen on that far off eastern day. He is taken, he is taken, was their anguish cry. He is risen, he is risen, was the angel's reply.

Never forget today, we serve a risen Christ. One who lives, and he will never die again. And he lives in the power of an ever-ending life.

And of course, you know the story. The women are there. You remember Peter and John, they run to the tomb.

You recall, John gets there first, and he glances in. You remember, Peter comes, and he goes directly in. And you remember then, John goes in.

And it says about John, he saw, and he believed. And then they leave. And there's a dear woman, Mary Magdalene.

And she's left alone at the sepulcher. And as she's standing at the sepulcher, wondering and weeping. There's a stranger joins her.

And he looks at her. Of course, there were angels first. And as the angels are there, they're discoursing with her.

And then, she happened to glance behind her. And there's a man standing. And she supposed that he was the gardener.

And he starts to talk with her. And she starts to tell him about the body of the Lord Jesus. That had been put into that garden tomb.

And she says to him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where you laid him. And I will take him away. And all he said to her was this, Miriam.

And as soon as he said to her, Miriam, she knew it was him. And she responded instantly in Hebrew. And she said to him, Rabboni, my great master.

She could have called him Rab. That would have been respectful. She could have called him Rabbi.

That would have been a higher title still. But she gave him the highest title she could give him. And she said to him, Rabboni, my great master.

She understood then, this is not the garden of disobedience. This is not the garden of devotion. This is the garden of delight.

Because Christ is risen from the dead. Of course, Revelation chapter 2, there's the garden of destination. You remember to the church in Ephesus, the Lord Jesus, he says, I will give unto the overcomer to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

You know what paradise means. Paradise is a walled garden. You know, beloved saints, could I say, we are going to quite a location.

We heard about it this morning. Our brother Brody was telling us from John chapter 14, we are going to the Father's house. And associated with the Father's house is the very paradise of God.

A walled enclosure. The garden of destination to which we are going. Well, you say, what about Solomon's Song then? In chapter 4, it's not a garden that's linked with disobedience.

It's not a garden of devotion. It's not a garden of delight. It's not a garden of destination.

This garden is marked by its distinctiveness. And here is this woman, and she's so distinctive. And she's different.

You know, beloved saints, could I just remind our hearts now that God has called us to be different from the world around. When God saved you and I, he saved you and I for a purpose. He saved you and I so that we would be different.

He saved you and I, and he called us out of this world. And I would judge as we look at this woman that's found here in Song of Songs chapter 4. We can see the distinctiveness that marks her. And of course, you and I know there is a distinctiveness that should mark us.

I want to speak about a number of things, and I won't take too long up here, having given that brief introduction. I want you to consider with me, first of all, we notice the walls of the garden. And you might be wondering where I see the walls of the garden.

Well, it's right there in verse number 12. If you drop your eye there, look at what she says. A garden that is enclosed.

The idea with the word enclosed is locked or bolted. Then she says a spring. And you say, what about the spring? The spring is shut up.

So obviously, there's an enclosure around the spring. And then she says, it's a fountain that is sealed. And you say, what is that telling us? I would judge, beloved saints, that is telling us that this garden is uniquely his.

When she's describing it and telling us about the walls of the garden, it's enclosed. When she's telling us about this spring that's shut up, when she's telling us about this fountain which is sealed, I would judge, beloved saints, what she's telling us is this, that this walled enclosure is directed in all of its uniqueness for his glory. Now, I come back to it, beloved saints.

Why did he save you and I? He saved you and I for his glory. So that our affections would be uniquely linked to him. You will remember in the Scriptures, I was thinking about it as I was listening to my brethren today.

I was thinking there of Jeremiah chapter 2 as our brother William was speaking to us. You remember what the Lord said about Israel? I remember thee. He says, I remember the joy of thine espousals when thou wentest after me in the wilderness.

He says, Israel was mine. He says, Israel was holiness unto the Lord. The nation of Israel was his, and it was his alone.

You'll recall the book of Malachi. In the book of Malachi it says this, They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I make up my treasure, because there were a people, and they were his, and his alone. You come over into the New Testament, and we have it stamped in the New Testament, not about Israel now, but about you and I. You remember in John 17, the Lord is speaking to his Father.

And in that wonderful high priestly prayer, he says this, All mine are thine. And he starts to go over those that have been given to him by the Father. You know, beloved saints today, could I remind our hearts again that we belong to him.

We have been given to him first from the Father, and we are in his hands. And here as we are gathered together today, you know what he wants? Our absolute devotion and devoted lives for his glory. Haven't we just heard that from our brother Larry? Well, pleasing to him.

Oh, beloved saints, now you remember what Paul tells us. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, he's actually going to develop Christian liberty. And in those chapters of 1 Corinthians, he's going to develop that great subject, the liberty that we have in the person of the Lord Jesus, where you say, if we have Christian liberty, we can do what we want.

Can we? I tried to stamp my foot. That really didn't work too good. Sure it didn't.

Normally you're on a platform that's wooden, and you can get a bit of effect, but that really didn't work too well there. But don't forget now, Christian liberty is going to be developed in those chapters of 1 Corinthians. But you see, before Christian liberty is developed, you know what Paul says? You are not your own.

You are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your spirits and in your bodies, which are the Lord's. You know, there's some young people here at the conference.

Could I just remind every young person that's here today, there is a high claim on your life for the glory of God. You know, when the Lord bought you, and when He saved you by His precious blood, He put a claim on your life. Now that means, there will be some that you accompany to university.

When you're at university, they will say to you, we're going to do this on Friday night. You'll have to make a choice. Because there's someone that's a claim on your life, and your life is a walled enclosure for Him.

And I say, beloved saints, we are left in a world, and we are uniquely different and distinct from the world around us. I was mentioning at Sussex Days meeting, it was a few months ago, I was staying with a beloved brother and sister in Manitoba. When I was staying with Abe, Dick, and his wife, he started to tell me about his father, and how his father got saved.

I was intrigued with it. The dear man got saved, and after he got saved, he started to read his Bible. Had never read his Bible before, but he was a heavy smoker.

And one morning, he lit a cigarette, and he started to read in the scriptures. And in fact, the place he was reading was 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit? Ye are not your own. Ye are bought with a price.

And there he was sitting, taking a drag on that cigarette, reading the scriptures. And it dawned upon him, the Lord has saved me. And from this chapter, I understand that I should be different.

And he looked at that. He says, my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and I'm smoking them out. Well, I'm not just too sure.

I do know this. He took that cigarette, and he put the cigarette into the fire. He took the packet of cigarettes, and it went into the fire.

Could I just remind our hearts again, before I move from this, beloved saints, this dear woman, the walls of the garden, she's completely enclosed, because she's dedicated and devoted to Him. And I will say again, there is one, and he's a claim on my life, and he's a claim on your life. He bought you with the awful suffering of the cross.

He bought you with what he endured at dark Golgotha. He bought you with the price of his precious blood. And so here we have it, the walls of the garden.

The second thing, and I'll mention this one as quickly as possible as well, you will notice the wealth of the garden. We come into verse number 13, and there she's speaking about all the wealth of the garden. Oh, this was quite a garden.

She speaks about the fruitfulness of the garden. I'll come back to that. And she speaks about the fragrance of the garden.

I'll come back to that. When you say, where is the fruitfulness of the garden? She says, thy plants, it's just an orchard of pomegranates with all the pleasant fruit. You know, if you would take a pomegranate and divide a pomegranate, you would see in the interior of that pomegranate all those pomegranate seeds.

And it just speaks to us. Whenever you get pomegranates in Scripture, it speaks to us of fruitfulness. And you can muse through them.

I won't go through them all for you. In the book of Exodus chapter 28, you remember, there were pomegranates on the garment of the high priest, just round the border of the garments. You will recall, on those garments of glory and beauty, the Scripture says, there was a golden bell, and there was a pomegranate.

There was a golden bell, and there was a pomegranate, right round the border of the garment of the high priest. And you say, fruitfulness? What is that telling us? That's telling me about a life of fruitfulness. Of course, when you come to the book of Numbers and chapter 13, they went into the land.

You remember they brought back figs, and you remember they brought back grapes, and one of the fruits that they brought from that land in which they went into was pomegranates. Because that's telling me about a land of fruitfulness. You'll recall, when it comes to the temple of the Lord, maybe I'll give you one before I get there.

1 Samuel chapter 14. You remember King Saul. There's a battle that needs to be fought with the Philistines.

In fact, Saul's son Jonathan is going to fight that battle with his armor bearer, one man, alone with God. I know it's hackneyed brethren. I know we've heard it.

I used to hear it in Sunday school. But they used to tell us, one man with God. That man is a majority.

And there's Jonathan. One man with his armor bearer. Well, you say, what about King Saul? King Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree.

If there was ever something that was out of place, it's 1 Samuel chapter 14. God had already forsaken Saul. God had already given Saul up.

And He says, I give the kingdom to another. It's not a life of fruitfulness. It's not a land of fruitfulness.

It's the lack of fruitfulness. You see, when you go to the temple, I mentioned Solomon's temple yesterday. 1 Kings chapter 7. You remember there were two pillars.

Jacob and Boaz. And at the top of those pillars, there was a great work, that wreathing work. And just there, around the border of the pillars, at the top, there were 200 pomegranates.

And you say, what's that? That's the lavishness of fruitfulness. Well, you say, what about here? I would judge here. This is the longed for fruitfulness.

Do you know what is being looked for in the life of this girl? Fruitfulness for her beloved. I come to John 15. You remember we're introduced by the Savior.

He's likely left the upper room. Just as He's coming through, He speaks about a vine. And as He speaks about that vine, He speaks about fruit.

And He speaks about much fruit. And He speaks about more fruit. Can I ask you, let me challenge our hearts now.

I would say, that there's quite a few of the Lord's people were at Cedar Falls Conference last year. Is your life more fruitful this year than it was last year? Come on now. I have to challenge my own heart.

Beloved saints, we need ministry that touches our lives. I believe we've had it at this conference. I believe we've heard the voice of God.

We need ministry that challenges my heart. Is my life more fruitful now than it was a year ago? For the glory of God. And we've got the fruitfulness of the garden.

For a few minutes, I'll touch the fragrance of the garden. And you say, the fragrance of the garden? Camphor. Look at all the ingredients.

I won't go through them all. Camphor, spikenard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, aloes, all the chief spices. You know, there's nothing like fragrance.

I'm one of, I don't know. Preachers are a rare bunch, you know. In fact, it used to be Peter Orosok.

I've referenced Peter Orosok at this conference before. Peter's wife Maxine, she said, when the Lord created, everything was in its order after its kind. And Maxine used to say that when the Lord was finished, there was a group that was left over.

And they were a bit strange. And the Lord said, I wonder what I'll do with those men. And Maxine Orosok used to say, I'll make them preachers.

Well, certainly we've all our foibles. My foible, I love fragrance. I took Frank Sona.

I'm glad our brother Frank's not here. We were preaching in an area and there was a mall with some of those high-end stores. And I took our brother Frank for a walk through the mall.

And we stopped into one of the stores and there was a fragrance company there. And I said to him, Frank, you got to try this one. And he tried it.

Boy, he says, that's quite nice. So we left the fragrance store and we're walking through the mall and we're walking into a JCPenney's. You know that store? Quite a high-end store.

And so as we're walking into JCPenney's, there were two of the janitorial staff were standing just outside the doorway of the entrance. And as we were walking past, one said to the other, wow, doesn't he smell good? And Frank grew about three feet. I want to bring you back now, not to the fruitfulness of the garden, but the fragrance of the garden.

You'll notice with me, camphor. This is actually the henna plant. We're quite aware of it.

You know that people, they will get what we call a henna tattoo. One of the things I do notice when it comes to the fragrance of this garden, you see when it's camphor, one of the things I notice about the bride is there has been a mark that has been left on her life. You see, anyone that spends time with the Lord Jesus, it will leave a mark.

There was a man called Moses one day, and there was sin in the camp, and Moses had to leave the mountain and go down into the camp, and he broke the tables of the law. As a consequence, he was brought back by the Lord up into the mountain. He interceded first, and you see when Moses came from that second period of 40 days and came back down to the people, never forget, beloved saints, when that man came down to the people, the very mark of the Lord's presence was on the man.

I have known men, beloved saints, and beloved sisters as well, and they left a mark on my life, and the reason why they left a mark on my life was this, that they'd been in the presence of the Lord, and in the presence of the Lord, the Lord left a mark on their life for His glory, and they were never the same again. You think of Peter. The Lord marked dear Peter's life.

You recall that experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter and James and John were taken into the mount, or onto the mount. It's one of those three experiences when Peter, James, and John were taken with Christ alone.

Every one of them, by the way, is associated with death. Jairus' daughter. It's linked with death.

The Garden of Gethsemane. Peter and James and John. The anticipation of His death.

Well, you say, what about the Mount of Transfiguration? They speak of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. It's linked with death. Can I say, beloved saints, it left a mark on Peter's life.

He's the only one of those three men that recorded for us. You remember what he says? 2 Peter chapter 1. He says, we were with Him. We were with Him on the holy mount.

We saw His glory. We have been given the assurance the kingdom is coming, because we saw the manifold manifest glory of Christ on the holy mount. Beloved saints, camphor, I'll tell you again, it speaks of a mark of fruitfulness, of a life lived with Christ.

What about spikenard? I won't go through all of these. I'm sure you would get wearied if I went through all of these fragrances and spices. But you will remember, and we heard today, about a woman.

And she brought a box one day. She could have used it on her brother. It was worth 300 pence.

It was worth a year's wages. She could have used it on her brother. And whenever Judas started, and whenever Judas was decrying, and whenever Judas was standing saying, why was this waste made? The Lord Jesus says, she has wrought a good work on me.

She used it on Him. Beloved saints, I believe that we have heard even this morning that odor, that has risen, that odor of worship. And I would take it that there's a woman in worship to the person of the Lord Jesus.

I leave that one. The next one I want to touch is saffron. You might be wondering what saffron is.

Saffron is the crocus plant. Actually, it's very expensive. They assure me that it takes almost 200 flowers for one gram of pure product.

One of the things about those flowers is they're various in color. There are some of them that are deep purple. There are some of them that are pink.

There are some of them that are white. There's just a manifold reach of color when it comes to this plant. I'll take you in your mind to the writings of Peter.

You remember, Peter uses that word manifold. And he uses it twice. In chapter 4 of 1 Peter, Peter tells us this.

We are good stewards of the manifold grace of God. What Peter is saying is this. We are good stewards of the many-colored, variegated.

You can see the color here from the crocus or the saffron plant. The variegated colors of the grace of God. How about Peter uses it before that in the epistle? He uses it in chapter 1. Do you remember what he says? He says, The trial of your faith, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

He says now, there will be manifold temptation. There will be a variegated color of temptation in the lives of God's people. You see, as I'm looking across this audience today, the crocus plant or saffron, it reminds me of the multicolored grace of God in your life and mine.

But it reminds me of the multicolored trials that God's people undergo. Different trials. Young people here.

Dear sister told me at the break she was holding a little child in her arms. That child had had cancer. The manifold trials that the Lord's people go through.

I stood in a room six years ago. I'll never forget that room. My father-in-law went in for an operation.

They told us it was just, it was a routine operation. He never regained consciousness from the table. One of the things I'm very thankful to the Lord for, Elaine took a flight to be with him.

Still unconscious. She stood in that hospital room and she took his hand and she said to him, Dad, it's Elaine. If you know it's me, squeeze my hand.

And he squeezed her hand. We stood in that room as a family just a few days later and they turned the machine off. The manifold temptations of the Lord's people.

I took my wife's hand that day when the machine was turned off. I took her hand and I said to her, Sweetie, he's home with the Lord. The fruitfulness of the garden.

I won't go through the rest of them when it comes to the fruitfulness. And so we notice we've got the walls of the garden. We see together we've got the wealth of the garden, the fruitfulness of the garden, the fragrance of the garden.

You will notice with me that we've got, as we consider this, the watering of the garden. I'm down there now at verse number 15. And the writer, Solomon, he writes about this bride and he says, it's a fountain of gardens.

He says, it's a well of living waters. He says, it streams from Lebanon. You know, beloved saints, the Savior is able to give water and refreshment to His own.

This dear woman, oh, she was refreshed. You know what the Savior wants for us in our lives? That we would be refreshed. I would judge that there are two things that are internal to the garden.

There's this fountain which is bubbling up. We heard about that this morning. My heart is indicting a good matter.

I speak of those things bubbling up, touching the king. And so, we have the fountain that's internal in the garden. And we've got the well, again, internal to the garden.

Well, you say, what about the streams from Lebanon? That's external to the garden. And it's flowing from the heights down into the garden. Now, I'll develop those in a moment.

Well, you say, what about this fountain? I would judge that this is just a picture of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of God's beloved people. You recall John 7. It was the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 7, Christ went to Jerusalem to be there at the Feast of Tabernacles.

They had a water-drawing ceremony. What took place was this, that the priests would go. They would go to Siloam to the pool.

They would bring water from the pool of Siloam. They would bring it back up into the city. And they would pour that water out before the Lord in the temple.

There was one day they didn't do it. It was the last day of the Feast. The great day of the Feast.

And on that day, they didn't draw water. And it's on that day that the Savior stands. And the Savior says this.

He says, Come, if any man thirst, let him come to Me. And, says the Lord Jesus, out of his inwards shall flow a fountain, rivers of living water. This speak He of the Spirit.

Do you know what God did for you and I the moment He saved us? He put a fountain within us. And it's springing up, beloved saints. I could hardly believe it.

I've got to be honest with you. I'm sorry to tell about myself. I'm sorry to take the time as well.

Oh my. I was hoping to leave time for another speaker. My apologies.

But I could hardly believe it. You see, after God saved me, things were so different. They told me I would be different.

And you see, after God saved me, I knew I was different. Because there was something, and it was internal. And it was a fountain.

And it was just bubbling up. And it wasn't my strength. But it was something that was produced by the Holy Spirit.

Well, you say, what about this well? This well is very different now. To get the water of the well, you've got to go down. And you've got to take a receptacle.

And you've got to put that receptacle down, down, down, into the depths. And you've got to spend time doing it. And once you've done it, you've got to draw it up.

Could I suggest, beloved saints, that this is the well. And I would say to everyone that is here, especially young believers, you might wonder, you've heard these men step forward today. You've heard our brother Larry develop those things that he's just developed for us through the Scriptures.

And you might be wondering, how do these men do that? You can rest assured, before he ever stepped up here, for about 30 minutes on a platform, you ask him yourself, how many hours he spent. Do you know what he was doing? He was just going down into the well. And he was just drawing up water from the well for refreshment for God's beloved people.

Well you say, what about the streams from Lebanon? About 10,000 feet above sea level. This is not internal to the garden. This is external to the garden.

I don't know about you, but some of the sweetest things that I have ever got, I got when I hardly expected it. And you say, did you work for it? Getting into the Scriptures? Spending time in the book of God? Was it this fountain that was coming? I would judge that the Holy Spirit was involved. But you know, beloved, from the heights itself, God has given me occasionally, only occasionally.

And I mourn the times. I wish I had more of it, beloved saints. But from the heights, the Lord has just given me a morsel.

And when it comes, I sit back and I think to myself, I didn't work for that. I didn't spend time for that. That was so worthwhile getting.

I would say, beloved saints, the walls of the garden and the wealth of the garden. And here we have it. We've got the watering of the garden.

God can water His people. What about the wind in the garden? Verse number 16 says, Awake, O north wind! There are four winds in the land of Palestine. When we think of the east wind, that's the dry wind blowing from the desert.

When you think of the west wind, that's the wet wind coming from the Mediterranean Sea. When you think of the south wind, that's the balmy wind. But you say, what about the north wind? This is the wind that we don't like so much.

This is the harsh wind that comes into the lives of God's beloved people. Sometimes we don't like it now. Ah, but wait now.

This dear girl, she wants the north wind. She says, I want the south wind to blow. But she says, I want to know the wind of adversity.

I want to know the harshness of the conditions. And you say to her, why would you want to experience that? Well, she says, if I experience that, the fragrance of the garden, it will go out over the wall and it will reach others. Did you ever think today, beloved saints, that sometimes the Lord allows the wind of adversity and affliction to touch your life, so that through touching your life there will be others and they will feel the wealth of the garden and know the person of the Lord Jesus.

Just let me conclude today. I want you to notice with me, it's not so much the walls of the garden or the wealth of the garden or the watering of the garden or the wind in the garden, but please notice with me, the welcome to the garden. She says right at the end of the chapter, let my beloved come.

I just want to experience time with him. Let my beloved come into his garden. Let him come into the garden and eat his pleasant fruits.

And in chapter 5 verse 1, the answer is given. I am come into my garden, my sister, my bride. We were told at this conference that there were those who walk with God.

There's two of them, actually. Two men in sacred scripture. A brother Larry told us yesterday about one of them.

His name was Enoch. And it says about Enoch, he walked with God. There's another man, and the same expression is used of him.

His name was Noah. And it says about Noah, he walked with God. Just as I conclude today, tell me, what do you want in your life? I know we want to be successful.

I know we would like our children to be educated. I know we want them to have partners and do well in every aspect of life. Could I suggest to you that the focus of our lives should be this? Just to please him.

He walked with God. Let my beloved come into the garden and eat his pleasant fruits. And Christ says, I am come.

I trust we take a savor of Christ home with us from the conference here.